121120 Morocco Day 11 Tuesday, Laayoune - Tan Tan Plage

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121120 Morocco Day 11 Tuesday, Laayoune - Tan Tan Plage

Woke up at 5,50. Been up twice during the night. There is a police man standing in the corner of the block. Checking out on us?? Who knows! Probably he did as the clerk later on told our guide that "we are being watched".

Breakfast should have been served at 6.00 but that was the time when the first member of the staff arrived. They don´t really bother do they? So, we were late again. But not that much. This time we had a young man guiding us out of town on moped.  Our portier had whispered to Anders that the Morroccan police are watching us. And they sure are. They seem to think we are there to make an uprise among the Western Sahara people. I have no clue if we ever met any of them. I don´t think so.

Well, we headed out of town the northern route, but as we were about to bird at the bridge the young man on moped lost us when we turned in on a parkinglot. But our driver horned on him so he turned and came back. The three of them, gteh guide and our drivers seemed to have a good time as we birded the area. We had a good time birding and shooting pics as the sun rose. Lots of great shots on stilts and cattle egrets.

Well, our escort leaft us on the other side of the bridge and we continued north. Our first stop was at a bushy desert area 50 km north Laayounne. Hoping for warblers but was dissappointed. The area was almost empty. At least on birds. Some ruins was still lingering. Leaving the place at 9.55h

We were a bit more lucky at Kniipfiss(?) the fishing and camping area with the cats. There was a lot of birds. Vaders and others. Spoonbill (Skedstork), flamingo at teh sand dunes further out and Eurasian Curlew (storspov) calling a lot. We left at 13.35 to go further north. We were passing by an area where they produced salt. But we did not stop there.

Eventually we did check out the three riverbeds we visited on our way south. But now it was high tide so lots of water there and hardly no birds apart from gulls. At the last one a car  arrived with 2 couples of morroccan people. They started to vade over to the nearest island of sanddunes. The two young women had some trouble with the skirts as they did not want to get wet. They had a lot of fun and the youngest women waved at me to follow. I could not do that of course. :)

Close to Tan-Tan Plage we made a final stop to look for seabirds. Nothing much again. But some photo opportunity for me. This time two cars stoped at our group wanting to know about birding. Maybe we are turning the Morroccans into a birding people. .) Also two cars of policemen stoped and checked us out. And now our driver starts to get annoyed. They know us and have all details since we went south. So why bother us now?

It is a bit strange as we went along the coast. Here and there in empty areas is a house or tent. Men sitting at the edge fishing in the middle of nowhere. You have to wonder where they live. And why they fish so far from villages and people. Do they live by themselves in a tent supporting themselves with only fish? Guess I´ll never know. And at one place I saw a woman heading straight into the desert. God knows where to because nothing was visible to give a hint.

When arriving at Tan Tan Plage we went shoping but as we were late not much was open. But we got what we needed and then we went to the Hagounia Hotel. The "shoping centre" looks tidy already.

I got the same room as the last time. The one with the blue doors and bad shower. We met again for the birdlist. But now Anders is getting sick and skipped the dinner. I think everyone had it now except me. My troubles is the foot and the lips, still.

I talked with Janet, my daughter, on skype. She was working. And wrote a bit on the trip report.

Tomorrow we are going back to Guelmim and a new hotel. Breakfast is supposed to be at 6. But who knows? We shall leave at 7 to be able to have time enough at the lark fields and the waterhole.
Natti!

No lamp at the bed. Lucky I brought my own flashlamp.

 

Seeing the coast like this you realise Morocco will one day disappear in the Atlantic Ocean.

