Gael warning on the Ivory Coast

[Drumacoon Lad.]

Yes Ed, that photo is near you, very near

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[Drumacoon Lad.]

We are slipping a bit on the updates and I'll try and do a bit if a catchup. We left our cute little town and headed further south, hoping to pass Seville get to Jerez. This would be another 500km stint, quite a lot on small bikes. It proved a challenge and we contended with headwinds and a few climbs. A welcome break came when we called into Merida to admire some of the Roman architecture that is dotted around the town. I'll certainly be back in the future to visit the town properly.

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[Drumacoon Lad.]

We had booked a small hotel in the old part of Jerez, in a tiny street. This proved tricky as it was such a narrow street, and sloped into the kerb, that it was difficult to park the bikes to unload. We had to use part of the kerb as shown by Simon's bike here.

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[Drumacoon Lad.]

This was not all, as the parking for the hotel was in another street, and tricky to find. For 2 tired and hot riders, it was not what they needed after a long day. Well, thanks to Simon we got the 2 bikes parked and then the fun began as we hadn't been told how to get out of the underground carpark. There were no stairs, all doors were locked and it seemed we had to go out the main entrance door. After about 10 minutes, we noticed the tiny switch which opened the main door. With these minor setbacks it seemed the Jerez visit was doomed.

After a shower and change we went out to see what the city had to offer, apart from Sherry of course. Well it has some stunning architecture and beautiful squares. We sat in one square, had a meal and some very good well. Maybe Jerez wasn't so bad.

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[Drumacoon Lad.]

However the evening wasn't over as we had to sample some sherry, particularly as one of us was embarrassed in a geography lesson at school, for not knowing what was the main industry of Jerez, even though his surname was and is "Sherry". We wandered back towords the hotel but had not spotted a suitable bar, maybe it wasn't meant to happen. Then, just around from the hotel there was a noisy bar, and indeed they had sherry. We started drinking outside but went inside to investigate the music. A jazz style quartet was playing, but the trumpeter was stealing the show. He was superb. However as we listened more, and drank more, they all seemed exceptional musicians. What a lovely way to end a stressful day with the memory of the earlier frustrations melting away, and Mr Sherry got to drink sherry, in Jerez

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[Drumacoon Lad.]

So today was a big day, the day we would arrive in Africa. There wasn't much riding but a lot of admin, buying ferry tickets, having our passports checked and stamped on the ferry and finally get our Moroccan customs agreement to import our bikes, temporarily. This proved to be a good days work and we are installed in a lovely town, south of Tangier, called Asilah. We just came back from a wander around the old town, with walls that look as old those in Mérida. Tomorrow, we move on again to one of the largest cities in Africa and maybe visit a rather famous bar I the meantime some views of Asilah.

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[Greyrover]

Enjoying joining you on your trip Jim from the safety of my lounge!

 

[Drumacoon Lad.]

Enjoying joining you on your trip Jim from the safety of my lounge!

Cheers John, welcome along!

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[simondippenhall]

Just a few illustrations to support Jim’s narrative

Oloroso Sherry was delicious So much so it had to be followed by another (generous) serving

 

[simondippenhall]

The translation to Morocco brought a change of pace and of culture …as evident at Asileh beach promenade at sunset

 

[Drumacoon Lad.]

For those reading this who may plan to ride to Morocco for the first time, I think I should describe in more detail the ferry and border process we used.

There are lots of rumours about where to buy tickets for the best price, well, we simply rode to the terminal at Algeciras and bought tickets for the next sailing to Tangier Med port. You pay in an official terminal and need to show passport and vehicle documents(V5 for UK). On the ferry the bikes were tied down by the ferry staff.

Once in the passenger area of the ferry, get hold of a small form from reception and fill out your details, including passport etc. This form is needed for a police check which will take place on board the ferry, in our case, in an area behind the restaurant. Watch for the queue to form and join with your completed form and passport. The police official will check your form and stamp your passport, noting a police number beside the stamp. This number is important.

