-Kai
Morocco Trip
Music: “Since I left you” by the Avalanches
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpqm-05R2Jk&feature=relmfu
I guess its about time I do this. The internet connections in the various places we have been have not been that stellar so I decided to write one big post with lots of pictures. Now that I have written it I realize there is probably some details missing, but what can you do, my memory is terrible. Here it goes.
A long time ago, on the 22nd of November me, Ranin, and Jason rented a 10 seater van and drove up from Agidir to Casablanca to collect the rest of the crew. Before we picked everyone up from the airport we stopped by the Hassan Mosque. The second largest in the world. We didn’t go inside, but from the outside it is still hugely impressive. Everything is mosaic-ed and attention to detail is incredibly impressive. Apparently the floor is glass and you can see the waves crashing below you while you pray. It also has a retractable roof and heated floors. Impressive.
Jason in front of the Hassan Mosque, Casablanca.
The doors were huge, and insanely detailed.
We picked up Zack, Chris, and Greg from the airport and we, including Youssef, headed to Agidir where Moumoud was. It was an epicly fun and ridiculous 5 hour drive down. We took it easy for a couple days, and then headed out to go on a atv-ing. It was a blast. We heade0d south out of Agidir, through the national park (that houses some severely endangered birds) and out to the ocean. A lot of the trip was through giant sand dunes that allowed for some good drifting. Definitely one of the best things we did while here.
Taking a break from the atvs in a small beach-side village.
I didn’t think Agidir itself was that great of a place. It didn’t seem like there was much to do, but there were endless great day trips to do from there, so it worked out well. One of the day trips we did was to Imouzzir, buried in some nice mountains. The road was super windy and Zack and Jason suffered the combined effects of motion sickness and a hangover, which resulted in them both throwing up opposite sides of the van at the same time. Very entertaining.
Old man jumping into the cold water at Immouzzir. Zack and Chris jumped as well.
Greg enjoying some sunshine.
The tallest of many waterfalls in this area.
This is Hassan. He is the man. He can get you anything you need, as well as take care of anything. He works with Moumoud, and was around often. He acted as a guide at times, taking us to places we otherwise would not have known about. It was really nice having him around because he fended of the hoards of annoying people that plague tourists in this country.
On the way back we stopped to look out over Agidir and the port. This mosque was built by Youssef and Moumoud’s grandfather.
After a couple of days in Agidir we headed up to Marrakech where we took a tour that would eventually lead us into the desert. It was definitely one of the most pretty drives I have been on. The road winded through the Atlas mountains with lots of jagged snowy peaks.
One thing I liked about this little tour was that we stopped pretty frequently to take pictures and have a little history lesson of whatever we were looking at.
This is a small Berber village. The Berbers were the original, nomadic occupants of Morocco. It amazed me how much their houses blended into the surroundings.
Nice views all day.
This house most likely belongs to a nomadic family that has taken their animals to lower and warmer altitudes until spring comes.
Cant remember what this place is called, but it was an awesome village built using primarily mud. Parts of the Gladiator were filmed here.
Crazy snake guy who was pretty hilarious.
This is the group we went on this little excursion with. Beside me is Vineet, who was a nice, interesting character. There were also two crazy ass British drunks. Quite a ridiculous and odd couple. And then our guide, who was a bit strange and very defensive but nice.
The tour started at 7 am, and day one consisted mostly of driving towards the desert, stopping at various places to check out the sights. We spent the first night in a really nice hotel, and ate a nice couscous meal. We left early in the morning, and made it to Merzouga in the late afternoon.
Thats our crew. Left to right, Ranin, Jason, Alistair, Greg, me, Zack, and Chris.
A donkey.
I think this is Morocco deepest and largest gorge. It was pretty awesome down here.
Jason in his newly attained desert head gear.
Ranin getting his swagger on.
Camel, but not camel. Dromedary is I guess the correct name for them as they only have one hump.
The long road to the beginning of the big desert dunes.
Christobear on his camel.
This was Jason’s camel. We had three guys on foot who led the procession. Each of them had a camel on a leash, and each camel was tight to the back of the one in front of them so that they all moved in line together.
This is our entire group.
Sand dunes
I was pretty annoyed that this part of our trip was so short. We headed out to the camp we stayed at around 430, and the sun had set before we got to camp. In the morning we left before the sun was up, so we really didnt spend any time in the desert during the day. We ate an awesome meal out there, and enjoyed a sky full of amazingly bright stars.
