40. Tangier to Medina-Sidonia

We were catching the 8am ferry this morning…and were advised to be at the terminal no less than 90 minutes before departure! So an early start…and were actually at the port by 6am! Tangiers looks an impressive city from here…at this hour!!

But we were there…alone. No passengers. No cars?

And really little changed as we went through customs and passport control. There were in fact far more officials than passengers! 

And one of the border police spoke great English…and even bought us a coffee!! What a star!

And the dogs came out….one for an explosive check…and this one was checking our bikes out for drugs!!

In the end…..three cars drove on to the ferry! And the last minute arrival of a Japanese tour group swelled the passenger list from a lowly ten! Amazing really how they can run such a big fast ferry with no-one on board!

The wake looked as if the boat was so light the engines were practically out of the water!!

Only one hour across to Tarifa.

So as our Moroccan adventure comes to a close, it is time to reflect! 

What a different country to the one I visited back in ‘78! Try this stat for size: a man born in Morocco in 1978 was expected to live until the age of 54! Today a man born in Morocco is expected to live until the age of 77. What a spectacular change! And for all those folk (including every Brexiteer) who complain that things are just not how they used to be…get over yourselves!! The world really is such a better place for most today…than ‘it used to be’.

The country is so much cleaner…

The infrastructure is excellent. Great roads (mostly!)

Unparalleled access to mobile data. There was not a single moment when we did not have excellent coverage (using Moroccan SIMs)…& rarely was a cellphone tower not in direct sight. They are everywhere…and in the cities anyway…often dressed up as palm trees!! How neat! 

Perhaps we should set up a competition to create cellphone towers as sculptures…so all the nay-sayer Nimbies would welcome that new tower nearby…rather than complain!

The food has been great! Apart from one uncomfortable day for Iain…our guts have been spectacularly well!! Ok we drank bottled water (possibly no longer necessary)…but not a hint of a problem…with almost all the food cooked fresh in front of you. 

And the people have been great (mostly!). So welcoming…and always keen to talk or to lend a hand.

The biking however has been a bit mixed: a lot of very straight and very flat – and somewhat tedious – roads! But 9 of our 14 days on the road were great! Plenty of hills and ever-changing landscape to keep the mind alert! 

The drivers have – for the most part – been excellent. Even in the chaotic cities. Truck drivers have excelled (except the dirt trucks…it’s always the dirt trucks!), car drivers too (except the guys who think it is ok to overtake as they approach from the opposite directions…we are only cyclists after all! Unnerving!) and the odd shared taxi…who drive too close! The bigger issue was with local buses….and some young scooter drivers…who literally brush past you…far too close! We survived!

And beer! Expensive….but 17 out of 18 evenings we managed to find the elusive beer!! Thinking of writing a separate blog to provide advice to beer-loving travellers to Morocco…for helpful information is actually very hard to find!! 

Will I come back again? To be honest…probably not. Not on a bike anyway! The cycling in Spain – for example – is just so much better! A bit like my reflections on biking in Turkey. 

Overall….just a great adventure! And so good to have shared it with Iain. We had a blast.

So…to Tarifa….and a short ride straight to the bike shop!!! One hour later….and Iain had a new rear cassette and a new chain! What a relief!

And straight onto those gorgeous deserted Spanish roads…

…and off-road trails…..

….which just went on….

….and on…..

But it was SOOOOO windy! Thankfully to our side or from behind. 

We came across a sign at Tarifa which welcomed us to the ‘Costa de Windsurfers’ (really?)…but the extraordinary expanse of wind farms confirmed that this was not an unusually windy day!!

And so to Medina-Sidonia….

….on top of a hill of course…(!!)…which is a lovely town…but felt slightly soulless! Maybe it was the wind which kept everyone inside….?

But it did not stop us celebrating our first “public” beer for a few weeks!