Vantastic Voyage

***This draft has been ready for 2 weeks. Poor internet has prevented us from uploading pictures, so more to come later or may be available on Facebook sooner***

We managed to get a few climbs in while staying in El Chorro. It would be Ratha’s first outdoor climb and I was taught a few lessons from a nice couple from the UK, David and Laura. We would spend an additional night in El Chorro, this time on one of the forest roads that lead to the various walking trails up to the climbing areas. Before driving into the night we briefly met two Germans, Martin and Sven, who were just arriving to the Olive Branch. Believe it or not, they were driving an older version of Mac, a 4 gear 85’ LT running on gasoline. They named theirs Ivan,”because he’s loud like a Russian and he drinks like a Russian”. They too were Morocco bound and we exchanged contact information before heading up into the woods. We did a good bit of driving around before hunkering down in a spot for the night. It was very dark and the drizzle affected Mac’s traction on the way up the steep climb. We would meet Laura and David that day and they were a lovely couple we shared the afternoon with. We had given them a ride into town the day before after the rain forced us out. David assisted us in teaching us how to climb a pinnacle with two people and one rope, making for a pretty awesome photo (we are awaiting a photo via email). On our way back to the car, we noticed our rear license plate was gone. It had to have come off the night prior when we were driving over these large dips in the mountain roads looking for a spot to sleep. We retraced our path and were unable to find anything. Upon returning to the city I asked a local if he could suggest a place in the tiny town where someone might turn something like this in. The nearest police station was a 30 minute drive to Alora and we would have had to drive a couple hundred kilometers to file a notice and order replacements. This is not something we wanted to be dealing with and would have had to take care of it prior to crossing the border to Africa. We pulled into the town to make a plan and minutes later, the boy who was standing by the local we were speaking to came tearing towards Mac on his bike. He told us he had seen a yellow plate nearly a mile up the road to the side on some rocks. We thanked him and went back to check it out. When we came upon one of the dips from the other direction, sure enough, it was there. Someone had set it aside for us but it was not possible to see it coming down the hill. We could not believe our luck and were so thankful the boy chased us down before we headed down the road to complete the arduous process of applying for a new plate. We had nothing awesome to give him and wanted to show our thanks somehow. Ratha eventually convinced him to take 5 Euros after some arguing and ardent refusal from the boy. He saved us a huge pain in the ass, and a great deal of time and money. Our plate holder and lights on the extended bumper were destroyed and non functioning, so it was a race to Alora before the sun went down. We have done two patch jobs on this thing EDIT: Make that three since writing this draft. and its showing a bit (see picture below). We managed to use tape, zip ties and super glue to get it mostly back together and are happy with it’s overall appearance.

  We went on to Marbella and thus far landed in the most awesome (city) free camping spot yet. We were less than 100 meters away from a drinkable water source, a grocery store, a nice bathroom, a city garbage can, and just one block away from the beach. We decided to stay a few days there and pull out our Eno hammock, bikes and even my swimsuit for a cold dip in the ocean. We were on the outskirts of the main city area where our van was sheltered by the European vacation condos and big trees. Many people come to Andalusia for vacation and many Europeans have homes and condos that they frequent there. The infrastructure was quite nice and the city and beach were littered with restaurants and bars. After our first night in Marbella I got a message that my former boss and friend would be in Malaga (45 minutes in the opposite direction to where we were going) in a couple of days. We would meet Mari and Tom there and crashed on their couch one night, discuss consulting opportunities for work and were able to watch the Seahawks game together in a bar full of mostly young women screaming karaoke the entire time. We managed to stream the second half online from the hotel and spared our nearly bleeding ears. Who would have thought 7pm on a Sunday night would be full of people boozing and dressed up like it were a Saturday night out on the town? It was nice spending some time with them and they took great care of us! We had some paella (traditional dish in Andalusia) on the wharf and an incredible meal at their hotel. Thanks for letting us use the nice shower too!

After accepting the hotel toiletries from the Mari and Tom, we headed out late towards our little spot we found in Marbella. We got there around 1am and were awoken the next morning to a loud thud. I jumped up and noticed our mirror bent backwards with a large semi truck continuing down the road. I didn’t bother to pull the mirror in right away and upon starting the day, discovered that it was shattered. Another little adventure we would get to embark on in search of a replacement! I was simply overjoyed with the news and could not wait to hunt for the perfect substitute. We were planning on leaving the next day for Morocco and I wanted to make sure our car was in good shape before heading over the border. With the amount of damage Mac is taking here and there, I am worried to see the shape he’ll be in after 10 more months. I hope these things happen less frequently, or better yet, not at all. On the other hand, it keeps things interesting and tests our patience. Anyways, we continued down the road and out of the city stopping intermittently to search for second hand mirrors at junk yards. I was surprised at our luck in finding a place after some instruction though unfortunately they did not have what we needed. We tried two more garages and no dice. We settled with a pretty decent alternative after searching 3 stores and were able to pop in the largest available mirror in its place. It was the last of its size and no jerry-rigging was required. When we first pulled into an auto shop on the outskirts of Algecerias (one of the port cities for the ferry to Morocco), we spotted Martin and Sven walking through the parking lot to the same store! There was a large industrial and shopping area that seems to span a mile or more, littered with campers and vans. We had intended to meet up with them in a completely different location and ended up in another place miles away at the same moment. Destiny I suppose.

