Day
4. Approximate estimate of fuel consumption to date-566miles on 110liters
of fuel. We approach the Pyrenees, we are estimating that we get 300 miles
from a full tank. The only way of knowing we have a full tank is to pump
fuel using a battery and submersible pump and when it overflows into our
strategically placed bowl we know we have a full tank! Then we can pour our
well caught spillage back into the IBC or pour into our jerry cans which
we use when we are too tired to do a full fuel stop. This entails getting
gear out of the back and excavating batteries to use. Maybe at some point
we will figure out how to have the batteries nearer to the IBC so we can
have them handier. The night in the Pyrenees was very dramatic. Deep snow
and articulated lorry accident causes major road block and we have to break
into Hazel´s emergency stash of Kendal Mint Cake. The Gendarmes eventually
lead us through the last part of the road blockage at about midnight and
we are so buzzed on our sugar hit we get into Spain, and find ourselves camping
in a very cold place near the tunnels of Cadis(5km long - what a feat of
engineering!)Elsbett fuel conversion kit starts engine first time aven at
-1degrees. Day´s drive 327miles
Day 4 I'am going to get chucked out of the cafe
any minute, presently recycling oil in a mate´s back garden as we are
now nearly half way through our oil and still 2000 miles to go!
Day 4. Early morning start at sub-zero temperatures after the late
night biscuit frenzy! Temperature gauge now behaving weird, just as well
I have confidence that the engine has never overheated so far since we replaced
the head. We arrived in Barcelona in the early afternoon. We have some vague
directions to the squat and it takes us a couple of hours to find it in Badelona.
Unfortunately they have not yet filtered the oil they have been saving for
us! We have a cup of tea and decline the offer of pulling on to the new site
next door in favour of relishing the new tyres and set off down the coast
to admire the scenery. Hazel drives a good couple of hours on the Mediteranean
Autoband and we finish the days drive at 386 miles. The guys at Badelona
said they would try to have 300 litres filtered for us on the return journey
but we will phone them beforehand this time to save a possible wasted trip.
Day 5 Valencia,orange groves by the thousand! Caragh is gagging to
stop and pick some but we press on hoping to get to the next stop and a possible
fuel stop. We hang out at some services for our first full wash since leaving
the UK! Seamus does a good job of fixing the passenger window so that it
now opens, we only have one window winding handle between the three passenger
doors so it gets a bit boring for the driver on coastal routes with sunshine!
Flexi solar panel is now permanently mounted to the roof for auxiliary charging
of batteries for pumping fuel across the fuel tank. We buy a new map of Spain
that has up to date roads marked as the one we have been using has been used
too many times and for too long! Day´s drive 300
miles |
Lining
up the IBC to winch it
into the trailer at
the Diesel veg workshop in
Wolverhampton |
Day 6.
we had a good sleep, it is now warm enough to sleep outside at night and
K has slept on the roof which was ok. The cliff top overlooking the med was
nice too and there was plenty of bits of wood to burn for a fire in the
morning.The Guardia came along in the night to ask politely if I was cold.
we drove less than a 100 miles today and reached our destination - Orgiva,
in the Alpujarras. Snow capped mountains and many people selling avocados/oranges
and other fruits at the side of the road. We found our host to be very hospitable
and welcoming. The yard proved to be a perfect veg oil refinery place and
that is just about all that happens for the next three days!!
Day 7. Filtered 45 litres of veg oil. Located a scrap Nissan which
might have door handles, have to phone England for permission to take bits
off it.
Day 8. Unable to find any veg oil today, located
a wholesale veg oil supplier who will sell us bulk oil at 60 cents per litre.
Veg oil in supermarket - Malaga is 3.48€ for 5 litres. We are taking
300 Euro out of my bank acc. so we have enough cash for the ferry and
extras in Africa.
Day 9. Tried every bar in town for waste oil
but they all use it to make soap! We find nothing and go back to the orange
grove for a siesta. No news of Reg Doc. start to hear stories of 2nd group
getting into Senegal.
Day 10. 95litres of oil donated today, took
me 4 hours to filter 75 litres! British Consulate insist on having original
Reg. Doc. for proof of ownership of Nissan and want 100€ to provide
affadavid to Mauritanian Border Control as declaration that I intend to return
with the vehicle.!
Day 10. The big lot of oil we were given is very dirty and I have
decided to filter it all a second time around to avoid problems with the
injector pump, also I only have one spare fuel filter and as it is an
extraordinary filter I can´t guarantee being able to replace it just
anywhere,so I have taken the trouble to filter all the oil again. I make
contact with my friend who checks the mail and the Registration Document
is there. It is sent today by First Class post. Hazel and I agree to assess
our progress in Mauritania. We all have paid for visas for Mauritania so
we will keep going even though probably everyone else on the challenge is
in Dakar or on their way home! We have to find lots of firewood for the second
filtering, we bump into some old friends and they hint where we might find
it!(pretty scarce in these parts!)
Day 11 Wooding very successful, we found a whole tree! Climbed up
the side of the mountain, sawed it in half and...."timber", chopped it into
bits, onto the roofrack and away we go. Later we go to a local Spanish Fiesta
at Torviscon, a neighbouring village. At 9m the Mayoress makes her speech
and says some poetry.9.30pm there is a slide show, there are stalls of cakes
and marquees with electric pianos tuning up. At 10 pm they light the fires,
huge bonfires of prunings from the olive groves and a kind of broom like
looking plant which contains plenty of volatile oils by the way it goes up..
| All of the
streets are filled with the foliage and the fires get to 30 feet high, there
is a fire on every street corner. From the distance it looks like the whole
town is on fire. Children run excitedly from fire to fire and people run
around flinging on bundles of the foliage. Fireworks are going off all over
the place and there isn´t a fire extinguisher in sight! I see one man
holding rockets, setting them off and letting them go at just the right moment,
obviously well practised! What a night ...we left at 1am just as the roasted
pig was cooking and the wine flowed, making the conversation louder than
ever....the whole plaza was full of people drinking the wine and eating the
pork which was cooked on the dying embers of the huge fires twenty foot across.
