We arrived at the port early (after Craig had broken his helmet) and it was off to Africa. The sea was so rough I nearly smashed into a glass perfume cabinet.
Border control in Morocco is best described as a nightmare. We were taken to a doctor, checked for pistols, filled out around 10 forms and then charged 30 Euros, but we'd arrived.
We rode some of the best and some of the worst roads of my life on this day Flying around a corner to be faced with camel, cow, goat, crater - take your choice, this country is one big bike accident waiting to happen.
The people are really friendly but at a cost, normally about a fiver! Wherever you go, kids appear out of nowhere. I am convinced they hide in the bushes, wait for you to get off your bike and then surround you - a very successful tactic thus far.
Ramadan was proving problematic for our dietary requirements -I resorted to catching flies for sustanance - luckily I was gifted with the perfect fly catching device - like a big Welsh basking shark.
Rod and Craig had to get insurance so I came to the rescue by getting a passing motorbiker to take us to an insurance office. After 1 hour and feeling our wallets lightened by the friendly local guide to the tune of £30 [without insurance cost] we were off into the mountains.
Finally we have arrived in fes [home of the hat] and already been fleeced again for our hotel rooms! Rod was escorted to the bank for the cash by the riding the guides clapped out motorbike.
After an ok night in our mystery rhiad in Fez, which included eating 5 courses of 'stuff', we were up at the crack of sparrows to go and meet the complete stranger who let us put our bikes in his warehouse. We were a little worried when he still hadn't arrived, 45 minutes after our agreed meeting time - visions of 3 bikes for sale on Morrocan ebay started to hove into view. But eventually he arrived, took his cut and we were off.
Our target for the day was Er-Rashinia which meant lots of map reading and some very dodgy 'roads'.
Throughout the trip a frequent hazard has been animals roaming across the road, normally on blind gravelly bends and this day was no exception although we introduced a new animal to the list, Baboons, loads of them - all bearing a striking resemblance to a certain team member, both from the front and back.
Once through the vallee du singes, we were introduced to vallee du bent coppers. Two local policemen pulled us over saying we had made 6 traffic infractions and we needed to pay a monster fine. Rod took the alternative of giving him and his mate 20 and we were all friends again.
A little further down the road and the massive rainstorm we had seen from afar was upon us. We then had 4 hours riding through the most severe thunderstorm imaginable. At times we could only manage 15 mph and it chilled us to our core. Next obstacle we faced was a river which had burst its banks and had engulfed the road. Several cars / bikes had been waiting for over and hour for the waters to recede. We point the bikes in a straight line, first gear, loads of revs and we set sail - straight across no mishaps. Just the right mix of bravery & stupidity.
Rod did a strange thing on this day, with his usual psychopathic patience the wait for a truck to make a left turn was all too much. So what did Rod do locked his brakes and launched himself into the 3 foot ditch by the side of the road all of which completely unintended. Sat in a ditch full of once eaten donkey food he then started to spin his rear wheel. Following an extemely brief moment of concern I laughed to the point of pain.
A large part of Southern Morocco was experiencing some of the heavy storms in recent times. This created two main issues - firstly us and everything we packed was soaking wet and secondly what few roads there were had have been engulfed in raging torrents.
After leaving our overnight stop, we headed for Erfoud and ultimately Erg-Chebbi (Sahara sand dunes). The roads were strewn with rocks and mud but for the most part, these were fairly easy to avoid and then we met the big one. A main river had burst its banks and the road had a 200 metre stretch where the water was around 3 ft deep. As usual, there was a crowd of onlookers egging you on, doubtless wanting to see you bin it half way thru. Uncharacteristicly, I wanted to take the lead and off I went. I kid you not, the bow wave I created was about 6 foot high, mostly getting thrown back over me - but, I made it through. Craig and Rod followed in my wake and pushed thru - it was possibly the funniest thing I have ever done. Riding through a river which was up to my mid-rift, not being able to see where I was going, taking gob fulls of muddy water and hearing the others laugh like maniacs over the radio.
We reached Erg-Chebbi by about 2pm, found an Auberge, dropped off our luggage and headed from the dunes. Sand mountains, several hundred feet tall and bright orange. Riding on sand is pretty tricky and Rod had a few tactical dismounts along the way.
After about an hour, we decided that our confidence was fast overtaking our ability and had the good sense to call it a day.
The next day would see us head for Marrakesh. We were'nt 100% confident of getting there in 1 day as the storms had returned and the rivers had swelled to make many pistes impossible to cross - oh well!
The next Day was a truly incredible day. Morocco is a beautiful country with great people and that sums up the day we had.
Rod and I were up at the crack of dawn to watch the sunrise over the Sahara and prepare the bikes as usual bagpuss (Craig) rubbed his eyes several hours later. I discovered that my mud hut had mostly washed away and it was bread and cake for breakfast again.
Destination Marrakech today so we all donned our least smelly kit and hit the road, a lot of miles to cover, with some trepidation as the severe flooding was likely to cause us some issues.
I would say our fears came true but naturally I had no fear. I did however have to bear in mind the tremblings of my tour companions. We quickly came across a river which needed traversing. This was dispatched toute suite, the bigger challenge was yet to come... we were confronted (with no sense of exaggeration) a raging torrent. The gathered locals and landrover drivers advised us to turn around.
Surprisingly Rod made the executive decision to go for it, and we did. Rod led the way, I say led the way but all that means is that he went first. The 3 of us arrived the other side with huge applause. Needless to say in the main for me.
We then hit the Morrocan plains which allowed us to pick up (Rod & I) some speed and cover a huge amount of mileage.
In stark contrast to the plains we suddenly hit upon the atlas mountains where Rod practiced his rapid dismount of the bike and I discovered I have trench foot all of which Craig was oblivious to as he was still out of radio range! An incredible day of riding and if anyone is wondering about the BMW's - awesome. The marketing strapline for them is "Unstoppable" and they truly are.
Our arrival in M'kech was fairly straight forward (if you exclude the fact that it was pitch black and we were wearing dark visors). When we found the hotel, we were pleasantly surprised by how grand it looked although not as surprised as the reception guy who immediately went to find security! After a bit of a kerfuffle it turned out that we were staying in its sister hotel - not quite as palatial but at least the walls were not made of mud.
More to come soon
