Morocco

Getting to Morocco from Barcelona was quite the trip. We had a late flight out of Spain (our only option) that connected to Agadir via Casablanca. Our plane ended up leaving Spain late for some reason (we never figured out why) and we barely missed our connection. We were stuck in Casablanca Airport at 2am trying to find small office that dealt with hotel accommodations without speaking a word of Arabic and almost no French (the two languages used there). We didn't have our strollers to wheel the babies around in because "gate check" there means that you can pick it up with your luggage at your final destination. Trying to keep track of two free-roaming toddlers as you go through customs and immigration and then wander through a closed down airport while you're tired and frustrated and feeling very pregnant is NOT fun. Not fun at all. By the time we found the little office I was ready to be done and the man at the desk could see it on my face. They gave us two hotel rooms, pointed us towards the shuttle and with that we were able to finally get some rest.We woke up a few hours later, ate some breakfast and headed out to meet the shuttle only to find that we had just missed it. It was fine, we had gotten up early to be sure we had time, so we settled into some comfy chairs in the lobby and let the kids run around a bit before heading off to the airport again. Twenty minutes later I see Bex with his "concentration face" and I know that he's doing his morning business. I figured I'd have time to go and change him before we left, but as I was picking him up the shuttle came and, since we didn't want to miss it, I decide to wait out the 5 minute drive and change him at the airport. Big mistake. Big brown-gross-wet-leaking-on-my-white-pants mistake. We got to the airport and I dug through my bag to find a new diaper and something clean to put Bex in. I did have a diaper, but didn't have an extra outfit. Luckily Robyn had a spare for Elle which just happened to be bright pink. It did the trick and neither Bex nor I minded that he was romping around the airport in a hot pink onezie!

We arrived at the Atlantic Palace (ahhhhhhhh...) where were greeted by Ryan (ahhhhhhh...) and a clean room and a clean bed and fresh food and water and a giant beautiful pool (ahhhhhhhh...). I had never been so happy to arrive somewhere in my whole life. It literally felt like walking into a dreamy mirage in the middle of the dessert.

Beckett had a whole lot of fun in the pool with his Daddy. He loves the water and thinks that everything that his Dad does is the funniest thing in the whole wide world. I love watching them play together!

Here we all are at the beach in Agadir. There was a nice boardwalk to stroll along. It's such an interesting blend of cultures. There are lots of Europeans that visit the beaches in Agadir as well as the locals. The contrast in swimwear says it all: European women in bikinis and Moroccan women in long dresses and head scarves.

We rode camels, of course. Beckett hated it at first and screamed when we got on our super-sized camel, but after a few seconds of the back-forward rocking he decided it was fun and started to laugh. I wasn't sure I was going to like it either, but a taking a family ride on a camel in the desert is actually a pretty good time.

We took a day trip out to visit Taroudant, an old walled city with a bustling market. It was interesting to see how people live there. In some ways it feels like you've stepped back into Biblical times and then you see someone on a cell phone selling DVD players. Odd. And interesting.

The tree goats were a definite highlight. Our guide was telling us about them as we drove and sure enough if you looked on one side of the street or the other you could see herds of goats here and there, some laying on the ground in the shade and others up in the tops of the trees. Apparently the goats like to eat the nuts that are high up in the branches and figured out how to climb up and get them. We pulled off the road to take a few pictures of the goats and the herder was quick to bring some tiny baby goats over for us to hold.

These ladies are pressing the nuts that the goats "pass". They make a fine oil that is used in cosmetics (all around the world). It was interesting to see the process from goats in a tree to hand lotion.

Our last night we saw the strangest sunset. The sun had a "spotlight" that was going strait up into the sky. I kept thinking that it was going to be a fleeting moment, but it stayed through the whole sunset. I've never seen anything like it before in my life. It was a good way to end our visit in Morocco.