We brought a boogie board with us, and me Chris and Greg did a little dune surfing. It was quite fun.
Greg, Nin and Vineet strolling through Marrakech.
When we got back to Marrakech Ranin, Jason and Zack headed back to Agidir to get Jason’s stuff so he could fly home. Alistair, Chris, Greg and I stayed the night and explored a little. We ate in the main square, which is an intensely good smelling and incredible busy area. Its quite a good workout for all the senses with all the smells, noises, and sights. We then went out for a couple beers. The waiter tried very unsuccessfully to rip us off, and we called it an early night.
In the morning Ranin came back after dropping Jason off at the airport and we spent the day wondering around Marrakech.
This is Morocco. Tagines cooking away, good smells, and chaotic streets.
Strolling through the Bahia Palace. More ruins then palace. I was not too impressed.
Next we went to the spice souk. Everywhere I looked there were impressive mounds nicely colored spices.
We spent the night in Marrakech again, before heading back to Agidir for another couple days. We didnt do much as far as sight-seeing goes this round. On the 4th Greg left and Aleksis arrived from Marrakech by bus.
It was really good to see Leks, and I am stoked to be stopping by his place in Madrid for the night tomorrow on my way home. Leks hung out for a couple days and then Chris him and I headed up to Marrakech for another night before he had to go back to the airport. We had an awesomely cheap and delicious meal and took it easy. Marrakech was definitely one of my favorite cities here. The atmosphere is is really active, and it seems as if the air is almost crackling with energy.
Chris and I dropped Leks off, went to the souk again for a few gifts, and then headed back to Agidir.
We went for a drive up the coast from Agidir to check out the often impressive coastline. This is in Tamri. And its a crap picture.
The next day me, Nin, and Chris rented surfboards and went to surf. We went back to Tamri, where I tried to teach Ranin a little about surfing while Chris went out and surfed. Surf here was pretty terrible, and I would say the highlight for be by far was watching this heard of about 200 camels come down from the road and drink at this pond. Then they all stood around eating.
We then headed back towards Taghazout and Agidir, where we found this awesome place to surf called Boilers. It was a hell of a paddle to get out there, but a really nice wave that broke right below a huge cliff. I think the paddle to get out there took an exhausting 15 minutes or so because the beach that you could get into the water at was no where close to where the wave was at. I think Ranin took some good pictures of this area.
A bunch of fishing boats still at work as the sun is going down.
Me or Chris getting out of the water at Boilers.
After another day or two of hanging out in Agidir me and Chris took the overnight bus from Agidir to Fez. We got there at 7 in the morning, checked into our hostel where we met a really nice and cool Australian guy, Andy. We then spent the day wandering around the city together. All in all I didnt think Fez was that nice. Luckily the hostel gave us back our money for the second night and we just moved on to Chefchaouen instead.
This is the city of Chefchaouen. Its all blue and white, although I expected it to be a little more blue, granted some areas were more blue then others. We ended up being on the bus with two of the girls from our hostel in Fez, so we all hungout together for our time here. We were all yearning for some nature, so we woke up at 630 and went out for an awesome hike.
We ended up climbing this little mountain that overlooked Chefchaouen and the area.
Christopher.
Its a pretty nice looking town Id say.
We spent one more night there before taking the early morning bus back to Casablanca, where Ranin met us. We have been here for the last couple days, staying at Youssef’s parents house again. Chris left this morning, and we are out of here tomorrow. Looking forward to seeing you all, and my pup. love.
Hello Morocco
Music: “Lost Ones” by J Cole
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-vQ_VsTkn0&ob=av2e
Welcome to Morocco. It is a welcoming place indeed. A country filled with people who interact as if they are dear friends. Its a beautiful thing. Me and Ranin arrived on the 9th, and were greeted by Mahmoud at the airport. It was about 3 in the afternoon, and first order of business was to find some schwarma. We failed pretty miserably. After a one and a half hour quest for gloriously delicious food our hopes were squashed due to the Eid, a week long holiday. We found some good lamb sausage sandwiches to eat, and then continued on to the house. Their house here in Casablanca is amazing. The front yard consists of a nice grassy area with a pool (currently empty). The house itself is made up of several stories, with a number of sitting rooms and places to hangout. Its amazing what nice architecture can create. This house is so much more interesting then any house I have seen in the US. We spent our first evening just kicking it with Mahmoud and Usef (brothers who both studied at UF and lived with Ranin for their time there) until the wee hours of the morning. We woke up late and headed to the airport to pick up Jason. We spent the next day or two just lazing around, enjoying amazingly good food (Tagines!!!!). Food here has been so ridiculously good…I get so excited about every meal. On Saturday evening we headed to beach house in the small beach-side community of Mimosa. We rented a two bedroom house for about 10 bucks each a night. Mahmoud had friends who lived in the same area, so it worked out really well.
