morocco, christmas, senegal

Again i’m sorry it took so long! We arrived late in Morocco coming from Tunisia because of some bad weather. So we missed our day off in Morocco to do internet and things. We had a three day port program which was awesome. The first day we took a bus tour through morrocco going to some villages and shopping around a bit at markets. We stayed in a hotel that night in a little village which was very nice. The next day we went to another village which was very poor and all the houses were built out of clay with no windows or doors. There were tons of children there begging for money which was heart breaking. After we went to that village we went for a nice lunch and switched the bus for camels! We got to ride the camels in the sahara desert and they brought us to a campground where we spent the night. It was really cool, there was a nice dinner set up for us and a live band playing Moroccan music and dancers too. We watched the most beautiful sunset i’ve ever seen in my entire life and then stargazed for hours with shooting stars every five minutes.

The next day we rode the camels back out the desert and got back on the bus to do some more touring around. We went to a few more villages and then stayed in another hotel that night. The next day we went for a short hike through the mountains and then in the afternoon got back to ship. Everyone was exhausted and the next day we left for Senegal.

It was a great sail over to Senegal it was boiling hot everyday and ofcourse we had Christmas during the sail too. It was a great Christmas. It was weird not being at home with everyone but I was just as happy to be with my amazing crew and in the middle of the ocean :). We arrived in Senegal on the 27th and we’ve been busy ever since we got here. Its really different here and a complete culture shock. But the people are really friendly and we are doing a health project about Malaria with a bunch of Senegalese university students. There are all really nice and give us tips about how to bargain etc.

Then I was in the group to organize new years and we did that non stop for the first few days going to fruit and vegetable markets and grocery stores and cooking. But new years was great again I missed being at home but instead i was with great people and in Senegal with great weather. This morning I went to an infant orphanage which was an amazing experience the children were new born to 1 years old. They were so cute and loved getting the attention from everyone. We still have 5 more days in Senegal and then We head to Brazil. It will be an exciting sail since we’ll be crossing the equator!!