Beginning my Motorcycle Ride through Africa
Update 74 (November 2024)
Spain to Morocco
Time for a new continent. I must admit I never planned to come this far. I just tend to assess whether I want to continue each time I finish a continent. I have been doing that since South America.
I have decided to take the route along the west coast. I do take some notice of the Australian Government’s travel advice and this seems like a fairly balanced way to see some of Africa.
Perhaps my unintended timing with the seasons may also be on my side. I should have a reasonably dry cool time in the northern hemisphere, get very hot and wet around the equator and then enter the southern hemisphere pretty close to the arrival of it’s winter.
140,000 kilometres on the Yamaha now and still feeling good.
Finding space on a ferry was easy. I had some minor maintenance work to complete and wasn’t quite sure when the motorbike would be ready. There were at least three ferry companies operating across to Morocco, multiple times each day. They all had space, so I made a booking for the next day at noon which suited me best.
The process was simple. We were told to arrive 90 minutes before sailing time. Which I did, but the ferry was late so I spent quite a while waiting around. Eventually we processed out of Spain at a drive through booth and then waited again on the dock before loading. I met a couple of young Spanish bikers that were spending a week in Morocco. We were joined by a German and then all sat together on the ferry.
It’s always good to have someone tie down your bike. I have only had one occasion across to Finland where they made us do it ourselves. I have had countless ferry trips like this and never had any damage.
Leaving the Port of Algeciras.
Passing through the mouth of the Mediterranean Sea with the Rock of Gibraltar in the background.
Ariving at the Moroccon coastline. The trip only takes 1.5 hours.
Entering Morocco was easy and well organised, for me and the motorcycle. Immigration was completed at a small booth onboard the ship. Then when we arrived we just needed to show our passport and then were waved towards Customs.
Customs was about one kilometre away in a new drive through facility. They collected our papers and 20 minutes later we were ready to enter Morocco.
Just down the road another 500 metres is a retail facility for passengers where you could get money, buy a SIM card, and also insurance. All very organised. Third Party Vehicle Insurance seemed expensive, I don’t know if it is cheaper elsewhere. I bought 10 days cover for 65 Euro. I had paid less than that for 90 days for all the EU. No one in Morocco asked to see it and I never needed to use it. But I will keep buying it in future countries, just in case. That’s insurance for you.
I had booked my first night in Tangier which was about 50 minutes away. It was a nice city and I found some good food. I just stayed one night though. I had picked up the outline of a route from the Spanish bikers and decided to keep moving.
Chicken skewers with salad, but it did have some more exotic ingredients that I cannot recall. Very tasty.
I decided to head inland and the town of Chefchaouen was the best chance for my next accommodation.
A stone wheel for crushing olives to produce oil. I enjoyed a lot of olives in Morocco. It was a staple provided with all meals including breakfast.
Arriving at Chefchaouen, also known as the Blue Pearl.
The old town is a popular tourist destination.
The rooftop view from my guest house.
While in Chefchaouen I had the realisation that I really needed to start planning my route through Africa. There are many countries to pass through and few have any visa waiver arrangements with Australia. So I put my Moroccan sightseeing plans on hold and set out for Rabat where most of the surrounding countries seemed to have consulates or embassies. I ended up staying four days to get my head around what was coming up, including a day trip down to Casablanca to see the Senegal Consulate.
By the time I had finished, my mindset was further down the road and my insurance was running out. I had planned to visit the Atlas Mountains, but I decided to just keep going south along the coastline route.
My next stop was just north of the city of Agadir. It was a long way and I ended up taking the toll road. You could pay with cash and the price was worth it.
This is looking across at Banana Point at Tamraght, just north of Agadir. The point is a popular surf break and backpacker destination.
