From the medina to the docks

After breakfast we made our way through the alleyways of the medina along the beach where kids were playing soccer (they mark the lines with a stick in the sand), and on to the docks where sardines and other fish were for sale.  We were scooped up by a weathered man who explained all about the fishing to us.  Le Capitaine Akbar was very engaging and obviously knew how to reel in the tourists, but we were happy to be reeled.  He explained how they went out at dawn with nets to catch sardine and how they had to go out for two days to get sharks.  He had a weathered notebook with colored pencil drawings of these activities which he used to illustrate his talk. At the end he good-naturedly asked for a tip, which we all scrambled to find and hand over.

The docks are so colorful they are almost a cliche, except for the fact that they are working docks with men building and repairing boats, unloading fish, and displaying them for sale.  And, of course, entertaining the tourists…