I am also worrying daily about any of my permits that may expire. Before flying into a country, you have to pay for a permit to arrive and also to leave. Each permit is time sensitive. So if I don’t arrive in a country on time (due to weather, mechanical problems, etc.), often times, I have to buy another permit because the original one has expired and so forth. Again, the logistics can be frustrating and expensive (which is why I try to work such long hours each day – the sooner we can complete the mission, the less expensive it will be).
Usually, these types of situations are only seen in movies, so you can imagine how it feels. All this because we are trying to fight for our country and freedom. So, please continue to support this mission and know that we are all relying in your help!
After a few good nights of sleep:
After the great difficulty that I had in fighting strong headwinds and an overnight stop in Fes for technical purposes, I have finally reached Rabat. Though I did not get to see much of the town of Fes, I did notice that it was a beautiful city with lots of tourists coming from all different parts of Europe.
I landed in Rabat at around 1:00pm in the afternoon and taxied to a flight club called Aeroclub Royal De Rabat so that I could have a few things checked on my airplane. It was here that I would meet and great and caring mechanic, Baali Zayani. He was originally in the Morrocan Army and now works with civilian airplanes and helicopters. He took very good care of me and my airplane and made sure that I got taken care of all the way to the hotel. Even after leaving Rabat, while I was in Laayoun, Mr. Zayani drove me more than two hours to Casablanca and back to help me get parts that I needed for my airplane.
The city of Rabat is very clean and has great architecture. The downtown area has lots of palm trees and is full of friendly people. Here again, I had the impression that this was very much like any other French or Spanish city. This makes sense, given that it borders Spain to the North and has only been independent from France for a little over 50 years or so.
The real test of a new city for me, though, is my first impression of the hotel in which I will be staying. The staff at Royal Hotel of Rabat did not disappoint me in this area. Their caring front desk staff were very nice and made me feel at home from the minute I walked into their door.
The media people in Morocco were also very friendly, especially at the Arab newspaper Al Massae. Other newspapers (Driss, El Guenbouri and Ahlam Meziane) also took their time for a great interview.
It would be a great joy to return to Morocco again if the opportunity arises and I would recommend this place to anyone as a vacation destination.
Morocco PDF