The next check takes place after you arrive at the port and is carried out by customs officials. For this check you need the vehicle documents(V5) and passport, with of course the police stamp. We were first off the ferry, at a quiet time, and the complete process took 5 minutes. In fact, as we had good copies of our V5s, we used those successfully, saving the originals. At the end the customs give you a small credit card sized paper, which is your permission to temporarily import a vehicle to Morocco. This card has to be handed in on departing the country, so don't loose it. This is the end of the border process and you can then ride out of the port.

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[simondippenhall]

So today we had an important mission which was to enter the lion’s den of Casablanca, one of the largest cities in Africa and one which Jim but not I had visited before. (Apologies for the out of order photos but it’s getting late). The first photo was the crowd of bikers who were hanging out at the tyre fitters and wanted a celebratory photo at the end!)

We were in search of rubber! Specifically, a planned tyre change. You may wonder why we were doing this so early in our trip. Essentially because when I bought my CRF off this site in January the tyres had already seen a fair amount of wear. Tight-fisted person that I was, I wanted to get my full value out of the old ones on the long ride to here.

With help from @Tim Cullis I had found Motoplus in Casablanca as the best source of tyres. They were very responsive to my messages before the trip and set aside tyres that fit our bikes…and even offered to get them freighted down to Laayoune if we wanted to fit them there. Ultimately we decided to de risk the process and just fit them in Casa.
My contact Otmar …the whole team were excellent and walked the tyres up the road to the excellent moto mechanic Hablo (whom I discovered on iOverlander)

 

[simondippenhall]

So we arrived in Casablanca by 1/30, managed to negotiate a room in the fully booked Ibis due to Jim’s superior negotiating skills, got to Motoplus by 2:45 and by 6 we’re in our way with two restos bikes, ready for anything . And the day was young….and Rick’s Cafe beckoned. More later…..

 

[Posh Pete]

Great thread. Keep posting lads!

 

[Drumacoon Lad.]

With the new tyres we rode back to the hotel, once again facing the Casablanca traffic, which is to say the least unpredictable. Cars and of course scooters, change lanes suddenly, so it's important to keep a lookout and stay calm. It's also sensible not to be distracted by unusual loads on the top of cars like this

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[Drumacoon Lad.]

Back at the hotel we parked carefully and not under the trees with the parakeets, as we didn't want our bikes covered in corrosive guano in the morning.

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[Drumacoon Lad.]

So, after a shower we were ready for the 15 minute stroll to the famous bar/cafe. We deviated from the straight line, to see a bit of old Casablanca. It was pretty closed up and we were looking forward to sitting down with a beer and some food, but I did take this photo of this wonderful plant cascading down the side of the building.

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[Drumacoon Lad.]

I had visited Rick's, 11 years ago on a solo trip to Senegal and Gambia, and it was then celebrating its 10th anniversary. Spoiler alert, despite what was portrayed in the film Casablanca, there was no Rick's Bar here during the war. However an American lady, who had worked as a diplomat in Morocco, decided to open one in 2004. It was a pretty quiet place in 2014 and I had no problem getting in. Sadly not so today, as it had a large crowd outside and a "fully booked" sign. We were disappointed but satisfied ourselves with selfies outside.

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[Drumacoon Lad.]

We went off to a Moroccon restaurant for our well earned meal of salad and tagines. During the meal we resolved, well Simon did, to go back down to Rick's and see if there was a chance of still getting in. It looked promising when we arrived, but the 2 burly security guards were still there and still not smiling. They were dealing with a New Zealand couple, also hoping to get in. This time Simon deployed his considerable negotiating skills in fluent French, but the doormen remained unmoved, but the didn't chase us away. Then we saw the couple be allowed go in and our spirits lifted. A couple of minutes later we were also allowed in to the upstairs, but it didn't matter. We looked down on the diners and the group were playing and "Sam" was on the grand piano.

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[Drumacoon Lad.]

We ordered a couple of Casablanca beers. Big smiles all around, and we met the New Zealand couple again. We chatted and took photos as the Casablanca film was playing. So, an initially disappointing evening, turned into a memorable one, as happened in Jerez. It's a good lesson to take with us, as we continue our long trip south. Where shall we go next

Some photos from inside Rick's. Simon may add more...

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