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day 11, 121120 Tuesday, återväg t Tan Tan Plage, stop här o där

day 11, 121120 Tuesday, night in Tan-Tan Plage

Hagounia Hotel, Tan Tan Plage. Tel 05 28 87 90 20

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121114 Morocco Day 5 Wednesday, Tan Tan Plage to Laayoune

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121114 Morocco Day 5 Wednesday, Tan Tan Plage to Laayoune

Woke up at 6 to pack and be ready for breakfast at 7.00h. Today we was sea birding at Several places along the coast south of  Tan-Tan Plage. We left Hagounia Hotel and headed out at 7.08 to a place 10km south of Tan-Tan Plage. It was quite nice to be there as the sun rised.



There was some rocky cliffs below us and also some kind of small settlement. The ocean was quite wild with huge waves roaring the beach. There was some seabirds and vaders and some Little Egrets (silkeshäger). I waved to the co-driver to come and take a look in the spotting scope. He seemed to like it. We also saw some Great Cormorant (storskarv) and  Thekla Lark (lagerlärka). The cormorant looked quite different from what I am used to. It had it´s winter plumage and I had never seen that before. We left this place at 8.40 when the sun was well up.

Stop 2 Oued Chebika at 8.55.  This was a, now almost dry wetland as it was low tide, with the road going over it. We birded both sides and I also took a lot of sand dunes shots. There was a couple of Black Wheater (svart stenskvätta) who was very nice. And some large gulls. Not much vaders though. A grey heron and some Little Egrets (silkeshägrar).



And... I almost forgot, Flamingoes! After that we ended up in our first police control. But they was satiesfied with the paperwork done by Anders so we were fast continuing.

Stop 3  Oued Fatma Is an inlet that was flodded now. There was a lot of Audouin´s Gull (rödnäbbad trut), Blackstart (svartstjärt) and Black Wheater (svart stenskvätta). We went up on the hill overlooking the inlet. Wild water here as well.








Stop 4  Oued El Waaer or Ouaar. Pick one. It was not that much here. Then we made a short stop at a gasoline station. And went to the loo. We did not see many of these but a  few in the south region. At least, this one was clean.  :)

Stop 5  Oued Khnifiss was an old camping ground and maybe also military or fishermen. There was some activity going on there. It was a lagoon with a sand dune at the farther side. A few people seemed to live there and they had a lot of cats. A lovely black kitten among them. This one liked to eat my yoghurt. It was lunch time now.  :)  There were quite a lot of birds in this area. Probably because of the lagoon. There were ibises, storks, vaders and birds of prey. And I got a shot of their local wagtail. :)

Glossy Ibis

Stop 6 Layounne, almost at the end of todays trip. A nice desert river with a lot of reed. This was a birders wonderland I guess. The river never reached the ocean. I got myself some new species here like Glossy Ibis (bronsibis), MarbledDuck (marmorand), Black-Necked Grebe (svarthalsad dopping) and so on.  Loved it.
 Laayoune Flamingo Lake

The shot shows Glossy Ibis flying over an area of Urban Saharan Architecture that we passed by later on as we neared our hotel. To bad we could not stop. It seemed quite interesting.

Then we headed into town to find a supermarket. After some search we found one rather close to the hotel we should stay in. Sahara Line Hotel, I took a shower and it worked well as soon as I figured out how it works.
 
We met down stairs at 19..00 for the birding list of today and then dinner. This hotel had a menue to choose from so I ordered chicken and it was good. Lol, and on this hotel we could get a bear to the meal. :)

I have got a coold and my lower lip is swollen. My nose running. Not fun! Some bug is running loose in the room attracted to some gum bears I have so I had to "hide" it.

Tomorrow will be a transport day down to Dakhla. About 600 km shall be covered. We will be stoping here and there of course but no long birding session.  Breakfast is served from 6.30 and we shall leave at 8.00h The surrounding area is rather boring now so maybe I´ll put my birdbook in my backpack.


Time to go to sleep. It is now 23.30.   
The bug is no more!
 

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Laayoune Flamingo lake on the opposite side.

