We spent the last 14 days staying on the campground. No shopping trips, no other big adventures, just daily life in a camper van. Combined with a headache in the first days of week 8 we decided to merge two blog posts into one. This post tries to give you a glimpse into our daily routine on the campground, but before that, we’ll have to speak about the two major events of the last two weeks.

THE FERRY TO SETE

At the very beginning of week 7 of our trip, there was an unusual feeling in the air. Word just got out, that France has organized a ferry from Tanger Med to Sete on Thursday. This did not come as a surprise as starting with the lockdown there was a huge traffic jam forming at the border to Ceuta. A couple of hundred camping cars were waiting on the side of the street and unsurprisingly the situation became unsanitary and uncomfortable really quick. 

The Moroccans reacted quite quickly and established a big parking lot with showers, toilets and the possibility to empty the chemical toilets. From what we heard they did a good job in setting this up. Nonetheless, I can imagine that the people stuck built-up pressure on their embassies (mainly France) which in turn ended up organizing this ferry.

So this news travelled really quickly on Monday noon and we got asked by more than one person whether we bought tickets. Carole and I quickly discussed and came to the conclusion that we would not try for tickets on that ferry. Our reasoning:  First, we continue to believe, that the people with jobs, urgent family business etc. should be on that ferry and we don’t want to take away their space. Second, whether the ferry really goes or not, was not 100% sure. Third, tickets were starting at a whopping 1500€. Fourth, it’s nice where we currently are and in Switzerland, we wouldn’t be able to do much else than now.

Given the situation and the uncertainty of it all, I’m convinced there is no right or wrong decision in this situation for us and a lot of the other campers here. The ones with jobs and obligations back home, on the other hand, had an easy decision. 

The human mind always wants justification and confirmation that it did the right decision. As a result, Monday and Tuesday the campground was full of discussions, mostly trying to defend their own decision. We tried to keep out of these talks but at the same time, we were a little nervous to see how many people would stay on Wednesday.

Wednesday morning the “ferrypeople” got ready and we said our goodbyes, safe travels and wishes before they left. Overall I would estimate a fourth of the campground left for the ferry. And as word got back, it worked out well for them. Once they arrived in Sete on Friday they even were escorted by the police to the highway, so no one would think about doing touristy stuff along the way.

THE EASTER BUNNY IS HERE

The second major event was the easter weekend. For us, it was a welcome break in the typical routine, but we sensed that for some of the other campers it was only with mixed feelings, as they realized that they would be celebrating a major holiday far away from home and family.

Our neighbours Yves and Marianne were already prepping Friday morning by cutting and painting bunnies on cardboard. We got invited to help with the egg painting, which was very fun. As normal colour was not available, Yves managed to buy car paint (!) from a local and so Carole sat there painting the eggs with car paint trying to not get too close to the colour to avoid getting dizzy. I tried to assist with stirring the paint and holding stuff. Unsurprisingly, I managed to have more paint on my hands then her at the end. 

Later during the day, we received a message in the campground WhatsApp group that whoever will bring a decorated egg to the reception on Sunday would receive some chocolate. A very welcome change for all of us and so until Sunday the egg painting was a constant source of laughter and topics to chat about. 

Later the guests also managed to collect some money for an easter gift for the staff, which are continuing to do a fantastic job all around.Sunday we exchanged our egg for the great chocolate egg from a local french confectionary. Tasty!

In the afternoon, Dave gave another concert in the restaurant and a lot of people showed up and danced. In England, it’s apparently custom to decorate your hats for easter and so a bunch of English girls were sporting beautifully decorated hats on the dance floor.

Overall a super fun easter!

DAILY ROUTINES

Apart from the aforementioned two major events, our daily routine looks similar throughout the day.

Typically we would get up and get a shower before heading into the restaurant for breakfast. There the waiter Ahmed would bring us the usual breakfast with the only thing changing being the drink I have. We would then use the computer to do some admin, write and mostly play games until noon. Mid-morning the second waiter, Rawad, shows up and more often than not I would get another drink or coffee.

Afterwards, it’s time to do the daily chores which include doing the dishes, laundry and cooking. If we’re lucky we have not yet missed the vegetable cart and would quickly buy some fresh things. After lunch we would go back to the pool, to swim, play games, read and learn on Duolingo.

Once it gets colder we move back to the camper van where we would prep dinner and watch something on the tablet or laptop before heading to bed.

In between, we might do a small walk around the campground and play with one of the many animals here.

SATURDAY: BBQ TIME!

For Saturdays, we established a new routine with our English neighbours. It’s BBQ time. Starting at around six in the evening we gather in the free lot next to us and set up our tables at a quarantine-compatible distance. So far, Dave has been the chef. The first time we bought meat from the french butcher and the second time we had free leftover meat. Mel and John, an English couple, had found flights back home and we inherited their meat, Jackpot! The BBQ nights are really fun, with interesting discussions and a couple of glasses of wine. 

ANIMALS

The whole campground is full of animals. No dinner without at least a cat or a chicken begging for leftovers. But there are also more exotic animals around. 

CONCLUSION

Another two weeks have passed and despite the lack of travel, we enjoyed ourselves. We had the first heatwave and got through some sick days as well as some lovely BBQ nights. I believe we can manage here for some more time but the travel fever is itching a little bit more every day. Fingers crossed that we don’t have to post pictures of self-made Santa Clauses here. In a week the Ramadan starts. It would be interesting to experience it first hand in Morocco, but I fear, that on the campground daily life will prevail and we won’t notice a big difference.

FACTS & FIGURES:

• Eggs decorated: 5
• Dancing times: 2
• Kilometers driven: 0