This was the sleekest looking cat I saw

The cats bothered me. It was spring and all the queens were either calling or already pregnant and they were all hardly older than kittens themselves. Most of the cats which I saw were attached to hotels or cafes where, one supposes, they lived off the generosity of the guests; and they were all female, at least the ones which I got up close to. I guess that an entire male would not make a good house pet. I didn’t see any old cats at all.

Star attraction at a shrine we peeked into

In Fez (I think it was there) there was a veterinary hospital to treat the cats from the medina which was a nice thought but even so, I saw one poor kitten which was going to die. I started to photograph the cats I saw - or at least the ones which stayed still for long enough. There was one which climbed into my lap every time I squatted down to get a close-up photo of it.

This one was going to die

As well as the cats, I felt very sorry for the donkeys. They were everywhere and were used to carry what looked like disproportionately heavy loads and which seemed to only have their saddles removed on Fridays … although I can not vouch for that as I didn’t go creeping around the fields in the dead of night to check on this.

This pair were carting rocks

Some of them had bags tied under their tails to ensure that any excrement was collected and not wasted in the streets and there was one which seemed to actually be plugged with a rough plastic bag to prevent any unscheduled defaecation.

This arrangement must have been very uncomfortable for the donkey

They were very placid and one small boy was touting for tips by standing up on the back of his donkey in the hope that we would pay him for the privilege of photographing him.

The donkey allowed its rider to stand on its back

The camels and horses seemed to be there for the benefit of the tourists, patiently waiting for people to buy rides but it was all pretty tame as no-one was going to trust a stranger with a valuable animal and the only camel ride which I saw was backwards and forwards over a distance of about three metres, being led by the camel’s owner.

Mother and child

… and there were the goats up the tree on the way to Essaouira. They did not look at all happy to be there and were tethered to prevent them climbing down. It was quite expensive to photograph them and there was no way we were going to be able to photograph them without paying in advance.

The goats climb up to eat the nuts but this pair were tethered

At least they were not still in the tree on our return journey.

A decorated mule