Sun March 04 2018  —  e-mail Manfred

Tifnit, beach, 20k south of Agadir.

Flag Morocco Marine Snails

Sunday, April 17 2005

8 month, 26 days

Tifnit, Morocco

About Travel Photography,
Colors of the World.

Manfred is creator of ThisFabTrek.com, travel photography, a travel blog and a photography blog (a journey from 2004 to 2013). 'I set out to see the colors of the world, always I try to capture the colors'.

Seeing, is understanding, so I report and photograph, but formost enjoy and live those different conceptions of life (all that TV [and the web] cannot give). I reject jealousy, animosity, bigotry. Be free!

Manfred in the desert of the Western Sahara

The mind, when pondering at night and always asked those questions. What am I doing in corporate wonderland of bank, university, office or church? Who is the other animal asleep deep inside, the thinker, punk, creative, or Indian, vagabond and healer, maybe artist, writer, photographer, traveler, globetrotter? Oh God, dare you to think. When I saw the lies, gambles and manipulations I follow the old dream and set out for the journey of life lived, the journey to see the colors of the world.

During years on the road I have taken the turns as they came along, and realized one thing: Only such a small part of the planet can be explored and such a vast land and sea mass will always remain unknown, to me; many swamps, jungles, deserts and oceans will never be traveled. But then I am father of twin boys, Daniel and David, my most important, and I show them some of the wonders and colors out there.

ThisFabTrek, Photography and Journey, the Stories from the Road and Life around the World, stopped in August 2013 after more than 9 years, Love and Peace.

Last vehicle.

G20, Chevy Gladiator.

Chevrolet Gladiator G20, The boys in Cordillera Blanca, Peru.
The boys and Chevy van, Peru.

The G20, the vehicle that came to me for the Americas adventures.

6 wheeled Land Rover.

Land Rover Defender 6x6
Link to Foley

The vehicle of the Africa adventures, a Foley 6-Wheeled Land Rover Defender.

Before, the MB307.

Manfred and MB307
Journey, Middle East.

The vehicle of the Middle-East and North-Cape Journeys. See all vehicles.

Daniel and David with nanny Aisha, the best we ever had, black African Woman carrying white twin babies, in Bamako, Mali.

Land Rover 22.635km

Trekking 243km

Ferry 621km

Train 150km

Other cars 4.633km

Travel Blog

contains Festival/Fiesta/Art photography.

"There is nothing more powerful than an idea whose time has come." - Victor Hugo.

"What matters in life is not what happens to you but what you remember and how you remember it, to tell the tale." Living to Tell the Tale - Gabriel García Márquez.

"They never taught wandering in any school I attended. ... they never taught the art of writing a book, either. It's all so mysterious."
"Wandering is an art in itself. Wandering and writing don't mix"
"Writing demands commitment and if one thing your wanderer is allergic to is that very quality of commitment, for once one is committed he runs that very risk of failure ..." Wanderer - Sterling Hayden.

"Photography enables you to grasp a place first time round. ... Photography is a means of exploration, it's a vital part of travel, almost as essential as a car or a plane. " - Wim Wenders.

"The worst prejudice we acquire during our youth is the idea that life is serious. Children have the right instincts: they know that life is not serious, and treat it as a game..." , Egon Friedell.

"How far you gonna go. Before you lose your way back home" - Tryin' To Throw Your Arms Around The World, Achtung Baby, U2.

"If you want to be a hero well just follow me." - Working Class Hero, John Lennon.

"When I think of all the things I have done, I know that it's only just begun." - I love you, Lou Reed.

"One does not escape the Sahara - the Sahara let's you go or not" - Touareg.

"Planet earth is blue and there`s nothing I can do" - This is Ground Control to Major Tom, David Bowie.

"Glory for the crazy people/in this stupid world" - Ahmed Fouad Negm.

www.thisfabtrek.com > journey > africa > morocco > 20050417-tifnit

Agadir, a place to chill.

Map: Agadir, Tifnit, Tiznit.

I come here on the 4th of April, I have work to do, The "FabTrek" internet project.

So I spend time on the terraces of the Cafe Veranda or the Cafe Fontaine, cafes mostly liked by the local folk. There is a lot to learn while sitting in a cafe watching. The cafe is mainly busy during the morning and evening hours. Men and women come sipping coffee or tea, have some chocolate croissant (pain au chocolat) from the attached bakery, meet up with friends or business related and engage in always pretty loud talk or bark into their mobile phones. Arab language cannot be spoken in low voice. Others read the news paper while having their shoes cleaned.

People wear traditional clothes or western suits. So do women. They meet friends or husbands or rarer boyfriends. Are mostly attractive, and again wear what is en-mode in western society or traditional garment, which does not make them look any less attractive.

What they wear does not define them in any way of their political thinking, or social or religious mind-set it seems. Head-scarves (the only sign of religious belief) and long robes mix with mini-skirts and high heals. C'est comme-c¸a.

