Today should go up into the Atlas Mountains to look for Cicileiurus monticola. We also stopped at a few points along the way.
On the way to Toufrine...
At one point we stopped and looked for some scorpions. Unfortunately we only found a few Buthus sp.
A little boy helped us about 30 minutes. We wanted to give him money because we didn't have anything else with us. He looked at the coins as if he didn't know money and gave it back to us.
Spiny-tailed lizard
The ride was far from short, steep uphill and not paved with lots of potholes...it was very bumpy and narrow. We eventually had to turn back as the road got worse.
But you could shoot a lot of great pictures.
It was worth the drive for the scenery alone. So yes 4.5 hours drive to Foum Zguid and finally a Tajine.
Auberge L'Oasis
We were tired and ruled out the search for tonight. Tomorrow we should continue early with night search.
5th Day: Lets go to El Ouatia
But first a nice breakfast and a few pictures of the beautiful accommodation.
The walls were made of mud and hay and there was a natural scent in there. The style was very cozy and perfect after yesterday.
The rest of the facility was great too.
So good Bye...we will come back!
We now drive via Tata, Akka and then to Icht. Its 3,5 hours to drive.
Yellow crownbeard / Chili
The further you drive down, the more desert you see.
Akka
And finally a few scorpions and other animals in Icht.
Camel spider / Bug / Scorpion
It was towards the sunset, we booked a very very cheap accommodation in Tan Tan. We drove ca. 4 hours.
Road to Tan Tan
After a short rest at the Hotel Al Madina we drove to El Ouatia to look for scorpions at night.
We drove towards the coast, a gravel road and this road was swarming with insects crossing the road. In the headlights you could see an infinite number of black bugs and spiders.
Alright, we went to the field and searched separately for the first time, it was still easy to see despite the darkness. I walked a bit over the area, just saw the faint outline of something large white on the ground, thought it was a rock, but suddenly it fluttered up right in front of me and was gone. I got extremely scared. It was probably an owl...
Puh!!
It was getting dark and we found some scorpions. We searched together and at some point we no longer knew where we were, because when we were intoxicated we didn't pay attention to our surroundings. The stars were gone, it was so dark that you couldn't see anything without a lamp. No city lights, no moon...nothing. It was drizzling lightly and the wind blew around our ears, we were close to the coast and you could easily hear the sea.
OK, where's the car?
Together we tried to orient ourselves by remembering how we turned where. Of course you could walk towards the coast and follow the sound of the sea, but Cornelius was very sure of finding the way to the road, so we walked 45 minutes. I have to admit we panicked.
Yes, we found the road and came out 50m to the right of the car.
The picture shows our location in the circle and our car in the arrow.
Of course we couldn't look any further and put a lamp upright in the car so we could see the beam of light from afar.
We made another lap but after a few 20 meters we couldn't see the cone of light anymore and had to stay within the radius. But that didn't work because we didn't find anything and just kept going straight ahead without turning etc.
So...
Scorpions
It's exhausting searching at night and after hours of driving. And that was almost the receipt for it today.
We searched, and when we found exactly this Androctonus gonneti, we put everything down and took pictures in peace.
When we were done we got up, Cornelius was already a few meters away and I shone my light back down to the ground although there was no reason and saw that the car key was still there, which Cornelius had forgotten.
Of course that would have been very, very bad if we had forgotten this one in the dark.
Double Puh! And OMG!
We need rest and sleep. What an adventure night.