Gael warning on the Ivory Coast

[brut33]

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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The bottom photo. The scene where the police chief says the classic line, "Round up the usual suspects".

Thanks for sharing your journey.

 

[simondippenhall]

We had to resort to the craps table at Rick’s cafe to pay for our new tyre habit. Random Kiwi bloke to left turned out to be a Harley/Indian rider (but very nice nonetheless ).

On the way home I decided we should have coffee from this little ‘back of a van’ operator- delicious coffee and a lovely guy who has been doing this in the evenings for three years.

 

[twizzle]

Moments like the van/coffee make trips for me….

 

[Drumacoon Lad.]

After the excitement of Rick's and our new tyres, there was some debate over where to go next. In the end we headed inland and rode towards Marrakesh. Riding from the coast to Marrakesh is up hill and sometimes with a strong headwinds. We stopped for petrol and a coffee and spotted an adventure bike parked up, with, not one tyre, but two. Bikes with tyres on the back do look cool to my eye, and I regretted we didn't travel like that. It wouldn't have been practical with these little bikes, but it would have looked good.

We chatted to the owner of the Yamaha with tyres and he said he was going a bit further than us, on fact to Cape Town. Here are a few photos of Peter from Poland, and his bike.

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[Drumacoon Lad.]

The journey to Marrakesh was on an motorway which was mostly quiet, with little traffic. We did have a particular van for company, who was going about the same speed. He seemed to have a low regard for bikes, as he first cut me up and later did the same to Simon. In the end we wrung a little more power out of our tiny engines and got away from him, before something more serious happened.

As we hit Marrakesh the temperature rose above 30C and of course we slowed down. This is not a good combination in heavy riding gear. The traffic was heavy and in Simons view, more chaotic than Casablanca. Roundabouts and turning left were, every man for himself and we did well to keep together. I led, as I had the address on Google maps.

We didcussed yesterday, that the skills we possess as single adventure riders, are not always ideal to riding as a pair. The issue is we both see different gaps in the traffic to exploit and it can cause us to separate. Luckily we have Bluetooth voice communication and can regroup when needed. Anyhow when we got to the Riad we were staying in, the promised parking was a few hundred meters away. Now, where did that also happen recently We offloaded the bikes and parked them in this guarded bike park.
Here are the bikes outside the Riad with the photographer tucked in the shade

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[Posh Pete]

The bottom photo. The scene where the police chief says the classic line, "Round up the usual suspects".

Thanks for sharing your journey.

Nah! It's the final scene in the movie. Bogart and Rains walk away and Bogart says ... "This could be the start of a beautiful friendship ...". The fog is the clue!

And this is the best scene in the movie. Never fails to bring a lump to my throat ...

Carry on lads! I'm very jealous!

 

[Drumacoon Lad.]

It seems the visit to Rick's has been a hit with fans of the Casablanca film. I know Simon and I plan to watch it again when we get back.

Back in Marrakesh, the secure bike parking had a hidden benefit, a chauffeured ride back to our Riad. So we were suddenly on the back of one of those pesky scooters, which had been annoying us earlier as we fought the traffic. A bit disconcerting.

Our Riad, was about 20 mins walk into the centre of the city, Jemaa al-Fna(Thd Square of the Dead). Sadly the square was under reconstruction, it seemed they were putting down a new surface. The activities were still carrying on though, the food stalls, the henna tattooing, the snake charming etc. Large areas were blocked off and these large photos of Jemaa al-Fna over the year were displayed on the barriers.

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[Drumacoon Lad.]

Our evening around Jemaa was pretty typical. After a coffee in the square, watching deals being done, the snail salesman drumming up business and the sunglasses hawker passing off fakes as genuine, we dived into the souk. I was searching for a USB socket to overcome an electrical issue on the bike. The souk is vast and we asked advise on the area to search. We were told that practical items used to be common in the souk but now it's nearly all tourist merchandise. We headed in the direction we were advised, then other vendors would give us pointers and it seemed the what we were looking for had been passed ahead of us. We found the shop suggested, and he had cables but nothing useful to me, but we enjoyed our trip down the alleyways of the souk.

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[Drumacoon Lad.]

We returned to the square with the directions from some stallholders. Did I say it was vast. Back in the square we had Moroccan soup and bread, for £0.85, yes, less than £1. After another tour of the square, we enjoyed a vegetable Tagine and finished off the evening with a mint tee in a rooftop terrace, watching the sunset and views over the square. On the way out of the square I found the USB items I needed and now must find time to carry out the work on the bike.

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[Drumacoon Lad.]

Today we left Marrakesh and rode down to the coast at Essaouira. We took a few photos along the way...

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[Drumacoon Lad.]

Essaouira is calmer than Marrakesh and has a beach, harbour and souk. The souk is more relaxed and in fact the town is a charming place. We visited the harbour, wandered through the souk, Simon bought some Argon oil and we finished off the evening with 2 lovely fish tagines. A few photos from today in Essaouira:

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[richardbd]

Birkenstocks and socks. Outfit of champions

 

[simondippenhall]

Richard it’s interesting to note that birkies now seem very popular with young locals (sans socks, of course, that’s a fashion reserved for us vintage bikers ). I enjoyed a couple of the finest oysters I have had in years at that little stall.

Jim enjoying monkfish tagine

 

[simondippenhall]

The oyster vendor and some city views. Today we head for Agadir for a well deserved rest day/laundry day as we begin the second week of our trip. Jim has some bike related things to do, and (fingers crossed) mine seems to be doing fine so far.

One other piece of trivia to record: a few days ago I couldn’t get a ticket out of the toll booth on entering the autoroute. I got help and I thought nothing more of it.

This occurred again yesterday. I followed Jim and after he went on I pressed the button and no ticket emerged. I asked the official why and he said ‘your motorcycle may be too light’

 

[twizzle]

Ref the oysters, you must have an iron constitution…….looking at the hygiene levels of his stall….

 

[simondippenhall]

Ref the oysters, you must have an iron constitution…….looking at the hygiene levels of his stall….

All good this morning

 

[Edventure]

Enjoying this RR.

You're a brave man Simon. I remember having a lamb kebab from a dodgy cafe somewhere in southern Morocco and paying for it badly for a couple of days after.......

 

[Drumacoon Lad.]

Enjoying this RR.

You're a brave man Simon. I remember having a lamb kebab from a dodgy cafe somewhere in southern Morocco and paying for it badly for a couple of days after.......

Cheers Ed, good to have you along.

We rode the coast road to Agadir today. Lots of twisties, a bit of off-road, some camels, climbing goats, sea views and speed cameras. More later...off to the souk

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[Drumacoon Lad.]

Riding out from Essaouira we knew we didn't have a long ride ahead of us but we also knew the road was twisty in places, so we hoped to enjoy some corners. The road didn't disappoint, it has good road surface, lovely sweeping corners and some climbing. The bikes coped really well and the new tyres got scrubbed in a bit on the sides.

The road had lots of these zig- zag signs, which bikers love.

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[Drumacoon Lad.]

This led to lots of corners like this one, demonstrated here by Simon.

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