The beach!
We didn’t go swimming because we got a late start and it was pretty cold by the time we got to the water.
This is TJ, Mahmoud’s pup. Its part rot and part something else. Cute as hell.
Mahmoud was able to borrow a wetsuit from a friend and hop in the water for a while. Here he is catching a nice barrel.
We stayed at the beach two nights before heading back to Casablanca to repack and then we left immediately for the northern village of Akchour, near Chefchaouen. We did most of our driving at night, and it was rewarding view that met our eyes in the morning.
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Entertainment for the evening…Jason looking his best. ha.
Again we rented an apartment, this time for 30 bucks a night…this being the view from our balcony. Awesome!
Mahmoud and Ranin enjoying some morning sun. It got pretty damn cold up in this village.
We spent two nights here, and spend a good portion of our days hiking up in the mountains. The first day we hiked up this trail that ran along a larger stream, but also had this stream running right beside it. The trail zigzagged back and forth across it often.
Water falling.
Mahmoud and Jason standing on the path.
Mahmoud and Ranin, reunited.
The hike we took followed a path up along the stream into this valley with jagged walls which caught the sun beautifully. Whether or not I could capture it is a different story.
When we got to the top of our hike we came across a guy who made up some mint tea, which if you didn’t know is a large part of the culture here. Always tea is not too far away.
Jason drinking said tea.
Mahmoud
The village of Akchour. We stayed on the second story of the building closest and dead center of the picture. It was a wonderfully quiet little place with not much going on at all. For meals we would go to the one restaurant, and often be the only people there. Breakfast was fried eggs with delicious olive oil, eaten with bread (as is everything here…which is great) and mint tea. For dinner we had a ground lentil soup and fried sardines that were delicious. Other interesting meals so far was a concoction of chopped up stomach/intestines/liver of a lamb in a delicious sauce, eaten with bread. And then snails, escargot, served from street vendors in a bowl. You are given a toothpick and you dig the snail out with that. Might not sound that good…but its f-ing awesome.
Day two of hiking. Jason enjoying a great view.
Ranin taking a break after a particularly steep climb.
The valley on the second day. We hiked along a trail that ran along the right side and increased in altitude as we went along.
yeller.
I thought these were nice colors together
Epic views
One of my favorite pictures of the trip. not sure its justified. thats just one good looking donkey
Lovely mountains
I also like this shot.
On the drive back to Casablanca
Still driving.
We are now back in Casablanca, but I think we are heading to Agidir tomorrow so we can sort out some details for when the whole crew gets here on the 22nd. At the high point there will be 8 of us here, plus Mahmoud and Usef. It shall continue to be a trip of epic proportions. Thats it for now. peace
Some last pictures
Music: ” Blue Sky” by Common
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4K2OqXfYO0s
Its been a good last few weeks at work. I am pretty sad to be moving on, but at the same time stoked about the next chapter. Two weeks ago we did ropes training-setting up ropes and repelling down the cliffs above where the epic break called Jaws is. It wasn’t breaking when we were there, but if you feel inspired…youtube it and see what its all about. Its nuts.
Jill hanging out on her way down the cliff.
Sunsettin pretty
yep
Munchy time up at camp this past week. We worked on clearing a ten foot wide 600 m long path so we can at some point build a fence up there. It was ridiculously hot during the day but nice and cold at night.
Rum n cokes out of coffee mugs
Lopaka teaching pointing something out
The sunsets I have seen here have been nothing short of spectacular.
Nice clouds
Moon arisin
In the morning I woke up to find the valley right by our camp filled with these really cool wispy clouds
In other news…on my way to show my motorcycle to two very interested individuals my muffler literally cracked in half and melted part of the plastics on my bike…wtf…so now scrambling to find a cure for that disaster. needless to say neither of them were thereafter that impressed with the bike. Looks like im taking a hit on this one. ouch. Ill be home in a week, and I cant wait, but first I have a pretty awesome weekend lined up and a very social week of saying goodbye and eating lots of food.
