As we left Ouarzazate we drove south, leaving the High Atlas Mountains to the north. Our route to Foum Zguid (sounds like Foomz-zood) took us across the Anti Atlas Mountains. The road was narrow and climbed to over 1500 metres with rocky landscapes all around us, the colours ranging from dun to bright ochre.
We arrived at Foum Zguid after four hours of travelling, covering a mere 100 miles. We received a warm welcome from our host, Rachid. When we introduced ourselves he heard my name as Miriam and, although we tried to explain that I was Marion, he airily waved away our protestations and declared Miriam was a good Arabic name and continued to call me that during our stay. I recalled I had been mistaken for Miriam on quite a few occasions whilst travelling in Morocco so to save exhaustive explanations I decided to adopt the name Miriam until back in Europe. I quite liked the name – I am a great fan of Ms Margolyse.
We had first visited Rachid’s camp site two years previously and he had cooked us a delicious lemon and chicken tagine so when he offered to deliver supper to the truck that evening, we readily agreed. We had a huge plate of fried chicken with chips and vegetables. We enjoyed the meal very much.
The next day a German couple arrived and warned us not to eat Rachid’s food. They had looked in his kitchen and said it was filthy – they had seen bowls of mouldy food in a cupboard. Suddenly we felt rather nauseous!
RIP Kath Ricci who set off for the pearly gates 7th December 2021 – our granddaughter’s grandmother.
