Me and My Monkey

Slowly all the photos from Morocco are coming in from the trip.  Between Audrey, Tom and me there are a lot.

Audrey emailed this to me--and it made me laugh.  This was taken in Marrakesh one of the first days we were there.  The touts all have their acts and it is part of the experience.  I got caught by the monkey man, and Audrey caught this--monkey brain pictorial.  They expect dirham for my having the monkey sit on my head--and can be really aggressive about getting paid.  It is fair to pay them, and fortunately the owner of the Riad Dubai that we stayed out had given us a list of what to pay so we would not get ripped off.  It was a great standard and once I knew what was the going rate (50 to 100 dirham--about $1.25), I had no issue in pushing back.  We were told to say we were from  Great Britain and not the US--Americans are perceived as rich and easy to rip off.  Not so much from the UK.

The square is alive all day and most of the night.  The snakes were a bit freaky.  I am good when I can see the snake first but having one of the tout handlers throw the snake on my shoulder wasn't really a delight for me.  I stopped filming when he walked over to me -- the film clip is below.

Morocco.  Exotic and different.