Why Three Continents?
Well, when you travel to South America, Europe and Africa I figured that you are allowed to call it a 3 Continent trip. So here is a warm up newsletter with the first funny story. During the two month trip I hope to visit:
•Sydney to Santiago, Chile
•Termas de Cauquenes, a spa in the foothills of the Andes
•Santa Cruz, the Wine district
•Valparaiso, on the coast
•Buenos Aires, Argentina
•Tigre, on the River Plate
•Colonia del Sacramento, in Uruguay’s province of Colonia
•Iguacu Falls and National Park, Brazil
•Lunch in Paraguay
•Rio de Janeiro
•The statue of Christ the Redeemer.
•Madrid, Spain
•Cordoba, Spain
•Tangier
•Marrakech (This trip is shown on this map)
•London
•Copenhagen
•Budleigh Salterton.
•Brixham
•Sydney, Home
Book early – avoid disappointment
I think I even excelled myself this time as I booked the seats with Qantas exactly a year ahead, to the day, before I go. Qantas, unlike most other airlines who release seats later, allow bookings 365 days in advance. Talking about bookings, one of the hotel bookings has a bit of a story attached to it.
I wanted to be sure to get a room with a view overlooking the harbour in Brixham in South Devon, England. I did my Internet research and picked the Harbour View hotel. I started to get nervous about leaving the booking too late, it was October after all with only 9 months before I was due in Brixham. I decided not to waste time and picked up the telephone. This is the conversation: The cast was Barry Hunt (BH) and the owner of the Harbour View Owner (HV) – a man of even more mature years than I.
BH: I would like a room with a view over looking the Harbour.
HV: Yes.
BH: Saturday 15th July, next year
HV: That’s a problem
BH: Why?
HV: I have nowhere to put the booking down.
BH: I don’t understand.
HV: I haven’t got a diary for next year.
BH: Can’t you write it down in the back of this year’s diary until you buy one for next year.
HV: We have no bookings for Easter yet.
BH: Oh! I can give you a credit card to secure the booking – if that helps. (Thinking the thought of payment may help the situation)
HV: I am only taking bookings for the New Year period.
BH: Can’t you make an exception. I am from Australia. (On further reflection I am not sure how this would have helped but most people know of a friend or relative that went to Australia. People sometimes say “My mate, Gordon Jones went to Frematle – do you know him” A bit like asking someone from Aberdeen do they know a certain person in Tangier. It true look at a map you’ll see. Any way I digress.
HV: I have nowhere to put the booking.
BH: I can give you a UK cheque.
HV: Well, actually we might not be here next year.
BH: Oh!
HV: Actually, we might retire so I am not taking any bookings for next year.
BH: Oh! Thank you – goodbye.
I did wonder if he planned to sell the hotel as a going concern – with no bookings for next year! I have since talked to another couple of hotel owners in Brixham who knew all about him and he has been going to retire for quite a while now.
The Camel Trek
I booked a Camel Trek with a UK company called The Adventure Company last September. I have been in correspondence with them ever since. They needed 6 people to make the Trek viable and run it. I found out in early May that the trip would not run as they only had 3 people booked. I have searched for a cost effective alternative tour/trek during the second half of June for around 12 days and cannot find one. For someone who likes things organised well in advance this was (and is) a bit of a problem.
I have done quite a bit of research to solve the problem and the best I can come up with is to travel from Madrid by car to Algeciras , ferry to Tanger and train down to Marrakech as originally planned. When I arrive in Marrakech go to the Hotel Ali where a lot of tour organisers congregate. Here I hope to find a tour that I can latch on to. Plan B is to go by local bus across Morocco, sharing the trip with the locals and their goats, stopping at the sights on the way to Rissani. I think this is about a 700 to 800 kms trip. Rissani is the end of the made road after which there is desert to the Algerian boarder in the south east of Morocco.
If I can make it to Rissani I can phone up Ali Oussou who is a guide from the desert of Erg Chebbi in Merzouga, south of the Tafilait oasis near the Algerian border. He has promised to pick me up and organise a guide and a camel through him and still experience the desert by seeing a camel and sleeping under the stars for a couple of nights. Oh! I hope I have got that right and it is not seeing the stars and sleeping under a camel for a couple of nights. I’ll let you know which way round it was.
I think it is an interesting change from all the Moroccan trip pre booked holiday with no loose ends to hire a guide at the reception in the Hotel Ali or catch a bus to the desert and ask for Ali. I hope not everyone is called Ali otherwise it will be a bit confusing. I hope it is not like going to New Zealand and asking for Bruce or trying to find a lady called Sheila in Sydney.
We shall see…
Counting the countries or “How much is that rock”
Simon, Matthew and Mandy introduced me to the Country Club some while ago. This is is an exclusive club open to the members of the Greater Hunt family. There are regular meetings where the members try to upstage each other by counting the countries they have claimed as a Visit. The meetings generally take place after a long lunch or dinner when the member’s minds are at their sharpest. (Ok, maybe not at their absolute best).
There are strict rules as to the definition of a Visit. The member must clear any customs or border post so In transit at an airport is not counted as a Visit. There must also be some interaction with a local such as a purchase. It is not good enough to clear the border and just walk around. This has meant that I cannot count Italy as I walked into Italy at the Grand St Bernard Pass, cleared the border but did not have any interaction with any other peron. Sadly I was young and foolish and did not realise that this lack of interaction would haunt me in later life.
Now we come to the real issue, when I visit Morocco I plan to go to see the Erg Chebbi dunes near the little town of Merzouga, they are renowned for their great height and size. This vast pile of sand that stretches east into the Algerian Sahara has dunes that reach heights upwards of 50 meters (164 feet). Now, if I can find the Algerian border and a friendly local, I could explain the basic rules of the Country Club. I hope there will be a rock lying around that I might “buy” from him. So do any of you know how to say in the Berber dialect of Arabic “How much is that rock?”. Any help would be much appreciated.