 
 '......................................................................,

day 5, 121114 Wednesday, Tan Tan Plage, Oued Chebika, Oued Fatma, Oued Ouaar, Khnifiss Lagoon
day 5, 121114 Wednesday, night in Laayoune http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Aai%C3%BAn
Sahara Line Hotel, Avenue Kairawane, Laayoune Tel 05 28 99 22 26
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121113 Morocco Day 4 Tuesday, Guelmim to Tan-Tan Plage

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121113 Morocco Day 4 Tuesday,
day 4, 121113 Tuesday. Leaving Guelmim and Hôtel au Rendez-vous des Hommes Bleus
On route to Oued Sayad, Oued Boussafen, Oued Draa, Tan Tan Plage
 



Breakfast with Moroccan tea

Woke up at 5.30 and departure at 6.00. Problem was that the staff did not wake up until 6.00 so breakfast was delayed. We had it in the lounge sitting in sofas. But it was ok when it finally arrived. Our guys was stressed and tryed to help with placing cups and stuff.  They wanted to leave as soon as possible. This was the only place where I actually found a, dead, .....

 

 

 

We were packed and left at 7.00h. First stop was a few km south of Guelmim at Oued Sayad. We walked alongside the dried waterbed. At first it was all dead. Probably due to the chilly morning. But then birds started to wake up. Then it was quite interesting. But what I don´t understand is why the Morroccan people throws plastic trash all over the place. That is not fun.

This settlement was located across the riverbed. I was aiming for a bird when I saw the women and the donkeys. The bird flew away and I did not see it anymore.
 

Stop no 2 was Oued Boukila. That was a large dry riverbed. With lots of bushes. It was very hard to walk in it at least as I was carrying both cameras and the tube. Most of the visible birds was larks. But on the other side of the road was a lot of dromedary camels (or Arabian camel) and some birds and  dragonflies at a waterhole. That was a fun place. The Trumpeter finch (Ökentrumpetare) was a very nice bird and there was about 30 of them at the most.

 

We was there for a long time and was back to the bus at 11.30 for the short drive to the next stop. I was a bit disturbed as we were told we should have time for lunch break. But in practise it was only 10 min in the bumpy bus. No time to rest an aching back and legs. And my toes start to feel like blisters are coming.

Well we headed out on a really big plane, just called the Lark Plane,  to search for diffferent larks. This time I did not bring the spotting scope as I was already to tired for that. But I managed without it. Sometimes the guys would let me look in theirs.

 

 

 

 

It was late when we arrived at the bus and continued south to Tan-Tan Plage. I went to the back of the bus to sleep a while and to rest that aching body. All those hours in the sun and dry land and bushes had taken it´s toll. And I am a bit distressed and envy of Anders pics too. Seeing his shots makes me really see the bad condition my camera is in. He has a Canon D7 with a really great lens.  :(

Ökenstenskvätta - Desert Wheatear

There was no Supermarket in Tan-Tan plage so we had to walk around in different shops to find what we need for tomorrow. Then off to the Hagounia Hotel

I got a room on the first floor with a view over the ocean. A bit spoiled by powerlines. But you can rarely get it all, can you?

I took a shower whitch was quite hard here. But I managed. Then I tried to connect with internet and it worked. We met again at 19.00 to go through todays birdlist before having dinner. Yea, dinner. Strange. First plate with lots of rice and sallad. Did not eat much as I was expecting a main course. BUT the main course was just a big plate with lots of fried fish and octopus. What a dissappointment! Luckily there was bread on the table. To finish off we got some fruit. And I ordered a cup of coffee.

Now I am writing of course. And I have to tend to my blisters.

Tomorrow we will have breakfast at 6.00. A bit later then ususal. And I look forward to our first stop. We are going to a waterbird location. :)

TanTan Ólage hourbour seen from my balcony with my long lens.
Tan-Tan Plage

 

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day 4, 121113 Tuesday, night in Tan-Tan Plage http://lexicorient.com/morocco/tan_tan_plage.htm

Hagounia Hotel, Tan Tan Plage. Tel 05 28 87 90 20

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