I was pretty nervous to begin driving in this country. The first week I was here, I saw two accidents involving motor scooters and - in each case - inconsiderate and dispassionate traffic just weaved by them. No one offered to help, and one of the bullies ran over one of the guys' helmets. Since then as a pedestrian, I've "almost" been hit by traffic both while crossing the road as well as walking down a sidewalk (nowhere near an intersection or driveway).
Advice from others was just as discouraging. A colleague likened driving in the city to swimming in a school of fish, "Follow the minnow to your left and right and dodge, weave and swerve appropriately; disregard whatever lines are on the road." Well, after a few days of having my vehicle here, I've been pretty fortunate not to weave the wrong direction or stray too far away from the school of fish at any of the "rumpwans" (traffic circles). Unfortunately, I did back into a column in my parking garage, cracking one of my wheel wells. In my defense, there's a column every 5 feet down there.
So, why all the fuss about driving? Well, today was my first "road trip" in Morocco (or any foreign country for that matter, minus tooling around on a Forward Operating Base or being driven places by someone else).
After the Embassy speedily took care of insurance, registration, tags and whatever else was needed to get my "Tonka Truck" street-legal (thank you State Department!), I was on my way to a day-trip to Merdja Zerga National Park, a protected habitat about an hour and a half north of the capital. Here, I met with my bird guide, Hassan Dalil, and took a boat trip around the Merdja Zerga lake, trying to snap shots of the 50 or so types of birds that frequent the area around this time of year.
Before I got there though, the traffic and highway were far more agreeable than I could've imagined. Outside of the city, the vehicles rolled along the smooth 4-lane highway at a comfortable 120 kmh (75 mph). A few expensive toll stations and some manageable construction provided the only choke points during the trip. Even had time to snap a photo of the Beverly Hillbillies...
Arriving at the town of Moulay Bousselham (home of the national park) full of confidence after my small accomplishment, I ate for the day at Cafe Milano, which served the biggest - and best - Moroccan burger I've had in my short (and admittedly inexperienced) tenure here.
After a short time, Hassan appeared and proved the Lonely Planet: Morocco recommendation correct - he's a gracious guy, great guide and he knows and loves birds. Throughout the 2 1/2-hour tour, I could count on a few things: the westerly wind ripping through my hair and fleece jacket, the distance between me and the birds exceeding 50 meters and Hassan trying everything to point out each of the 29 types of birds we spotted. For this last point, he used three different scopes, a tripod and forced us to dismount over parched earth in his attempts to share his birds with me.
Unfortunately, the wind caused about half of the season's inhabitants to ground during our trip, and those that did show at the lake weren't strongly represented. To boot, I'm still waiting for my big camera to arrive from the States (surprisingly though, this is the first time that I've actually missed it). As a result, pictures worth posting didn't include many birds in them. "ma kayn ish mushkel: fil waqt attali" (no problem: next time).
As a last resort to get me close to what we saw, a wind-whipped guide sat me down with his bird book and just as fiercely whipped through its 300 pages to show me each of the species that we saw around the wavy brown lake. Though I wrote most of them down during the trip, I was glad we recapped because I severely mispelled in most cases (except osprey and flamingo). For you nature and bird lovers, the complete list follows...
Slender-billed Gull (pinkish breast)
Black-Headed Gull
Lesser Black-Backed Gull
Great Black-Backed Gull
Audouin's Gull
Common Gull
Sandwich Tern (about 50)
Caspian Tern (5)
King Fisher (small with sharp bill; they dive into the water from rock perches for their food)
Meadow Pipit
Zitting Cisticola
Goldfinch
Cormorant (about 40)
Little Egret (about 40)
Grey Heron (3)
Pink Flamingo (8)
Shelduck
Osprey (2)
Marsh Harrier
Oyster Catcher
Little Ring Plover
Ring Plover
Grey Plover
Lapwing
Sanderling
Dunlin
Black-Tailed Godwit
Curlew (about 10, migrated all the way from Siberia)
Whimbrel
Advice from others was just as discouraging. A colleague likened driving in the city to swimming in a school of fish, "Follow the minnow to your left and right and dodge, weave and swerve appropriately; disregard whatever lines are on the road." Well, after a few days of having my vehicle here, I've been pretty fortunate not to weave the wrong direction or stray too far away from the school of fish at any of the "rumpwans" (traffic circles). Unfortunately, I did back into a column in my parking garage, cracking one of my wheel wells. In my defense, there's a column every 5 feet down there.
So, why all the fuss about driving? Well, today was my first "road trip" in Morocco (or any foreign country for that matter, minus tooling around on a Forward Operating Base or being driven places by someone else).
