DAY 13 Essaouira
11th December 2005
Getting up in time for the fishing boat was a bit of chore after the night before, which was spent cooking dinner and drinking and playing cards in the apartment. At the harbour the fisherman had a small wooden boat with an outboard, and we were soon underway. We passed fairly close to Mogador Island, a nature reserve on which you can’t land, but I was unable to see any of the Eleonora’s falcons that live there. After about half an hour's cruising the fishman stopped the engine and put out the anchor. We fished with weighted lines each with two hooks, baited with prawns and sardine chunks. The line was held by hand over the side of the boat so that the weight was held just above seabed with the hooks hanging above it. If you felt a bite through the line, which ran over an out stretched finger, you had to give a quick tug and haul the line up. Between us we caught about 8 fish, and the fisherman caught about the same number and a large eel himself despite spending time helping us to bait our hooks. Must have been luck! Although the swell was fairly small we all got a bit sea sick, Andy turning a nice shade of green. After a couple of hours we made the journey back to land. We cooked some of our catch, mostly pollock, for lunch back at the apartment.In the afternoon I walked to the beach for a swim. A few surfers were out riding the small waves. I went for a short swim. The ocean wasn't freezing, but cold enough to encourage a short stay. I continued walking along the beach, around the bay. A short way from the town I realised that there were tortoises pottering around near the water. They ranged in shell size from less that the palm of my hand (minus fingers and thumb) to about the size of a rugby ball. They all seemed to be walking towards the retreating tide line. When they reached the surf they’d stretch their necks to keep their heads above the water, but were usually washed backwards or flipped over by the force of the small waves. Irritatingly I hadn’t brought my camera out, as I hadn’t wanted to leave it out on the sand whilst I was swimming.
After walking further along the beach I went up into the dunes, turning back in the direction of town. Occasional tortoise tracks could be seen up here in the sand. Other smaller trails were confusing, being almost continuous bands of churned sand, with no distinct footprints, as would be expected from a small rodent or bird. Then I came across one of the culprits – a large black beetle. When I picked it up I discovered there was a large hole on the underside of the beetle’s now empty abdomen, despite it still being alive. A little later I came upon a different, very rotund, beetle with a near spherical abdomen busily making its way across the sand.In the evening we went out for dinner, then returned to the apartment. I went to bed early not feeling too well.
