After checking into Morocco on the 10th we spent a couple days cleaning up the boat, visiting the pastor at the local protestant church and relaxing a bit before Monica�'s brothers and sisters-in-law arrived on Saturday evening the 12th. We shared dinner with them at their hotel and returned to the boat.

Sunday afternoon they all came to the boat where we had a relaxing time visiting together. We asked the �"authorities�" about taking the boat out for the afternoon and found out we didn�'t have authorization. We also learned the office that must grant the authorization was closed on Sundays and we would not be able to get it until Monday. We are still not sure which official had to grant the authorization because customs and police officers were there. So we sat around and had a good time catching up on old times.

Monday we went to one of the Women�'s Cooperatives for Processing Argan, about 2 hours drive from town. The women in different areas of the region around Agadir are given license to process the Argan nuts that grow in the region. After the nuts are collected and dried the oil is extracted oil and used in cosmetics and health products that are sold throughout the world. The Argan trees are grown within 200km of Agadir and a region in Mexico. The flowers in Mexico must be artificially pollinated while the Moroccan trees are naturally pollenated by bees, making honey. On our way through the hills we saw many goats climbing the trees to eat the nuts. The partially processed nuts are then collected and the oils extracted. The coop we visited also had a cooking school to learn how to make a tajine. This is a dish prepared and cooked over a fire in a clay pot. The cover of this pot is shaped like an inverted funnel with no opening. It is used to keep all the moisture inside for cooki
ng. Our chicken tajines made the perfect lunch before the drive back to Agadir.

Tuesday we visited Paradise Valley made famous by Jimi Hendrix and others.

Wednesday we drove up to Essaouira to the north. This was a fortified seafront town with a fishing port. We wandered around the medina and visited the old fort. We had dinner in a restaurant overlooking the sea then drove home.

Thursday we drove to Marrakesh, visited the medina and spent the night in a riad.

Friday our driver picked us up at 0600 to drive across the Atlas Mountains for our visit to the Sahara Desert. After 10 hours of driving we were transferred to 4x4 vehicles taking us to the camel starting point. The camels carried us to the �"luxury�" campsite where we stayed the night. I stayed in the 4x4 to the campsite because I was a little under the weather so I arrived at the campsite ahead of the others. While they were watching the sunset from their camels I was awe struck by the silence in the desert. I was even surprised to hear the footsteps in the sand of one of the workers as he approached me. Each �"tent�" was equipped with a queen size bed, running water, a sink and toilet in a separate room. Sunrise was at 7:20 Saturday morning and everyone was on the dunes to watch and photograph. Then the route was reversed to come back to the riad. We had dinner at the riad on the terrace overlooking the square inside the medina. Monica�'s family had flights out of Marrakesh a
t 5:30 Sunday morning so we said our goodbyes at dinner.

Monica and I were driven back to Agadir on Sunday and the driver helped us do some shopping and portage our 20 x 5 liter bottles of water to the boat.

We had a great time visiting family. We give many thanks to our driver, Youness, who helped us cram about 10 days�' worth of sightseeing into less than a week. We were all tired at the end of the week but very satisfied with the quality time we had together to reconnect in a way we had never dreamed of.