After the Embassy speedily took care of insurance, registration, tags and whatever else was needed to get my "Tonka Truck" street-legal (thank you State Department!), I was on my way to a day-trip to Merdja Zerga National Park, a protected habitat about an hour and a half north of the capital. Here, I met with my bird guide, Hassan Dalil, and took a boat trip around the Merdja Zerga lake, trying to snap shots of the 50 or so types of birds that frequent the area around this time of year.
Before I got there though, the traffic and highway were far more agreeable than I could've imagined. Outside of the city, the vehicles rolled along the smooth 4-lane highway at a comfortable 120 kmh (75 mph). A few expensive toll stations and some manageable construction provided the only choke points during the trip. Even had time to snap a photo of the Beverly Hillbillies...
In the City
Eat your Heart Out, Michigan Department of Transportation
Not too Extreme, but the Best of the Day
After a short time, Hassan appeared and proved the Lonely Planet: Morocco recommendation correct - he's a gracious guy, great guide and he knows and loves birds. Throughout the 2 1/2-hour tour, I could count on a few things: the westerly wind ripping through my hair and fleece jacket, the distance between me and the birds exceeding 50 meters and Hassan trying everything to point out each of the 29 types of birds we spotted. For this last point, he used three different scopes, a tripod and forced us to dismount over parched earth in his attempts to share his birds with me.
The Guided without a Bird in sight!
Bird Guide Extraordinare: Hassan Dalil (also Boat Captain and Scout)
Parched Mud Plates near the Lake. More interesting than most of our no-shows
The Closest Birds of the Day: A bunch of Common Gulls
Unfortunately, the wind caused about half of the season's inhabitants to ground during our trip, and those that did show at the lake weren't strongly represented. To boot, I'm still waiting for my big camera to arrive from the States (surprisingly though, this is the first time that I've actually missed it). As a result, pictures worth posting didn't include many birds in them. "ma kayn ish mushkel: fil waqt attali" (no problem: next time).
The Moulay Bousselham Mosque Overlooking the Atlantic on our side
The Lake at Early Afternoon after most of the Fisherman Returned with their Catches
The Coast Next to the Small Boardwalk
Kids Playing on an Inlet Beach: Ocean on One Side, Lake on the Other
As a last resort to get me close to what we saw, a wind-whipped guide sat me down with his bird book and just as fiercely whipped through its 300 pages to show me each of the species that we saw around the wavy brown lake. Though I wrote most of them down during the trip, I was glad we recapped because I severely mispelled in most cases (except osprey and flamingo). For you nature and bird lovers, the complete list follows...
Slender-billed Gull (pinkish breast)
Black-Headed Gull
Lesser Black-Backed Gull
Great Black-Backed Gull
Audouin's Gull
Common Gull
Sandwich Tern (about 50)
Caspian Tern (5)
King Fisher (small with sharp bill; they dive into the water from rock perches for their food)
Meadow Pipit
Zitting Cisticola
Goldfinch
Cormorant (about 40)
Little Egret (about 40)
Grey Heron (3)
Pink Flamingo (8)
Shelduck
Osprey (2)
Marsh Harrier
Oyster Catcher
Little Ring Plover
Ring Plover
Grey Plover
Lapwing
Sanderling
Dunlin
Black-Tailed Godwit
Curlew (about 10, migrated all the way from Siberia)
Whimbrel
I hope you enjoy the pictures and descriptions of the birds provided by Avibase. All you could need and more from there! To my Moroccan bird guide, Hassan: Thank you for the great day. To Lonely Planet: Morocco: Thank you for the great guide. To getting back safe and being able to share...
Wow! I would have loved to spend a day birding with a local bird enthusiast! Too bad about the wind, though. Was this a fresh water lake or a salt water lake?
ReplyDeleteGlad you've got wheels. During all our bus travel, we encountered very little traffic outside cities, and the roadways were uniformly well surfaced, even over Tizi-n-Tichka. Lack of prolonged freezes may have something to do with it, I guess.
Just don't hit a goat, or you'll have to pay the owner for his loss.
Jan, still have to get to your email but it's next on the list! Good question: It was a mixed lake, fed by the ocean to the west and two rivers from the NE and SE. The lake was emerald-like towards the ocean but brown closer to the rivers due to the large amount of sand in the shallow reserve (average depth of about 12 feet). Looking forward to getting down the way to Tizi-n-Tichka; the Sahara begins on Thursday: Fes - Merzouga - Marrakesh.
ReplyDelete