Tuesday, 1 August 2017
ETA - 6.30
Left Esouria this morning after a night of camping outside under the stars and arrived in Marrakech this afternoon. Had a great time wandering around the souks, we brought a lot of souvenirs and gifts! We've just had our last evening meal and are about to go for our last stroll around Marrakech to experience the atmosphere for one last time. Looking forward to seeing you all tomorrow!
P.s. Lydia hopes her mum had a wonderful birthday!
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The last few days have been quite relaxing after our 5 days trekking. We made friendship bracelets with the children in the village and helped out by making carpets and two incinerators. Last night we had a great time celebrating Michaels birthday with lots of cake! Today we spent time shopping in Esouria and put our bartering skills to the test, it's safe to say some were more successful than others! Everyone has just finished the camel ride along the beach, we're now all getting ready to paddle in the sea and about to have a rematch football game with the Moroccans. It's 38 degrees right now, see you in two days!
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We're at the Airport!
Monday, 31 July 2017
The Blue Dolphins - Day 13
We woke early - although some of us (me) missed their alarm and turned up to breakfast 10 minutes late! We bundled into he minibus and headed for Marrakech again. We stopped en route for ice creams and checked into our hotel - the same one we had stayed in at the start of the trip. We walked to the same local restaurant for lunch and then headed to the market again to make some last minute purchases. Supper. Bed. See you tomorrow!
I would like to place an order please: the subject of many a conversation has been what are we going to get as soon as we get home! Please find below your son/daughters request:
Sheldon - Sparkling water please!
Lucy - Dominos pizza and curly fries
Erica - Dominos pizza and Ben and Jerrys cookie dough ice cream
Imogen - Dominos pizza, chips, chicken nuggets and triple chocolate cake
Emma - Dominos chocolate pizza and cookie dough ice cream
Joe - Pizza Hut deal "2 for 1" pepperoni and triple chocolate Ben and Jerry's tub
Sam - McDonalds and Ben and Jerry's cookie dough ice cream
Xander- Alright, this is a long order: 1x egg fried rice, 1x chicken balls WITH sweet and sour sauce, 1x large ham and pineapple pizza with a cheese stuffed crust and 2L of Fanta. Charge from my account!
Tyler - A nice chicken pathia with a peshwari naan bread 👅
Tom - STEAK
Chloe - Mum, can we have the "Feed 4 for £5.50 each" from Dominos with extra chicken strippers please.... thank you!
Tess - Pizza please!!
Christian - Seafood Paella plllllleeeaaassseee
Luke - Dominos
Alex - Don't know (jacket potato with cheese
The Blue Dolphins - Day 12
The day of the camel trek! We packed up camp and got on our camels, Essaouira (?!) bound. We loved finding out he names of the camels and gave them names of our own! After 2 hours (my neck is killing me!) we stopped and boarded the minibus to our hotel. We dropped off our bags and headed into the town for lunch. Afterwards we headed to the town square and had a few hours to browse and barter at our leisure. We returned to the hotel for a quick swim in the pool, supper and a nicknaming ceremony. The students surprised us with some gifts they had bought with money they had pooled together. What a bunch of sweethearts: good job parents 👏🏻
We went for a short walk along the beachfront and hit the hay. Goodnight!
~ Sheldon Ford
The Blue Dolphins - Day 11
Today we woke slightly later than normal and boarded the bus towards Essaouria. (?!) For lunch most had pizza!! We sat in a cafe that sprayed you with water vapour to keep you cool: it was HOT HOT HOT! Afterwards we stopped at another women's cooperative that made and sold cosmetic products. A short trek to our campsite followed. Once we arrived, we dropped our stuff and went straight to he beach!! We had meatballs for supper and slept out under the stars!!
~ Sheldon Ford
The Blue Dolphins - Day 10
Trek Day 5. End of the road! We woke early and set off in the direction of Happy Valley, where we had been staying before the trek. Several hours and nut/dates stops later we arrived at our gite for the night. In my opinion, this was the hottest, hardest section of the trek. We had a free afternoon and some caught up with the other group. We ate chicken and chips for supper and played charades until bedtime! What a day. Cheers!
~ Sheldon Ford
The Blue Dolphins - Day 9
Trek Day 4. The long way down. We woke at 6.30 and left camp by 8. 4 hours later we arrived at camp where we had a free afternoon! Card games, chilling by the stream. I washed all of my clothes! For supper we had goat! Afterwards we had a bonfire of all the shrubs we had managed to gather: our guides and muleteers treated us to some music and we reciprocated! Afterwards there was an impromptu fitness challenge! Time for bed: we have an early start. Bye!
~ Sheldon Ford
The Blue Dolphins - Day 8
Trek Day 3. Summit Day!! We woke up super early: 2.30am. Breakfast at 3. Starting trekking at 4. It was a long way up but the views were amazing!! We reached the summit at around 10. We then made our way down the side of the mountain (it was very steep!) and stopped for lunch/snack at around 1. We reached our camp at around 4. Some of us explored the river, others played Irish snap. We were all exhausted. What a day!
