Himi and his family were the owners of La Palmeraie D’Amezrou, a camp site set in the shade of palm trees in the Draa River Valley a mile or so outside the town of Zagora.
There was a restaurant on site – no written menu, Himi just told you what was available. We had been coming to La Palmeraie for more than ten years and Himi knew us well – so we left it up to him to feed us each evening and we were never disappointed. Friday night was always couscous. During Ramadan our evening meal was served at 5pm so Himi’s family could eat promptly after the sun went down. Himi looked tired, he said his sons had come to visit him at around at midnight and they had stayed up all night talking (in spite of having to be awake the next morning soon after 4am in order to have something to eat before sunrise). Never mind, Himi retired mid morning for a long rest – leaving his wife, Fatima, to meet and greet at the camp site . . .
There was a small swimming pool which a few brave guests were using, despite the water being too cold for us. By the month of May the weather would be hot and the pool would be very popular. By July the temperature would be in excess of 40° and Himi and his family would retire to the coast until September. The site didn’t close but very few European travellers would have been able to stand the summer heat.
Every few days Himi would give us a lift into town to get fresh supplies. Like a mother hen, he would oversee our purchases in the market before leaving us for half an hour to wander, arranging with the owner of a nearby store to look after us until he returned. When we got back to the rendezvous, the stall holder placed two chairs on the pavement so we could sit in comfort to wait for Himi.
Occasionally we really did need Himi’s help. Tony was drawing cash from an ATM and the machine retained his card; nobody at the bank seemed willing to help. When we told Himi, he took us back to the bank and spoke to Reception; a security guard was sent to retrieve the card from the machine. To our great relief, once Tony’s identity was checked against his driving licence, his card was returned.
March was the wettest month in Morocco and there had been a lot of rain in the north and along the coast – and snow in the High Atlas mountains. We decided to stay as long as we could in the south and hope that the weather improved before it was time for us to head north to Tánger Med. If that meant spending a few more days being looked after by Himi, we certainly weren’t complaining – the days slipped by very pleasantly. The temperature in the shade was a lovely 25°.
Himi worked very hard and we got the impression the family were prosperous by southern Moroccan standards. He and Fatima had five children, they were supporting their eldest boy at university in China. Another was at university in Marrakech.
We paid a total of £65 per day for our stay which included rent, electricity and water, daily fresh bread, taxi service and evening meals including a bottle of wine (£12).
