1 September - Alicante to Almeria

We met at breakfast to make a plan. Mark and Ranee explained their hotel dinner restaurant saga which consisted of 3 prawns and other unexpectedly small amounts of food for lots of money. Quite funny.

The ride that day was quite nice, upper 80s with low humidity. The roads were a mixture of highway miles and farm roads in the second half of the day.

As we headed south, the terrain became more interesting. We skirted the city of Alicante and headed for a campground up in the mountains. The route had us wind through some potholed back roads and small towns, then ultimately onto some nice twisty roads through protected park land.

Our destination for the night was Camping Santa Maria, a nice campground resort out in the middle of nowhere, but with all the amenities. We pitched camp and then took a walk to investigate the grounds which included showers, restaurant, goats, horses, guinea pigs, cats, and a high ropes course! I’m guessing this place was hopping during high season, but now it’s dead. Only a handful if people here, but fully staffed and everyone is friendly.

We sat down at the restaurant/bar and I asked the bartender what drink was popular. He suggested the albaricoque. He reached for a repurposed wine bottle in the back of the fridge filled with a clear liquid and lots of fruit and cinnamon sticks floating in it. He poured it over a large ice cube in a low ball glass and gave it to me. It was actually quite delicious, a type of apricot or plum liqueur I’m guessing.

We made dinner at camp in the evening and had a good rest. Nice temperatures and quiet place.

2 September - Almería to Granada

We set our sights for Granada for some lunch and a visit to the post office for Mark and Renee. They wanted to lighten their load and send a few non-essential things back home.

The ride down from camp into the valley around Granada was beautiful. The highway ran down between the mountains that surround the city. We meandered our way into the city center and found some moto parking on the street. They managed to send their package home for about 65 euros. We took a walk to find lunch and found a tapas restaurant with outdoor seating. We each fumbled over the language and ended up with unexpectedly small amounts of food. Mark had one chicken nugget on a plate with fries —hilarious! I had one ‘pinchito’ (chicken skewer) with some bread and chips. Ranee was the most successful and had a chicken burger.

We evaluated the map and determined that hotels were pricey in the touristy coastal town of Torre del Mar, so I chose a campground on the way. It was a nice ride on a secondary route out to the camp which was situated on a reservoir. Once again, it was a full service family resort.

The tent camping area was actually quite nice, with only 3 or 4 slots occupied. There were many cats and kittens playing around the property which was cute.

As we settled in for bed around 9:00pm, the campground came alive. Everyone started cooking, talking and playing. As the evening pressed on, there was even a parade in the dark with blaring music! I just put in my earplugs and rolled over. I was able to sleep pretty well through the night despite the loud snoring neighbor and the rooster that didn’t seem to know what time it was. He was crowing all throughout the night.

3 September - Granada to Algeciras

We awoke from our already light slumber to make coffee and break camp. The neighbors were still asleep, so I had no problem making noise and playing some music while I cooked and got ready.

We got all packed up and headed towards Torre Del Mar. We ran some lovely backroads until the road split through a saddle in the mountain near Ventas de Zafarraya. After that we zigzagged down to the coast and eventually reached Torre Del Mar.

At the gas station near the coast we met a German guy on a Tenere 700 who lives down there. We talked about our trip and he mentioned he was also planning a trip into Africa, so he is interested in following us. We swapped emails and continued on.

The remainder of the day was an easy ride on the highway down to Algeciras. We arrived in good time and found our hotel in the bustling port area downtown. The hotel was great, and included a parking garage, but the local area was a bit rough. No problem however.

We took a walk in the evening to grab a beer and some food. The first stop was a little cafe on the street for a beer. They only had one brand of beer so that’s an easy choice. We hung out there for a little bit and then got some dinner at a Moroccan restaurant (I know, of all places !). It was the only place that was open and near the hotel, but it was actually delicious. Mark and Renee got couscous and I got chicken Tagine.

4 September - Algeciras Spain to Chefchaouen Morocco

We booked the 9:00am ferry with FRS ahead of time, so we headed to the port about 90 minutes early per recommendation. The first gate was registration and getting our passport stamped out of the EU. It was easy enough, and then we entered into the queue for boarding. We waited only about 30 minutes before things started to move. Boarding was fast and organized, and the vehicle deck was only 30% full. Only 3 motorcycles and a few cars and trucks. The deck personnel strapped our bikes down carefully and we headed up to the passenger deck.

