225 road miles.

Early this morning before leaving our shedued campsite, we made comunual coffee then continued our journey thriough the Ronda Valley. Last night Fre decided to follow in Dai’s foot steps and slept tentless under the stars, therefore, not leaving much to pack though Fre being Fre was still the last to finish. As the sun lifted in the sky it cast shadows across the mountain sides making one half in darkenss and the other in bright sunshine. There was a freshness in the air but not too cold – perfect riding weather really.

Fre had already covered many milesto meet us off the bioat in Bilbao and was now considering to join us in Morocco. There was one problem, he didnt have his passport. He made enquires at the port where he was told he wouldnt be able to board the ferry by the border guards. He was very dissapointed but dont worry Fre, you will have a wonderful ride home via the Pyrenees (thanks for your text by the way).

At the port I felt incredibly home sick knowing that another sea woulld be sepertaing me from my wife and home. It also didnt help knowing that soon I would be travelling all alone across the most risky part of this adventure.

The 8 mile ferry journey from Algeciras to the Spaninsh port of Ceuta took approximately 45 mins. Dai and I left the fast ferry and locate the frontier to Maroc without any problems. Coincidenatlly I used the same fixer as a previous visit where he kindly processed our D16 (Temporary motorcycle import document), changed our Euros to Dirhams and helped issue our thid party mototrcycle insurance. Within an hour we were clear of customs and heading up in to the Rif mountains whilst trying our best to avoid the many police check points.

Whilst topping the RIF enroute to Tetouan, the smell of the marujanna fields drifted across the mountain sides reminding me of my last visit. Along the way we avoided the crazy green bus drivers, donkeys, chickens, cattle and over loaded trucks, but still made excellent progress.

Since entering Morocco, the time had changed to GMT meaning we had an extra two hours to get to our scheduled campsite in Kinitra.

Whilst the sun set and still creating temperatures of 36′ plus, it made for an oustanding panoramic view until it eventually dissapeared leaving an orange misty glow across the peak of the distant hills.

The scheduled campsite could not be found though Dai located a much needed hotel in the Kinitra where we took advantage of the under ground car park for our motorcycles, washed our red dusty clothes and hit the town where we ate Tagime and Shawarma.

Tomorrow we head in to Rabat where we hope to apply for our Mauritanian visa.

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