The cost of diesel fuel in Morocco had gone up considerably since our last visit two year’s ago, it was now £1.11 per litre.
When we wanted to break our journey to have lunch we would choose a garage where we could see wood smoke – which indicated they had a charcoal barbecue on which they cooked terracotta tagines of meat and vegetables. Often there would also be a butcher’s stall on site where you could buy meat to be cooked on the wood fire.
One lunchtime, when we stopped to refuel, we ordered some kofta from the meat stall. The butcher minced the beef and added spices (cumin etc) and the kofta were then cooked on the barbecue and served with bread, salad and bottled water. The meal was delicious and cost £14 for two, with tip.
Whilst enjoying lunch we would take the opportunity of having the truck washed, a job that took one man 45 minutes and cost £15 with a tip. That fuel station happened to have a barber shop where we both got an excellent haircut. The young barber used clippers on Tony but he cut my already short hair with scissors. I was very pleased with the result.
We drove on to Midelt, a town at the foothills of the High Atlas Mountains, elevation 5,000 feet. Our host, Havid gave us an enthusiastic welcome. Havid had a loud voice and, when he spoke, it was as if he was a Shakespearian actor and the people on the site were his audience. His English was pretty basic but he had been taught several swear words by a Scottish guy who was a long-stay resident on the site. Havid’s fruity swearing caused great amusement amongst the English-speaking guests. The family had several dogs plus a new puppy that one of the guests had rescued from a rubbish tip – the Scotsman named her Scooby Sue.
Food was available, cooked by Havid’s wife. He would give her loud instructions over the phone about what we wanted to eat. The telephone call would last several minutes and sounded rather ill tempered – you could hear his wife’s voice shouting at the other end.
In spite of this, a delicious meal was delivered to our truck each evening as the sun was going down. We stayed three nights and paid Havid £95 for our stay. We felt it pretty good value but when we left Havid gave Tony “a gift for Madame” which was a clear indication he had done well out of us!