Once aboard we hovered near the coffee concession, because none of us had had our coffee yet! It opened shortly and we all got our fix. We then sat down and sorted out which papers needed to be completed. We determined that the COVID health form and general information form needed to be filled out. Each consisted of general questions about COVID vaccination, recent countries traveled, and the address of where we are going. Immigration was on board, so we could get our passport stamped into Morocco while we sailed. It went smoothly.

Once we landed, we made our way off the boat and into the port. The first stop is customs(douanes). Here we were requested registration and title of our bikes so they could rectify that we were the owners. Initially I didn’t know what they were asking for but I figured it out. The officers were very nice and even complimented me on my bike and on our trip. Off we go!

We’re officially in Africa now and I plotted a route to Chefchaouen on my GPS via secondary roads. It’s only about 60 miles. Aside from several road construction zones and police checkpoints the route was beautiful. We never had to stop at the checkpoints and officers were waving everyone through.

The road gradually climbed in elevation up into the mountains towards Chefchaouen. When we arrived, finding our hotel was another adventure. We quickly navigated into the beautiful pastel blue city center and the streets became more and more narrow. As we neared our hotel, we were flagged by a guy on the street directing us to a public parking garage. I was reluctant, but after speaking with him I realized our hotel was in the “medina”, or old town area, where vehicles are not allowed. We must park here and walk. So we pulled into the garage and took a walk up to the hotel.

The hike up the hill to our hotel through the narrow alleyways was a totally new experience. All the walls were painted sky blue which contrasted with the stone paved walkway and beautiful wood doors. We arrived at our hotel (riad) and checked in. The design of the hotel is very traditional looking with old wood work, wood ceilings, and rustic Moroccan furnishings. They also have a roof top terrace with panoramic view of the city below. Very nice.

Once again the city seems to come alive after dark, with children playing in the medina alleyways and infants screaming in the house next door. Also the Islamic call to prayer is blasted over loudspeaker a few times per day up to around 9:30pm. The first one in the morning is around 5:00am. It’s not so much a nuisance but adds to the atmosphere.

5 September - Rest day in Chefchaouen

We went up to the rooftop to watch the sunrise and have breakfast. After a few minutes the cook ladies came out and set the table and brought out coffee, juice, bread, jams, and some grilled flatbread with fried eggs. It was delicious and the view was amazing. There was a couple other guests in the hotel: a couple from the UK and a family from Spain.

We had planned this rest day here so we could get our bearings and run some errands. I needed to go get a new SIM card for my phone and Mark and Renee needed to make some photo prints for our future visa applications. Additionally I needed to do some route planning for our time in Morocco.

They left after breakfast to take a walk into town and I hung out for a while to do some route planning. I needed to pencil out an itinerary through Morocco that allowed us to see what we wanted and also have a couple more rest days.

Shortly after 10:00am, I went down to the local Orange cellular store and got a new SIM card for my phone. I got a one month prepaid plan with 20GB of data for 100 dirhams which is about $10 USD. Quite a deal. Now I’m good to go.

Walking the streets here, tourists are easily identified and you are a target for all kinds of solicitation. There were a few beggars and also hustlers who propositioned me to come see their rug shop, smoke hash or marijuana with them, or to go see their farm where they grow the plants. I engage them for a minute just for fun but always politely decline. They were all receptive to my rejection.

We re-convened around mid day and explored the alleyways of the medina until we found the main square and Kasbah (historic castle). We had lunch at a cafe -- I got a nice fruit salad with yogurt and chicken skewers.

Mark and Ranee’s task to find a photo printer in the city turned into an adventure. After waiting an hour to find out one place can’t do the job, we were directed to another place. They were unable to do it because they only do photo copies. Eventually we found a place that does visa photos. Mark and Ranee decided it's easier to just get their photos taken again by the guy in his studio than try to explain they need a digital file printed.  “Come back in an hour” he said. I went back to the hotel by then, so I won’t find out if they were successful until tomorrow.