~ Sheldon Ford
The Blue Dolphins - Day 7
Trek Day 2. We climbed today; a lot. Up to 3500m I believe! We set off early. Breakfast was served at 4.30 lit by candles. A few hours and a couple of snack stops later we arrived at base camp. We had the afternoon off! Spaghetti for supper. We're waking at 2.30 tomorrow for Summit Day! It's going to be awesome. Everyone is looking fit and the guides are happy to proceed. Here's to a low temperature and high visibility; fingers crossed! Goodnight!
~ Sheldon Ford
The Blue Dolphins - Day 6
Trek Day 1. Lots of food. A couple of hours walking. Got way harder after lunch. We were lucky as was quite overcast and quite a lot of rain! We could hear thunder in the distance. A couple had some difficulty but we managed to make it to camp without any major issues: success! We arrived just in time for the biggest downpour yet; thankfully the mules had arrived before us and had already set up our tents. Early start tomorrow: we wake up at 4.30 and will be doing some serious trekking!! Goodnight!
~ Sheldon Ford
The Blue Dolphins - Day 5
Project day 3: painting the local school office and some time in the woman's cooperative. Tea, lunch (bean stew and vegetables!) and more tea later: we presented some money to the village and had supper. Beetroot soup and MORE vegetables! Trek starts tomorrow.
~ Sheldon Ford
The Blue Dolphins - Day 4
Breakfast: porridge. Orange juice. Bread. Plenty of butter, cheese and preservatives.
We went off to do our work: girls and Xander to the woman's cooperative with Mr Brown and the rest of us to dig and haul bricks etc.
We had tea at Yussief's (?!) house; he was the boy who had been working with us and letting us use his donkey - Jonathan. Breads, jams, butter, cake, olives and plenty of mint tea. Parents - you might need to start stocking your cupboards! You have been warned!
After lunch we played some sports! Volleyball in a circle. Loads of fun. We then worked for a few more hours in the afternoon: litter picking in the village! Not so fun but the place is looking better already.
In the early evening we challenge the locals to a game of football - the pitch was rocky and had a massive slope at one side on the halfway line. The Moroccans won!
We had cous cous and lambs for supper with plenty of vegetables. Please find below your individual messages!!
~ Sheldon Ford
Chloe - the Moroccan market was amazing, Tom made friends with all the food sellers and Tess got proposed to.
Christian - I don't know what the custom is here BUT like Theresa May they don't seem to have many seats.
Xander - Lots of love; got you a little something, Auntie. As for you Dad, I'll bring you back Christian's head. P.s. SHELDON WILL NOT STOP FARTING AND FIXING MY GRAMMAR!
Alex S - Having a great time, don't know what you want but I'll try to get you a monkey!
Thomas Gregory - Apparently I talk in my sleep, but I let a good one rip last night so that made up for it. Alex loved it 😉
Emma Barnes - I bet you miss your favourite child.
Joe Ward - mum can u clean my room plz, its a bit of a mess yeeeeeeee boiiiiii
Sam Sheppard- I made a new friend called Sir Johnathan Diddy-Donkey of Happy Valley and I made him a friendship bracelet (Mummy, can we get a pet donkey please?)
Imogen Twigt - I hope you had/have a lovely trip to the shard. I'm eating the food so you don't need to worry.
Lucy Smith - I actually made friends lol
Tyler Moore - Mum, I am not dead yet. I have been close but not close enough for your liking. As well as that, it's been an amazing trip so far, the people are so nice and pretty good at football too.
Erica Belcher - I've tried not to be so socially awkward and I have made some friends!
Luke Porcher - Amazing place, having a good time and stuff. Please buy Lib's t-shirt for gig, thanks.
Tess Oliver - I have found my true talent as a wool spinner.
The Blue Dolphins - Day 3
I was woken by the wildlife this morning - the six-legged kind. Flies in my ear, nose, trying to get in my mouth!! I think a lot of us learned our lesson last night regards the insects of Morocco. Keep your windows open, yes; but keep your lights off!! We ate breakfast together and for some of us had our first experience with powdered milk! The only water we had had just been boiled so it was cereal with hot milk, orange juice, breads, pancakes and assorted preserves.
We got ourselves suited and booted, ready for a days work in our host village. We were taken to the local co-operative; women from the village who had joined together in order to better support themselves and their families - they were weaving carpets/rugs/all sorts for sale. At this point the boys and girls separated: the girls remained behind with the women to try their hand at weaving (I'm told that the locals spent a lot of the day laughing!) and the boys went off to do some digging.
On the way, we stopped by one of Wyvern's previous projects - a school that some of our past students had worked on. Once we arrived we split into shift teams and got to working 10 minute intervals. It was here that we met everyone's favourite, hard-working, lady-donkey, Jonathan. (as named by Sam - thanks) We dug into a dried river bed, and sieved the fine particulate to be used as materials for the building that we'll be doing over the next few days. Jonathan would then help us to take this to where it needed to go - with the help of one or two student volunteers. It was at this point I rode Jonathan - thanks!
