When talking about Morocco, one of the first places that pops into your head may be Chefchaouen, a blue town attracting tourists from all over the world. I attended a Balfour-Browne Club trip to Morocco, and we stayed in the blue town for three nights. We were lucky enough to see more than the blue town. We visited different nature reserves near Chefchaouen that are difficult to reach without local knowledge.
I felt so honoured to attend the first Balfour-Browne Club (BB Club) meeting outside Europe since it was founded in 1976. The club is named after a great British entomologist, Professor Frank Balfour-Browne. The BB Club members are from different countries all over the world. I am very happy to be one of them.
On our trip, we went to different habitats, such as ponds, streams, and rock pools, and found different water beetles. We were like kids – happy when we found many species and disappointed when species were limited. Most of the beetles we got were diving beetles (Dytiscidae). Sometimes we also found whirligig beetles (Gyrinidae), crawling water beetles (Haliplidae), water scavengers (Hydrophilidae), and others. It was funny that we all pronounce their Latin names differently, but pronunciation didn’t hinder our communication. I definitely have a strong Finnish accent, although I’m Chinese.
I was the most inexperienced member on our trip. I had no idea about species outside Finland, and my GB net was brand new. The 1st April 2018 was an important day for me. It was my first time to use a GB net in my life! I didn’t collect any beetle that day though, as I only planned to practise using a GB net. Many people were persuading me to collect some, so I started collecting on the following day. Mat Smith gave me a tube for beetles. Robert Angus and David Bilton even gave me some beetles!
In Morocco, it’s already spring. Many flowers are blooming. White, yellow, orange, pink, blue, purple. Everything is colourful there!
Of course, our trip was impossible without energy. In Morocco, food is wonderful! We had different salads, soups, and main dishes, such as Tagine chicken. I realised that my impression on salads was so limited and negative because of salads in Finland. When I was asked if I wanted any salad, I was shaking my head intensively. Salads in Morocco, however, are very delicious. We ate a lot!
Although I have travelled quite many cities in Europe, this was my first time to see and smell the Atlantic Ocean, one of the four oceans I learned in Geography lessons on the 7th grade. David told me the coastal sites we visited are very special, as the climate there is humid. If we go further south, the climate is dry and we cannot see such beautiful meadows (Picture 14). We only wish modernisation and development won’t destroy nature and beautiful sceneries.
It was a wonderful BB Club trip in Morocco. We enjoyed the nature and culture there. I wish to visit Morocco again in the future!
Read in Chinese:《俱乐部的摩洛哥之行》
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