We would caravan together through the border and as we would have it, purchased the same ferry ticket by chance that they had made the previous day. Too many things happened for us to end up on the same ferry. We entered at Tangier Med and went through the unorganized process at the border which we were baffled as to what took so much time. But from reading about others’ experiences, we had expected at least an hour to get through. The cars that were making the journey were packed to the gills with items, many people strapping huge tarp covered loads to the tops of their vehicles. There was a tense moment while waiting at the border where a man and his family were not to be let through. The man was yelling louder and louder and then proceeded to bash his head against one of the glass windows through the customs check. The police officer matched him and slammed his head into the glass after each time the man protesting to be let through did. This seemed to be something cultural and perhaps political that needs further explanation from a Moroccan. I will hold off on sharing my conclusions as I obviously didn’t fully understand the situation. This delayed our departure from customs a bit, though after the german shepard gave Mac a quick look over, urinated heavily on the front driver side tire, we were soon cleared to go. We all laughed, followed by the officer once he noticed what was happening. We had not packed an intended stock of wine and liquor and would bring more next time. We heard mixed things regarding it’s availability and pricing in Morocco. We have since found out that there the selection is not as extensive and the prices a good deal higher. If we would do it again, we’d bring over a bunch of chocolate, wine and at least the 2L minimum in liquor. It could be used for sharing, bargaining if you didn’t drink, or wine from France or Spain would be a nice gift to bring a new friend. Chocolate is also a good bit more expensive and so far there is a much smaller selection.

We were headed for Chechaouen, recommended by a couple of friends, when we pulled over near a dam for the night. A beautiful sunset welcomed us and a rain woke us up in the early hours of the night. This is because we pulled down a path with a lot of sediment and clay and we feared we would not get up the hill if we didn’t act quickly. The next day we arrived to our first official campsite in Chefchaouen just above the old city where there are many buildings and walkways painted blue to ward off evil spirits and provided protection ($11 for a van and two people with electricity, hot showers and wifi). We ate our first meal cooked in a tajine and looked out into a square where a produce market would be held the next day. We were pulled into Abraham’s shop after our meal to see his hand made blanket and rug selection and ended up walking out with a blanket that now adorns the driver’s seat. We climbed a nearby mountain peak with our German companions, it so happened it was the day I had diarrhea. I mean who does not want to scramble up a 4,500 foot mountain with shale, small goat trails and heavy brush after visiting the restroom 4 times before heading out? It was a nice adventure and good exercise. Martin and I got some pretty amazing haircuts and beard trims in the city that lasted nearly 1.5 hours and our barbers were incredibly detailed. I was a bit bummed to have lost a couple months of beard growth, but Ratha seemed pleased with the change. I would also be purchasing my first pair of prescription glasses ever in this town for $60.

We had a nice 4 hour drive to Fez and taking the non tolled roads was much more interesting as usual. We loaded up on over 9 pounds of mouthwatering oranges for $4, and had more people waving at us off the side of the road than I’ve ever had in that stretch of time. We have been blown away by the people here! They have been overwhelmingly kind, helpful and welcoming everywhere. The medina in Fez is the oldest in Morocco and my senses were completely overwhelmed. We were in a huge maze with over 9,000 small streets and alleys all winding in different directions and seemingly no comprehensible pattern to grab on to for bearings. It seemed you could spend a lifetime exploring the medina and familiarizing yourself with its hidden alleyways and shops. We headed south and spent some time exploring a national park outside Azrou and visited some Berber monkeys. Upon checking out of the campsite that morning, we discovered we were the first Americans to ever camp there, pretty cool we thought. We drove south a bit more and stopped at a natural waterfall that was told to have different pools of natural spring water, some tasting salty, others sweet. We were unable to find those water sources but did manage to reach the site and small waterfall just before dark. That night we would sleep on a lake outside of Khenifra where we would have a fire and hang out with a dozen Moroccan college students. We made the drive to the coast and are currently staying in Mohammedia. The drive through the country has been eye opening. We have been well received and exchanged waves with many bystanders as we pass through villages on the country roads. There was a stretch of road that we passed through where living conditions were quite harsh and our vans were nearly swarmed by children as we passed. There were about 20-30 of them on this particular stretch all with hands extended and encroaching our spot on the road. The waves hello turned into a hand signal for us to stop and as they strolled out further in the road, I was worried we might hit one. Just prior to confronting this heavily populated stretch of children, we stopped before a bend in the road. There was a group of three children who absorbed the things we had to offer before pushing further down the road and meeting the larger group of kids. I suppose that worked well as we didn’t have much on hand and would not have been able to supply the entire large group with things.

 We have been in Morocco just over a week and will continue moving south after visiting Rabat and Casablanca. We are looking forward to more in Morocco!