We stopped for tea after hauling a few bricks and later returned to the house for lunch. We played games and chilled whilst the sun was at its highest, then returned to do some more manual work, this time with the girls. Some hauled bricks, some mixed cement and others continued to dig. Immy is a monster with a pick axe! We stopped at one of the guides' (Mustafa's) house for tea, biscuits, bread and cake before heading back to house for supper. We had soup, bread, pasta, assorted vegetables and home made chips; just like my grandparents used to make them. Delicious!
We did some more brain teasers and the time flew by - we seem to have set the tone for the trip. And we're having so much fun. Individual posts to follow? We shall see. Goodnight!
~ Sheldon Ford
How annoying.
So apparently none of my posts have been coming through. I'm going to repost them all from Day 2. Enjoy!
The Blue Dolphins - Day 2
Today was a day of intense travelling! After a breakfast of assorted carbohydrates (breads and pastries) yoghurt, coffee and orange juice, we packed our bags, filled the buses and started our 6 hour journey to village that will be hosting us for the next 4 nights. We stopped for drinks after a little while. Moroccan mint tea for me please! A few hours later we stopped for lunch in a local restaurant (salad and miscellaneous vegetables, freshly baked bread, a lamb tajine and melon) before we carried on our way.
A little while later we heard that one of our minibuses had broken down; we had to wait by the roadside whilst our minibus went to collect its stranded passengers. During this time some of our boys played catch with the locals as other partook in some very enjoyable riddles/games. These games continued the remainder of the journey.
Upon arrival at the village guest house, we were shown our rooms and we learnt about Morocco from one of our guides. For supper we ate soup, breads and were another delicious lamb tajine followed by melon. We played card games and tried to make some bracelets but soon gave up after realising the time.
The mountains and its villages are breathtaking. After a long day of travelling and eating, I'm going to get some shut eye. Cheers, next update tomorrow evening.
~ Sheldon Ford
Saturday, 29 July 2017
The Blue Dolphins - Day 8
~ Sheldon Ford
Wednesday, 26 July 2017
Pink panthers
Big love to all,
The Pink Panthers
Monday, 24 July 2017
Pink Panthers, Day 4
P.S. Jez is living like a local in certain respects and loving the facility-free wild camping.
Saturday, 22 July 2017
The Blue Dolphins - Day 4
Breakfast: porridge. Orange juice. Bread. Plenty of butter, cheese and preservatives.
We went off to do our work: girls and Xander to the woman's cooperative with Mr Brown and the rest of us to dig and haul bricks etc.
We had tea at Yussief's (?!) house; he was the boy who had been working with us and letting us use his donkey - Jonathan. Breads, jams, butter, cake, olives and plenty of mint tea. Parents - you might need to start stocking your cupboards! You have been warned!
After lunch we played some sports! Volleyball in a circle. Loads of fun. We then worked for a few more hours in the afternoon: litter picking in the village! Not so fun but the place is looking better already.
In the early evening we challenge the locals to a game of football - the pitch was rocky and had a massive slope at one side on the halfway line. The Moroccans won!
We had cous cous and lambs for supper with plenty of vegetables. Please find below your individual messages!!
~ Sheldon Ford
Chloe - the Moroccan market was amazing, Tom made friends with all the food sellers and Tess got proposed to.
Christian - I don't know what the custom is here BUT like Theresa May they don't seem to have many seats.
Xander - Lots of love; got you a little something, Auntie. As for you Dad, I'll bring you back Christian's head. P.s. SHELDON WILL NOT STOP FARTING AND FIXING MY GRAMMAR!
Alex S - Having a great time, don't know what you want but I'll try to get you a monkey!
Thomas Gregory - Apparently I talk in my sleep, but I let a good one rip last night so that made up for it. Alex loved it 😉
Emma Barnes - I bet you miss your favourite child.
Joe Ward - mum can u clean my room plz, its a bit of a mess yeeeeeeee boiiiiii
Sam Sheppard- I made a new friend called Sir Johnathan Diddy-Donkey of Happy Valley and I made him a friendship bracelet (Mummy, can we get a pet donkey please?)
Imogen Twigt - I hope you had/have a lovely trip to the shard. I'm eating the food so you don't need to worry.
Lucy Smith - I actually made friends lol
Tyler Moore - Mum, I am not dead yet. I have been close but not close enough for your liking. As well as that, it's been an amazing trip so far, the people are so nice and pretty good at football too.
Erica Belcher - I've tried not to be so socially awkward and I have made some friends!
Luke Porcher - Amazing place, having a good time and stuff. Please buy Lib's t-shirt for gig, thanks.
Tess Oliver - I have found my true talent as a wool spinner.
Sent from my iPhone