A clear blue sky to start the day, warming up after breakfast with a cooler breeze away from shelter. Finally got started on the Blog and hopefully we'll catch up in a day or two. Jamie is not too happy at being confined to the van and is constantly asking for attention and walkies – we thought about walking him down to the beach but that is as far as we got, thinking about it.
A word here about why we booked for 5 nights but our friends only three. Originally the plan was a steady drive in company down to Algeciras with a view to crossing over to Morocco. However, as mentioned in an earlier episode, it seems that some complications have arisen as regards paperwork for Jamie and as far as we can make out the test we've had done for rabies protection is not in accordance with Spanish requirements. People who are just about to cross appear to have got themselves sorted but their test is from an EU approved laboratory whereas ours isn't. The difficulty is that no-one can point to any specific regulation and, frankly, what has been organised so far doesn't sound quite kosher – I'll say it, I believe someone is being ripped off as they are apparently being asked for an Animal Health Certificate, which only lasts for 24 hours – and of course has to be paid for. Why are the Spanish asking for this when an animal is leaving the country? Morocco certainly doesn't seem to need it! Those folk have been assured that there would be no problem on their return but we just don't buy it.
The net result is that we are very uncertain now about actually going to Morocco – it would be unthinkable for us to have problems in returning with Jamie to Spain. So for the moment we've put the crossing on hold to wait and see what happens and have decided to take our time heading south so our friends are carrying on without us. Apologies if this sounds like a rant but it has caused us some upset.
However, Colin is now in no fit state to drive so we've extended their reservation a couple of days to see if he gets better and hopefully we'll have further information.
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