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December 2018 & January 2019 – Travel Summary and Statistics
December and January were jam-packed with adventure. We spent four weeks of these two months with Mac’s parents in the Canary Islands. The rest of the time was split between southern Spain and Morocco.
We started off December by finishing up our amazing house sit in Benalmadena. Not only was Benalmadena a wonderful city, it was surrounded by some incredible places too. Mac and I filled our days house sitting with a few day trips to said nearby cities which furthered our growing love for the Andalucia region.
Related Posts: House Sitting in Benalmadena
After leaving the spunky kitten who we adored, we spent the next week in and around Granada. It didn’t take long to fall in love with the surrounding mountains and rich history of the area.
Related Posts: 3 Hikes in Sierra Nevada
From Granada, we headed back west to Seville where we had an uneventful night before catching an early flight to meet up with Chris and Drew on Gran Canaria – the biggest of the seven Canary Islands. The next four weeks were spent between Gran Canaria, Tenerife, and La Gomera. The weather was unbelievable (we had no rain and barely saw a cloud in the sky!), and we were able to fit in a bunch of hiking in and around the copious amount of time spent by the pool 😉 The four of us celebrated Christmas and New Years on the Canary Islands and I had fun going back through my journal and reflecting on 2018.
Related Posts: A Very Canary Holiday
We ended our time on the Canaries by flying to a new-to-us country (and continent): Morocco! The first few days were overwhelming as we tried to navigate the new culture and language(s). I’m so thankful we had two incredible CouchSurfing hosts to guide us around for that first week. We’ve been in Morocco almost a full month now and have covered a lot of ground. From our first stop in Agadir we headed east to the Sahara Desert. We stayed near some pretty cool kasbahs (an old Moroccan clay castle), and did some awesome hiking through the Draa Valley and the Gorges.
Related Post: What to Expect at your First Hammam
*I have a bunch of Moroccan blog posts lined up, but thanks to the slow WiFi we’ve had, they’re still in limbo. I’m hoping to get them up soon though!
Statistics
Number of Countries: 2 – Spain & Morocco
Number of Cities: 13 (Benalmadena, Granada, Maspalomas, Costa Adeje, San Sebastian de la Gomera, Agulo, Playa de Santiago, Agadir, Tagounite, Tamnougalt, Ait Benhaddou, Tamellat, Tizgui)
Number of Beds Slept In: 18 (plus one overnight bus – our first and last in Morocco #neveragain)
Number of Rides Hitched: 6
Number of Kilometers Hitched: 334
Number of Times I’ve Spoken Spanish Instead of French: dieciocho… I mean dix-huit!
December 2018
January 2019
Budget Breakdown
As I mentioned before, December and January were a bit different because we were travelling with Mac’s parents for almost four weeks. Our lodging expenses therefore weren’t as high as they might have been if we hadn’t been travelling with family. The transportation section is so large because it includes our €220 flights to Morocco.
Total: $2393.79CAD (over two months)
This works out to $19.30CAD per person per day.
Highlights & Lowlights
Hiking hiking hiking!!! – Mac and I did some truly great hikes in December and January. From Granada to La Gomera we really put some miles on our hiking shoes. I was never really an outdoorsy child, but I’m so happy to have found a true passion in hiking over the last few years. There’s something about being on a trail, surrounded by untouched nature that really captivates me. We’ve already done a few hikes in Morocco and while they’ve been different to the lush green forests I’m used to, the dry desert has definitely made for some incredible scenery.
Christmas (& NYE) in the Canaries – Spending the holidays on a tropical island with Mac and his parents was so wonderful. I made cinnamon rolls and a whole Christmas feast, and the four of us watched the fireworks from the balcony on New Years. I was happy to be surrounded by loved ones (and the warm weather was certainly a plus), but I did battle a pretty strong bout of homesickness. We’ve been away from home for nine months now, and while technology has allowed me to stay in touch with friends and family, it’s not the same as seeing them in person.
Moroccan Hospitality – WOW. I am continually blown away by the hospitality we’ve received during our almost four weeks in Morocco thus far. Between our two CouchSurfing hosts’ families providing all of our meals, to the random strangers that have offered us tea, we’ve never felt more welcomed in a country.
Sensory Overload in Morocco – It’s not been all sunshine and rainbows, however. Trying to navigate Morocco and it’s seemingly endless number of different languages, coupled with the new-to-us religious practices and the never-ending touts and people trying to sell us stuff, well, it’s been tough. I’ve learned so much during our time here, but it’s all been a tad overwhelming. We’ve had to take a few down days just to decompress and rest.
What’s Next
We’ll likely spend a few more weeks in Morocco, gradually working our way north towards Spain and continental Europe again. After that… well, we’re really not sure! Our Schengen visas are proving to be quite annoying to plan around, so we’re toying with the idea of getting a Working Holiday visa somewhere, or heading east to escape the visa confines. We’ve talked about heading back to Canada, but then Ontario got hit with an insane polar vortex (-20C + wind chill, uh, no thanks!) and stupid amounts of snow (30+cm!!), so that made our decision to stay in a warmer climate a little easier. All this is to say, your guess is as good as mine when it comes to what’s next for us!
How was your end of 2018/beginning of 2019??
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