Forming a Nation

Hamid, our tour guide, was getting worked up. We had decided to spend an extra day in the imperial city of Fes in order to weld an oil plate onto the Renault. So while John accompanied Larbhi to this end, Nico, Kim, and I took advantage of the unanticipated layover to explore the city's famous medina - a walled-in part of the city comprised of narrow, labrythine streets replete with shops selling everything you can imagine. With John's recommendation, we had agreed to let Larhbi arrange a tour for us. I'm not a particular fan of formal tours, and it seemed this one would be no exception to my previous experiences.

We awoke to a misty overcast day, soon to be burnt off by the rising sun. We weren't in the desert yet but even here on the coast the sun began to bake the insides of the car by noon.

As we struggled to fold up the pop tents -putting them up is far easier than putting them down and Jimmy is the master at the latter- Nico with a sudden shout took off at a sprint for the waves 100 meters away ripping his clothes off as he went. "Our first day in Africa and the Frenchman is getting naked" was all I could think. It was one day to start the day.