A long day of Moroccan Travel – from the mountains, on foot, to Imlil; onward to the city by bus; through the air to the UK and finally, after a very late night drive, to bed at The Cottage, just as the sun was rising again…

Mohamed gave me a local ‘Jebella’ as a gift before we left the village and walked the hot and dusty trail down to Imlil. The village was full of bustle – onions being weighed from the back of a truck, chickens getting chopped up, children playing chase, men drinking mint tea and a whole lot more. The drive to Marrakesh involved several near misses with oncoming traffic threatening a head on collision on more than one occasion.

The traffic is utterly bonkers… (as are most of the drivers!) – it was a huge relief to have arrived in one piece.

On arrival in the main square, we sought refuge in a roof top cafe, where we sourced a little lunch. The expedition almost hit a major hitch, when one member became suddenly rather ill.

As the expedition risk assessment is based on the fact that I’m planning for the fact that the plan might not go to plan, we considered our options…

I’m the end we split the team so that the some could explore the maze of markets in the famous ‘souks’ – while those who were suffering, could stay close to the loo and sip water in the shade of the cafe terrace. The souks were mercifully quite quiet and we managed to not lose our way or each other. On previous visits they have been jam packed with people and a safeguarding nightmare! We had time and space to view the wares and do our best to haggle prices on a few gifts.

As the temperature hit 39°C we were glad to finally get the bus into the sanctuary of the airport.

But the drama didn’t end there – our ill team member had to literally be carried through security and it was uncertain if we’d be allowed to fly! Luckily/unluckily, after almost missing the flight, due to extended toilet stops, the flight was delayed by nearly two hours. The plus side of this gave our casualty a bit of chill time to rest and perk up a bit.

The rest of us had time to get some food before the flight took off. The downside was making what was already going to be a late night, a really late night/early morning.

After dropping off the team and picking up the van, it was nearing 4:30am by the time I collapsed into bed next to Clare…