I had an unsuccessful day of trying to do chores before heading to Morocco. Two motorbike shops didn't have the engine oil I needed and the micro fuel filter was a no go, even at the KTM dealership. I didn't get any money transferred into my travel account as I'd forgotten the passwords and got locked out of the account. This means I have to call their offices and try to get it unlocked now! I never got the bike washed before I got on the ferry and finally, I never got any euros out to pay for both the Moroccan insurance and the Mauritania import fees. Hey ho, I did get on the ferry, 3 hours later than it should have as it had some issues that were sorted whilst it was in port.
I stupidly allowed myself to get scammed by a dodgy Moroccan 'fixer' and thus paid more for the ferry ticket than I should have. Next time, stick to the plan and don't let chatty folk distract me!
Whilst waiting at the ferry port to load, a couple turned up in an old military camper truck. We ended up spending the ferry journey swapping travel and life stories. Such a lovely couple, he was a classic car mechanic and she was a professional singer. Both had retired after living in Spain for a few years and were now off on jollies in the truck! Their truck is a proper adventure on its own, coupled with the saga of trying to get their Syamese cat into Africa which goes everywhere with them apparently. You can follow their laid back trip on usual social media platforms. (twogeeseandagaz)
Once off the ferry, we split up and as I was on a bike I sailed through all the customs. I then waited for them to say goodbye. Hopefully, we'll catch up again in the Anti Atlas region somewhere.
I headed off as the sun was setting and the drizzle was starting to come down. I took the eastern coastal road down past Tetuan towards Chefchouen, a route I've never traveled before. The towns are very cosmopolitan and really busy.
Once I left the lights behind, the road started to climb to a pass, then descend via a series of bends and roadworks, where the road is being made into dual carriageway. In the dark, this was interesting, so I kept tagging onto the back of vehicles and following their line as there were no road markings and no lights anywhere. Folk just walk out across zebra crossings too, usually wearing dark clothes, so you only catch them because they are moving, then its on the brakes sharpish!
By 9.30pm, there was no sign of anywhere to camp and I knew the bike needed oil, so I pulled into a garage and asked what oil they had. The guys spoke really good English, so I also asked about places to stay. They offered to let me sleep in one of their rooms for the night, then fed me with lamb and cauliflower stew thing, some mint tea and some coffee. The bike got tucked into a locked room for the night and it turned out my room was one of the lads who was working for the night. Their generosity was amazing and very much appreciated, as was all the stories we swapped all night.Bedtime was about midnight, although, again, I've lost track of the time.
Tomorrow is Guercif, plus a few small chores to the bike, although now the engine oil is sorted, I feel a little better. Its 10/40 synthetic as opposed to 10/50 but it is still better than nothing!