Riding the last rides
Music: “Down N out” By Nappy Roots
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AymdW5qIe0Q
Last weekend I had one of the best motorcycle rides of my life. Me and Chris headed up the Poli Poli trail, all the way up to the boundary fence of Haleakala. it was an awesome ride that took us up a one lane, super windy road that eventually turned into a dirt road. It didnt take long before we were literally riding through the clouds in what seemed like apocalyptic surroundings. There were endless signs warning of trees falling over, and not much sign of other people apart from some hunters we came across, who were probably not so stoked on us roaring through their hunting grounds on our dirt bikes…but what can you do. ha. it was epic. currently working on posting some video, but its being so aggravatingly slow, so we will see.
Would be another video, but its just taking too long today. Wish I could post a video of riding close up to the top. Maybe later.
Us boys at the top.
Last week at work was pretty standard. We camped Wednesday and Thursday, and did some snare checks and made sure our fences were intact. I had awesome hikes both days though, dropping into super deep valleys down the steep slopes. It was good fun. This was the epicly bright rainbow (not captured that well with the gopro) that ended right into my tent, alas there was no pot of gold though.
We were on a pretty skinny ridge. Here is a video of the copter picking us up.
The one picture I took this weekend, but this is us heading to Poli Poli again with the pup in our pretty recently acquired truck (430$). We went up to visit Katy, a friend of Chris’, and we all went on a walk up in the forest up Poli Poli. This is probably one of my favorite places I have been on Maui. We walked around in the cloud and sat on various trees talking about life. We headed up a trail after a while of sitting in one place, and I heard a pig grunt, and Hauna heard it too. Off he went, and moments later we heard the distinctive sound of a pig getting stretched by a dog. Of course we were all wearing flip-flops, and it was wet (up in the clouds) and they ran up hill…anyways, we finally reached them and Hauna had a 30-40 lb sow clamped in his jaws. I was a bit concerned in the beginning, as I didnt have a knife or my stitch kit, but luckily the pig was small enough not to hurt the pup. After a decent game of tug-of-war, me and Chris managed to separate the two. I hauled the dog off and Chris let the relieved pig trot off into the woods. It was a decently bloody affair, but I think the pig will be okay. I cant help but be proud of the pup. He did so well, seeing as thats what his training is. Anyways, it was pretty damn exciting. We then headed to the lovely town of Paia, where we ate dinner with six other friends before retiring back to our side of the island for an early night.
In other news, two full weeks of work to go, and then just two days after that and Im done with this job. Posting the motorcycle for sale today, and wrapping up other loose ends. Shortly after that I will be heading back to the Mainland…Cant wait to see you Gainesville.
A post for my mother…she keeps askin
Music: “California Sunrise” by Dirty Gold
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLTEPzKRa-k
I haven’t taken any pictures too recently, but these pictures are from a while back when we caught two pigs. This is how we skinned them, and then de-boned them for a later date when we smoked them and ate em. Tasty.
Me and Travis working on pig number one.
Pig cape?
De-boning
Pig two. We didn’t finish until well after dark. Takes a good amount of time.
More recent news. Both Chris’ and my work groups camped all week together working on this huge fence line. Its still a work in progress, but definitely nearing completion, at least this leg of it. It was a week full of laughs though, the guys on Chris’ crew are hilarious, and its incredibly refreshing to change up the crew.
We were up at 515 this morning and in the water by about 530 for a 3 hour surf session that was pretty damn fun. It was nice to be in the water again after a week up in the mountains.
I only have about a month left here, and I have all my tickets to go home and to go to Morocco, so I am getting itchy about moving on. Cant wait to see all the great people of Gainesville, and take a quick trip up to North Carolina, and then on to Morocco, which is shaping up to be an epic trip, with the crew growing in number. Got some errands to do today before an action packed rest of the weekend, so Im off. Peace
A Trip Up To The Top Of The World
Music: “Ill Fight” by Wilco
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sifqGTzLGck
Its Sunday again. It seems like I blink and then its Sunday. The weeks fly by. I had a really good week at work this week. It was only a 3 day work week for me, so that probably helped. Tuesday was a super slow day around the office, but after work headed out for a great sunset surf session. On Wednesday we headed up the very peak of the West Maui Mountains, Pu’u Kukui, or the Hill of Enlightenment.
