Things needed to work like clockwork today as there was just one ferry, leaving at 1.30pm that would fit into my plans. All of a sudden, there was no more care free ambling. I had to be places at certain times.

I set off from the campsite and enjoyed the ride up to Tetouan. A number of reservoirs had been created and the water in them was unusually blue.

I took a back road to the port of Tangier Med so I wouldn't have to use the toll motorway and to my delight, the road turned into a piste which took me over the top of the impressive mountains above the port. The map was having a last laugh.

The last piste in Africa

I got to the port at my predetermined 11.30 to allow time for a full cavity search, if really necessary. The girl in the shipping office once she had booked me in told me that I needed to go now, quite forcefully. Perhaps I was about to experience a most unpleasant 2 hours. First through passport control, that was fine, then through customs, that was fine too and then I was waved through the security search x ray without even a lift of a lid. Things were looking up, so I thought.

I got down to berth 7 just in time to see the ramps of the waiting ship hoist up and slip out of the harbour. This did not look good. Chris whom I had been speaking to yesterday said his ferry was exceptionally late and I think I had just witnessed the leaving of the ferry before mine, which would indicate my ferry would be 4 to 5 hours late. Bugger.

Did I forget to say how amazing Betty was. Well she was.

As first in the queue, I had the pleasure of watching the other punters turn up and ask me the same question. I escaped to the cafe where I had a great cheese omelette wrapped in a French stick. It was then back outside for more watching of ships coming and going but never into our berth.

Some spotty 17 year old stretching the handbrake cable of his badly handling 20 000 tonne displacement ferry

Finally at about 3.30, a ship of roughly the correct colour came into the port and did it's mighty impressive handbrake turn in the harbour. Only this time, the captain had hand braked it into the wrong berth, so he had to go out and do it again. This started a long quasi comedy road/boat show of numpties trying to load a boat with lorries and a few cars. To add to it a couple of Moroccan policemen were blowing whistles and looking at passports for good measure.

Finally at 5.30 we got away, only 4 hours late. This meant I had no way of putting a dent into the 1000km trek across Spain tomorrow. The majority would have to be done then.

The ferry journey was pleasant, great views could be gained of the mountains on either side of the Straits of Gibraltar. The few motorcycles on board were in an ideal position for a quick get away and I must have been about 6th off the ferry. I got straight through all the checks and was on the road to the campsite at Tarifa where I had stopped before. Coming over the hills to Tarifa i was struck by the sunset hitting the north African mountains, it was truely spectacular and turned out to be my last sight of Africa.

THe truely impressive mountians on the northern tip of Morocco

We had gained an hour coming into Europe so it was 9pm before I even got the cooker going. I bought a couple of bottles of beer to celebrate a cool cheap beer but something didn't agree with me and Montazuma was back in a most violent manner. Despite this campsite costing an eye watering 17 Euros a night, they didn't provide any toilet rolls. Well most people don't use them do they? I was beginning to run low on tissues. So much for being helpful and generously giving away my spare pack!

And that was it, out of Africa. It felt very sad in a way, Europe seemed so boring, so constrained. I thought back to Josep the Berber I had met in his blue robes. The Berbers called themselves "The Free" and they even had a little sign for it. There was a lack of government, there was space, and an historical precedent which meant the free could be free. Western society could not allow that which is a shame. I'd like to be the free, if only to wear the cool robes!

Mist covers Africa from the beach at Tarifa