The Souss valley full of cloud in the morning

some piccies

Mohamed in for scale... a green glade.



Travelling salesman - berber mountain style



Any ideas on what this tree is?



Daddy piggy protecting the rear from attack by Ruby (who was standing at the bottom of the hill barking)



some of the beautiful wild iris that have made an appearance this last week.

time to catch up

Yes I seem to be constantly apologizing for not writing... though I don’t feel too guilty as I do write a bit more regularly than other people :).

I have been a bit under the weather... I think I have an inner ear infection which has been making me feel a bit dizzy. I say I think as it has not been bad enough to go to the doctor though it has been going on for a while now so maybe I should. I had something similar a few years ago and I seem to remember the only thing the doctor could give me was something that made me feel totally doped up... so I think I would prefer just to deal with the dizziness.

I also hurt my back – not sure what I did but a few nights sleeping on the floor and being very careful about what I do seem to have sorted that out – though my hip has started hurting now. The hip though painful is not as incapacitating as the back pain was.

There is not really any news to report. The weather has not been so wet as last February (which shouldn’t be surprising as that was the wettest spring for 35 years) but there has been enough rain for the beautiful spring to continue. There are now masses of little white crocuses and alium (I think it must be what the locals call wolf’s onions) and here and there some beautiful dwarf iris and some wild clematis and little patches of aquilegia. I had not seen much in the way of wild pigs recently until today when I saw a whole family with lots of little babies.... so maybe they haven’t been out much while the babies were being born.

I had an unpleasant encounter on Friday... and have debated whether or not I should blog on it since it will be bound to cause sisters etc to over-worry but I think I need to give you all my news.. the good with the bad rather than just sugar coating everything. So starting with I am fine – what happened was that a man tried to molest me... This is something that Mohamed has always said might happen – apparently all Moroccan men think all foreign women just want to have sex with them... especially when they are out walking on the hills with their dog!

So I was out walking Ruby on Friday. For the first time since my back problems we set off to do a good walk, crossing the river with the aim of going up and along Camel Hill and then back by the Horse Valley. I saw a man coming up the path behind me and thought I would lose him when I turned off the track to start climbing the hill but instead he ran to intercept and catch up with me and kept following when I turned and started walking back the way I had come. At this point I stopped to try and see what he would do and what he did was come right up to me and lunge at me... trying to grab hold of me and kiss me.

Luckily for me, the last time I was out on a long walk I found a stick and had was carrying it with me. When I found it, I was in two minds whether to keep it or not as it is a little short and quite hefty – but I thought maybe my dad could make me a nice handle for it when he came out....and I thought it would be good while I was having this bit of dizziness. Any way I raised my stick to ward him off and he grabbed the stick and we wrestled for a few moments and I managed to hit him in the side of the head with it often enough for him to decide to back off. When he did that I could see that I had managed to cut his nose a bit... He went off in the direction of the track that goes through to the next village, muttering to himself, and seemingly disappointed to find out that I was not as expected.

I set off home – a little worried that he might double back and try again, or go for reinforcements... anyway I went home the long way and made sure I wasn’t being followed and got home safely, a little shaken but actually more angry than anything and determined not to let him spoil anything more than this one walk.

Mohamed came home just after I got in and together we went in the car to the villages over at the other end of the track to see if we could find him... we both thought that he needed to be taught a lesson but that we needed to have a bit more information before we went to the police. But we didn’t find him and don’t really know where he comes from or where he was going so in the end we didn’t go to the police. Mohamed asked around our village to see if anyone had seen him and then went back round the villages with one of the neighbours but still didn’t manage to track him down.

Oh and Ruby and Snitch (who were both with me) were totally useless... Ruby just carried on hunting squirrels while this went on!

While we were on our manhunt we went into some really nice countryside... there is a lake on the other side of the hills that I didn’t know was there!

As I said I am determined that this is not going to spoil my enjoyment of my walks. On the whole Morocco is much, much safer than the UK. I am aware that Moroccans have a funny idea of foreigners and that men have a funny idea of how to treat women and what women should and should not do. I tend not to engage with other people while I am on my own and always make sure I am suitably dressed. Usually if I see someone, I take a detour to avoid meeting them. It does go against my natural inclination to be open and friendly with people – but when in Rome....

I do think it is appalling that anyone should believe that it is OK just to go up and grab another person and feel possibly even angrier that the same man would not have attempted anything on a Moroccan woman. The people that Mohamed spoke to were quite shocked that anyone locally would do such a thing.... it is the sort of behaviour that they expect from city dwellers – or arabs! The neighbours apparently said that I should just go for walks on the home hill and not stray too far. There is a very tribal mentality and an innocent or naive belief that women are safe with the men they know!

I would also guess that if the same thing had happened to a Moroccan woman – certainly to a young unmarried girl – she would probably not have said anything as the repercussions on her and her reputation would make life difficult for her – and I wonder if the same guy or others have got away with doing what they like with Moroccan women for that precise reason. And so Moroccan women do not go out walking except in the company of other people and it is commonly believed that women should be constantly scared for their safety..... for me it is one sign of an unhealthy society and it needs to change.

I will continue to take my stick and be aware of who else is on the hill with me and I will see if I can get hold of some pepper spray. I will be happier if we manage to find the man and take him to the local Sheriff... but I am not too confident that will happen now. Mohamed still thinks I should have a big dog for protection – or even that I should carry a gun! I can’t really see myself carrying a gun let alone using one and I think it is a bit OTT.

But I am not going to start living afraid to do something.

Any way on a lighter note I have had a couple of really good ideas recently and thought I would share them with you.

The first is not so much an idea as a thought. Rosie was sharing a photo of her latest pair of shoes with me – lovely purple suede with cross over straps and a gold ankle buckle – as she said “it is like wearing Prince” and while I loved them I could not imagine wearing them as the heels were just too high. Then it struck me that when I am old(er) and wheelchair bound they would be the ideal shoes to wear! Who cares if you can’t walk in them - you can sit and look at them!

This would also work with really delicate shoes eg with sequins that would just fall off when you walked in them. So now when you see a pair of shoes that you would love but cannot imagine being able to wear.... buy them and stockpile them for your old age! I already have one pair – high heels, gold sequins almost impossible to walk in. (and before the nay sayers weigh in with but what if your feet are arthritic and out of shape ... well I will just have an operation!)

So my other cunning plan came to me when I was thinking about poor Snitch (Ruby’s friend) who is now heavily pregnant... more unwanted puppies on the way. How about a dog sponsoring scheme? People who would like a dog but live in a flat in a city or are out at work all day could send me a monthly amount and I could feed the village dogs, get them all neutered, maybe foster them out and keep a daily blog of walks I do with photos of the dogs and things we find. We could even extend it to people coming for dog walking holidays! What do you think...kind of a cross between a penpal and adopting an orphan or sponsoring a child? Almost like a virtual pet. Answers on a postcard please.