Hanging Out Like Wet Clothes
Music: “So(ul) Amazing” Blu and Exile
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jq-crVkXcaw
Another week has slipped away. I think I have said this before, but time seems to fly here, probably because there is always so much to do. Me and the work crew camped Monday to Wednesday, and although the work we did was probably the least exciting thing we do, we had a great time. It was the first trip in a long time where I have thoroughly enjoyed everybody I work with. We laughed almost the whole time, which of course makes the work that much better.
This is our camp spot up on Wahiculi ridge.
Each night we were there we set up our chairs and watched the sun slip beyond the horizon. Not a bad view.
Jill, Palani, and John watching the sunset. It was pretty chilly our first night, as it was super rainy and windy.
Howzdat for a sky
Johnnie B.
Left to right, Travis, John C., Lopaka, and Jill
Uluhe…continues to be one of my favorite plants (unless I have to walk through it)
Copter coming to pick us up (you can see the crew in the left of the picture). This ridge is pretty thin, with the skids of the helicopter hanging off the edge.
Me hooking up one of our loads…flying out all our gear
And again.
Thursday was another pretty good day, as I spent it hunting with a guy from the Nature Conservancy. He brought 4 dogs, and me along with 3 other people joined him. No luck catching anything though.
This weekend has been pretty laid back. My biggest accomplishment was figuring out how to wire my blinkers, and for the first time since getting here I know have a fully street legal motorcycle! Woohoo. Now tomorrow I have to get my safety renewed and Ill be good to go.
Im heading home to go pick this plant that grows wild for a neighbor, who will pay me 5 bucks a pound, so im going to see how worth it it is. We will see. Good night
Dining on Swine
Music: “Serenity” by Gentleman
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4O6mY3kZm4&feature=relmfu
As seems to be the pattern, its been a long time since Ive posted. This place keeps you busy! The last couple of weeks have been pretty standard, which is a good thing, seeing as the standard is so amazing.
Work has been pretty laid back. Our boss got married, so he was in a good mood for a while, and we didn’t have any camping trips lately either. Work has consisted of pretty easy day trips to check snares and to ensure our fences are still intact. Two weeks ago I went and set a trap we have below our fence line, with another co-worker. We baited it with pineapples, macadamia nuts, as well as pig feed that spits out two times daily. We came back the next day, me and two co-workers, and we had two big sows in the trap. We managed to get their hind legs tied up, before hopping in and stabbing them in the heart. We hung them up and gutted them on the spot. We then had to hike them back to the truck. I threw one on my shoulders while the other two guys carried the others. Needless to say I was covered in blood by the end of the day. Once back at the base yard we headed up to one of my coworkers house, hoisted them up and skinned and then de-boned them. Then last Thursday we went up to his house again and cut up all the frozen pig into smoke-able sized pieces, and marinated them for 17 hours before smoking them for six. Friday evening the process was complete, and after splitting the meat many ways, I got about 10-15 pounds of it for myself. I generally dont eat pork, but as I was responsible for killing and the preparation of the animal, I was happy to eat some. We made an amazing curry with some of the meat last night, and it was mind-blowingly good!
The island of Moloka’i looking pretty one morning on my way to work. This is the view as you drive down the dirt road from our house.
This is the smokehouse that we used to smoke the pig. At least 100lbs of meat.
This is mine and Chris’ and various other helpful peoples’ latest project. All the nice pictures of the garden were too big to put on here. We started last weekend, and pulled and cleared this incredibly overgrown garden. Since then we have tilled the dirt, and as of today have planted almost everything we have planned to plant. Its pretty damn exciting, my only regret is that we didnt do it sooner, and I probably wont see most of the fruits of my labor, but hopefully someone else will get to enjoy them.
The rest of the last couple weeks has consisted of surfing (when possible, as our truck is STILL broken). We worked on our bikes a good bit yesterday, and I got my back indicators working…one step closer to making the bike I have been riding for the last 6 months street legal…finally. The pup is doing wonderfully well, despite having lost his balls about 10 days ago (poor fellah). Its for the best I suppose…haha. Thats it for now though, Im off to get some food for the week, we are camping for the next three days so I have to stock up on some supplies.
Much love.
I need to make a serious effort to take more pictures…thats my goal. Sorry for the lack of exciting photos.
Some pictures real quick
These are all taken by the wonderful Jenna. Thank you!
Hauna pup at Slaughterhouse.
Riding the north road.
About to head off for a Hana roadtrip
It was a long drive
Puppy love
Bedroom eyes
Riding up in the pineapple fields.
Hauna looking stoned as hell
Jenna took some amazing pictures, this is only a small fraction of them. Thanks again Jenna.
