After several months of difficulties with obtaining insurance, we finally got the required documents less than 48 hours before we were booked on the ferry to Santander. Packing was done swiftly, we were soon on our way and with a very smooth crossing we landed, quickly setting off for our first destination down through Extremadura. It’s a very scenic and rural route and we were soon at nearly 3,000 feet in altitude and passing snow capped mountains lit up by sunshine. The miles passed rapidly and we parked up for a free night in Baños de Montemayor down in a sheltered valley with high hills on either side.
To stretch our legs after many miles driving, we decided it was time for a Geocaching walk and set off down a pretty track with a few wild flowers and many puddles and muddy bits to a Roman bridge and found our first cache in Spain. After walking around the town we decided it was empty, no activity anywhere because it was Sunday, no cars, no people and no dogs.
Next destination was Puerta de Santa Maria on the south coast, just across the water from Cádiz, it was another long drive, and afterwards I was glad to settle down for a day of rest after my long drive. Except we didn’t. Instead the next day we walked 10 miles geocaching around the small town and found pretty parks, an old town square, a large church and an old ruined castle, parts of it tumbling onto the beach below.
Heading for Algeciras next day we completed a 722 mile trip to meet up with our friends and travelling companions, Kenny and Maureen. We got the ferry tickets from Carlos in a small shop and a gift of a bottle of red wine and chocolate chip biscuits from him in return. Next was to stock up some food and more particularly, alcohol, as there will be very limited opportunities to buy any in Morocco. The ferry was basic but we arrived on time at Tangled Med and we soon on our way.
Landing in Tangier, we had several processes to go through, the motorhome had to be electronically scanned by a huge machine on a lorry, then we had to get currency, a Moroccan SIM card for the phones, passport control and after completing that lot, we could drive out of the docks and hit the road.
The big surprise was how green the country looked, and the number of small farms with a few sheep, a couple of cows, horses and donkeys that lined our route. Finally we arrived at Asilah for a two night stay, the temperature was disappointing at around 12°, sunny but quite a breeze cooling things down, but we ventured out into the town. We were soon encouraged into a cafe bar by the friendly owner and ordered beers and 2 gin and tonics. The latter two, Maureen and I discovered were undrinkable as three quarters of the glass was neat gin and ice, not leaving enough space for the tonic. Grabbing two empty glasses we were able to dilute the gin with an additional tonic and managed to empty the glasses eventually. We were fed so many tapas dishes that we only had a few cheese biscuits in the evening and lots of chatting back at the campsite later on.
The biggest shock to me was the ‘call to prayer’ up to 5 times a day, men calling with long braying sounds from a tannoy system up tall towers, calling the men to come and pray. Friday is like our Sunday for their religious day and there is the 5am call to prayer which was loud to say the least especially in the wee small hours. Needless to say, I never got back to sleep so I was a big jaded by the following evening.
Exploring the next day, we walked around inside the old town walls discovering narrow streets and small tiny dark shops with the goods spilling out onto the roadside. There were numerous fruit and vegetable stalls, bread and cakes, grocery shops, and the street art was plentiful, making nice features of the walls, bright and colourful and detailed.
Horses pulled carriages for tourists to be taken around the town which looked nice. We started to see the typical winter attire of men and women which was was a long ‘dressing-gown like garment with a pointy hat. They came in various colours, mainly greys, white, black, some striped and all down below the knees. The ‘grim reaper’ comes to mind, or a Druid, or Harry Potter, but for all their strange looks, I think they must be very warm like a full length coat.
After a long drive using the Toll roads, we headed south to Rabat through fields of green crops and cultivation, and dreadful poly tunnels full of banana trees and fruit trees in huge pots.
The town is dominated by the city walls with the Medina or old town inside. First we looked at the modern buildings with lots of detail in the construction, there were trees up the centre of the street and everything looking so clean and well cared for.
Hassan Tower was part of an ancient, unfinished tower and a mosque, it was guarded by two men on horseback at a gateway though a high wall. The central courtyard had 348 columns, and the tower was going to be the largest minaret in the world but it stopped at 44 meters, also the largest mosque in the western Muslim world, but building stopped in 1199 when it’s commissioner died.
Walking alongside a river the brightly coloured fishing boats made a picturesque view as we headed up narrow streets with tall buildings on either side, this keeps the sun out and therefore has a nice cool temperature. Shops sold many things, hats, shoes, fancy clothing, tiles, doors, food, jewelry and artwork. There were lots of people around, all very friendly and interested in us because we were different and they like to practice their English! We only stayed one night which turned out to be quite noisy as there was a wedding party, lots of talking, playing drums etc, but eventually it went quiet, thankfully.
Our motorhome adventures 