Marbella to Fez

MARBELLA, SOUTHERN SPAIN

28 Nov 2006

Up relatively early and off in a taxi to the campsite. Met by a few of my fellow travellers and one large green Scania truck with 492,000 kilometres on the clock. This will be our home for the next 3 months as we travel down to Cameroon (we pick up a different truck for the Ethiopia to South Africa leg of the trip).

The truck is pretty basic and consists of lockers for our stuff round the sides and underfloor storage for food etc, fairly large windows and 16 coach seats with plenty of leg room and a large seating area at the back, fairly handy for the taller members of the group and for catching up on kip (sure you can all read between the lines on that one). With cool boxes and a freezer we can cope with most eventualities and the recent addition of an amplifier, speakers and a mains supply while on the move means Ipods etc can be played and Cameras, lap tops charged. The only worrying feature is the tin roof which I am sure will be a blessing as we cross the Sahara – Owen (team leader) was there a couple of weeks ago and the temperature was 45 degrees in some parts, that’s 113 in old money…..nice!

15 of us in all for the journey ahead….hopefully I will get them all to write a couple of lines to introduce themselves but for now the list is as follows :

Alan – from London travelling to Cape town

Bridgitte – from Germany, travelling to Mali

Cindy – from Australia travelling to Cameroon

Claudia – from Innsbruck, Austria travelling to Cameroon

Dave – from Edinburgh travelling to Cape town

Francesca – from Italy but living in London travelling to Cape town

John – from the Orkney Isles – travelling to Nairobi

Linda – from New Zealand travelling to Cameroon

Michelle – from Bedford travelling to Cape town

Robin – from Cambridge travelling to Nairobi

Sue - from London travelling to Cape town

Tom – from Newark travelling to Cape town

Owen – team leader from Manchester (to Cameroon)

Dylan – driver, mechanic, handyman etc. from Llanelli (to Cameroon)

Really good group, nice balance of ages, backgrounds etc. Had a meal together on the first night and ended up in the bar until 1 which made yesterday quite a long day.

MARBELLA AND GIBRALTAR

29 November 2006

Day one of the journey and we travel down to Gibraltar, quick wizz round the town, a trip on an open top bus and a cable car to the top of the rock to witness John getting mugged by a few apes who ripped his carrier bag apart and ran off with his biscuits and crisps. Stunning views across to Africa and round the coast.

Back to camp after eventually managing to round everyone up (the campsite we had intended to meet at was closed) for Spag Bol and a relatively early night. 1^st night of a potential 182 in a tent…..lordy!

CROSSING THE MED, CUETA AND MOROCCO

30 November 2006

Down to Algeciras for the crossing to Ceuta (Spanish enclave in North Africa). Sat on the ferry trying to make sense of Spanish TV. It would appear that the Price is Right has gone global! Morocco in time for tea and Casbahs.

Stayed at the Al Boustna camp site on the Mediterranean coast. Beer, stew and bed! Rang old Moony….40 this very day and still able to get up the stairs by himself. Happy Birthday Harvey!

1 December 2006

8 in the morning, had breakfast and on the way to Chefchaouen - literal translation is look at the peaks. Famous for lots of blue and white houses in the hills. Good news is the speakers are working and the Ipod is on. No sign of Rock the Casbah yet but Billy Bragg’s Saturday Boy is playing as we arrive much to the bemusement of my fellow travellers!

Chefchaouen is an amazing little place. Dropped onto the side of the Rif mountains it is a labyrinth of streets leading up to the old Mosque. Locals all very friendly and fascinated by the arrival of a huge green truck. Steep hill walk through the maze of shops and houses rewarded with a great view of the town and the Casbah below. Got caught by Abdul the carpet salesman who tried to sell me a carpet for 200 Euros and insisted showing me his book of glowing recommendations written by previous customers, including one by the Queen who, having bought loads of his carpets on previous visits, had done a sketch of herself in biro as a thank you??? Great patisserie, Danish, Croissant, two samosas (not sure what the contents were) and a vanilla slice….

On arrival back at the truck Owen and Dylan are busy repairing the wing mirror and indicator after a not so near miss with a bus. Set off on the road for Fez….200km, 4 to 5 hours!!

Arrive in Fez and after pitching tent for the next 3 nights (so nice to set up camp for a few days) 5 of us head off into Fez. Scary taxi ride in a clapped out Fiat Panda with Francesca (4 ft ten inches) blagging the front seat…..entertaining to say the least. Spent an hour or so walking through the Medina…..a bit like the labyrinth of Chefchaouen but on a much larger scale. Round every twist and turn is a warren of side alleys, bizarres selling everying from dates and spices to knock off CDs. Amazing place which really invades the senses. Suspect it has changed very little since the 8^th or 9^th century. Really feels like we have arrived. Fantastic day, topped off by Cindy singing camp fire songs and playing the guitar (Michelle Shocked and Paul Weller – the girl is clearly blessed)….. if only we had a camp fire….it’s freezing!

PS Not easy posting a blog or photos when the keyboqrd is Arabic and the screen instructions French......hi to all!!! Internet access supposed to be much easier than we first thought so plenty more to follow. A few more replies would be nice!