What strikes is that women seldom walk with men. You see large groups of women together and large group of men. Hardly any mixing is going on. Although both would wish to. Laughter and good spirit is always in the air. Shame I don't speak any Arab, can't listen in their conversations and grin along.

When I don't sit in a cafe I spend time in an internet cafe (café cyber as they call it).

On the 8th I happen to chat to H. again. Going it at her speed is what she wants to do. Which means another month or longer as she's just taken up another job. Money, money.

Ok, I have still some work to do on my web page.

Also I have bought some books in French, Mohamed Chouckri, a Moroccan writer amongst others and my French is still rusty. Furthermore I laid my hands on a teach yourself Moroccan Arab book. There are things that keep me busy.

Apart from studying and working the web-page I spend more time walking around town and on the beach. It is too hot especially during lunch time and the light too bright to work a computer.

Looking back on  Agadir beach
Agadir beach, ...
Watch the sea on Agadir beach
... gaze into sun set.

On the 12th of April, while on the beach with my teach yourself Arab language book I receive a message from Floh and Anna telling they are back in Tifnit. I have been in Agadir for a while, I could do with the company of interesting people. After all I am a social animal - sometimes - most of the time - depends.

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Back in Tifnit with Anna and Floh

Camp in Tifnit
Our Camp in Tifnit.
Tifnit, eves where mostly misty
Misty clowds. No clear sun sets.

Floh and Anna on one of these fine evenings inside their Unimog
Florian and Anna.One of those fine evenings in their Unimog.

Many great evenings we have. What we have we share. They cook one day, I another day, in the end we end up doing it all together. We manage to enjoy a feast every evening.

Moroccan beer, Moroccan red wine and French Pastis form a good drinks basis.

The list of dishes we have reads as follows. Mediterranean risotto, Spaghetti Pomodoro, Chips with a Tsaziki like yogurt cream spiced up with fresh herbs and tomatoes, garlic, onions and chilies and on our last evening a chicken curry cooked with spices, parsley, onions, garlic, ginger, bananas, apples and tomatoes with lots of rice.

Our all lives are being talked through, all aspects dug out. Love, happiness, travelling, views exchanged. Soon they make me a really nice present. The book "The Alchemist" by Paolo Coello.

Reading Coello is an exciting undertaking when you are actually traveling. There seems to be a big picture which anyone is part of but which you only manage to discover when you are on the big voyage. Now knowing that Heidrun will join me once again it makes sense to get things right in your head.

Floh doing houswork
Anna inside

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Testing the Land Rover in the dunes near Tifnit

I am driving, Anna is screaming, Floh takes the pictures. It is a particularly windy day. Not yet sand storm, but nearly.

I am driving, Anna is screaming, Floh is taking the picture
Never done this before.
Floh and Anna on the windy beach next to the Land Rover
But maybe it is good to do it before getting real.
Lets take some air out
Tyre pressure, we know about. How much?
which direction shall we go now?
Which path?

Windy
Windy, just like the real desert.

We get the Land Rover stuck soon. But lowering the air pressure down to 1bar makes all the difference and enables driving really steep dunes.

Further more it is important to know the territory in advance. Know which way to go, when and where to turn and can I go down a dune as straight as I want to.

The pictures below do look spectacular. But nothing worrying has happened. I have stopped the Land Rover right on the top. Driving off was no problem at all.

You can see how the wind blows. Look at the flaps.

Stop right were it makes sence
Getting a feel for it.
Flow and the Land Rover sitting on top of a dune
Makes a good pic too.

Later we got it stuck
Now we are stuck. How do you use sand ladders?

Later we managed to get the Land Rover stuck again, I should have just driven through the soft patch at the bottom of the dune, should have taken the speed coming down. But somehow disoriented I have stopped instead.

On the other side we needed to test the sand ladders anyway and it showed us how relatively easy it is to escape again.

Driving the dunes is an important step towards taking the vehicle to difficult desert territories. It is the confidence and the knowledge of what is possible that make you a better driver.

Floh back in  camp
Happy back in camp.

Today we never got anywhere near the limits of the vehicle. A great day it was.

The sand btw. has done way more damage to our cameras than to the Land Rover. This is where all the fun is.

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Testing the Unimog in the dunes near Tifnit

Two days later we do the same exercise with Floh's Unimog. Again only greatly diminished air pressure allows the vehicle to perform. Keep in mind, Floh's Unimog is from the 1980s and weighs more the 8 tonnes.

where to
Now it is Floh's turn.
Floh taking picture of Unimog which sits on top of dune
Less windy today.
Where shall we take the baby
Happy
Floh in sand taking oicture
up the dune
Unimog
Big Try

www.thisfabtrek.com > journey > africa > morocco > 20050417-tifnit

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