Well, back by popular demand (meaning basically Tara and Stuart…), I’m officially resurrecting my travel blog from Japan fame – though this time with a name change in the mix and from my current location of Morocco, where I’ll be bouncing about from Marrakesh to Arafay to Essaouria and back over the course of the next week.

I’ll be doing a couple of days solo either side of a 5 day small group trip. Not my normal style by any means, given that I generally prefer to fly solo for the most part, but in the case of Morocco (with all the hassle of various forms travel here inevitably entails…), I felt that safety in numbers probably couldn’t hurt on this occasion. And it’s only 5 days after all, so if it turns out not to be my thing, or there are some raging cockwombles in the group, I can hopefully still grin and bear it for that short amount of time…

After all, it couldn’t possibly turn out like my one unforgettable (in every which way!) 8 week group trip from Kenya down to Cape Town aboard the infamous Big Brother truck back in the day, which notoriously involved: a situationship with the group leader*; a glovebox stashed with Class A drugs^; and a truly horrendous thermonuclear meltdown in inter-group dynamics about 5 weeks in… Right…? Oh well, if it does all go horribly tits up, you will all be the beneficiaries, dear reader, as I promise to vent my spleen no hold barred accordingly on here… 😉

* I say “situationship”. I actually went on to officially meet the parents in Pretoria after the trip, and they frikkin’ loved me. One of those sliding door moments in life, had I stuck around…
^ To be clear, I only found this out after the fact, and was – and remain – genuinely horrified.

As for now, I landed late yesterday evening at the brand-spanking new (but for all that not particularly efficient) Menara Airport, so all I have seen of the country so far is the night-time drive from airport to hotel. First impressions of Morocco based on this very small glimpse? More “modern” looking than I was expecting (though the airport strip is always like that, I suppose, whichever the country…); an abundance of interesting-looking little cafés (but filled almost exclusively with men); and a hotel that was unexpectedly dry despite overtly advertising itself as one of of the few places in Morocco with an alcohol licence, which was the only reason I chose it in the first place (grrr…). Fortunately, I’d erred on the side of caution and stocked up at duty-free, so could toast to my arrival with a much-needed glass of wine after a long trip still!!

Only other downside so far is persistent mummy guilts as a result of leaving this widdy widdy woo widdle gorgeous face, but hopefully she won’t be too furious with me when I get back (and yes, there are times when I do seriously wonder whether I might be in an emotionally abusive relationship with this cat… She’s worth it though, the narcissistic little diva that she is… Bless.)

Anyway, that’s it for now – stand by for another update in a couple of days!