The bars were packed with smoky men eating wild boar in gravy, we sat opposite
in chairs by the road and watched the ferralness of it all. Later I went
looking for the children and found them on the Dodgems and Quad track. We
even had a look at the disco but the music made me feel old. I wanted to
get a good day in on the oil filtering so took everyone home and were in
bed by 2.30 am. My host Ross, said they were still going strong at 9am the
next morning when he left! A geezer had a real go at me last night for not
donating my vehicle to the African Charities named on the PLymouth-Dakar
website! He said I should be ashamed of myself as I have all the health care
and services at my fingertips and the African people have nothing, what a
great gift to give them my car! Well as usual, i didn´t say a lot as
I figure it´s usually a waste of time to argue with drunk people, but
later I thanked him mentally for highlighting some issues for me so my issues
are; The gift I am giving is the knowledge that vehicles can be powered by
fuels which we as poor people can grow ourselves. we might need to rely on
a local co-operative to press our oils but the technology is available to
us. If we can access the land to grow our crops we might be able to recover
some dignity for ourselves We do not have to rely on Multi-national companies
like ExonMobil to provide us with the mineral oil that has been extracted
at such a high price and when burned, produces high volumes of carbon and
poisonous gases. As a single woman living in the UK, I give what I feel I
can afford.I have worked really hard to be able to make this journey with
my family and I intend to get the most out of it that we can.
|
Caragh is very pleased to be
able to pick oranges |
Day
12. Finished second filtering of 80 litres of oil and tip it into
the IBC, tis good to see the level going up now. (after lunch) I finish filtering
all the oil, i count 165 litre of oil, all filtered twice and tip it into
the IBC. What a sense of achievement...celebrate by going to visit an old
friend in the mountains. She lives in a geodesic dome on the edge of a valley
high above the town. The evening sunset is magnificent, the air clear and
cutting and there seems to be an adequate supply of fresh water. She gives
me a jumper to wear as we are not quite acclimatized yet and the baby to
hold so we sit for a cosy cup of tea and watch the sun going down over the
Alpujarras. A majestic and precipitous life etched into the side of the hillside,
solar panels for electricity, a trip into town once a week on market days.
Further down in the village men with mules leisurely plod upwards and we
say "ola" to the ancient old lady who we meet coming back from her evening
stroll. The roads are a great feat of engineering as they wend their way
up and up into the mountains, smooth and safe with sturdy crash barriers.
I just realised I have hardly heard a cross word from anyone since we landed
here(except my own kids petty squabbles!!)must be the mountain air
 |
 |
 |
Pretty
sunsets on the Medditeranean Autoband |
Artwork
on the walls of the occupied warehouse
in Badelona where the nice people filter veg
oil |
Striking
mountain scenery on the coast near
Benidorm |
Day
13. We are told there is a Sunday Veggie Roast Dinner to be had on
site at El Morreon this afternoon so we go find an old mate who is skint
and take him to dinner. The food is great and it´s a pleasure to be
cooked for with such jolliness. I give a lady a jump start with my nice
jumpleads, she has been waiting for a 24volt vehicle to turn up for a week!
On the way down we pass a family pruning their olive trees. They are all
there, the afternoon sun can´t scorch the baby as it is in the play
pen under the trees..cute.. we manage our nut roast, apple sauce, peas, carrots
and gravy no problem and over pudding I am under the spotlight as the subject
is brought up about the
Travellers´ School
Charity. Can the computer bus come over they say? I am recognised by
someone who was at a site in Cornwall so the conversation turns to
the evidence of need, there are lots of English Children here....hundreds....many
of them are severely lacking in their basic literacy skills in the English
Language. They go to school and learn to read and write in Spanish but unless
their parents can deliver extra curricular activities in English they fall
behind. I go away and think about it. Don´t make any promises. It´s
not fair. Later on the other site down in the riverbed, I meet an old blacksmith
friend who tells me to replace my shock absorbers and put an extra leaf into
the leaf springs, get them retempered too he says. People are trying out
new recipes for the Dragon Festival in March.
 |
 |
 |
The dam
at the bottom of the valley near Orgiva
The level is rising |
"Hazel,
we need more oil!" |
We get
ripped off by the Avocado man |
Day
14. We find a young lady who agrees to come to the parts place with
us and she translates the conversation. amortigadores - shock absorbers much
cheaper than in the UK, and they will be here tomorrow!! The registration
Doc comes, hurray for the Royal Mail. We rush home to pack our things and
excitedly pull two window winder handles off a scrap Daihatsu, yippee no
more "can you pass the window winder please" every 10 minutes.. I try to
persuade my blacksmith friend to part with his spare alternator and starter
motor from his scrap Nissan Patrol but he´s not keen. OK we will chat
about a deal on our return, he eyes up my solar panels and auxiliary batteries.
(He thinks I should sell the vehicle in Africa anyway.) More people bring
up the subject of the Computer Bus, it seems we have job to do here and we
need to assess the need. I give some instructions to volunteers and in six
weeks will collect their findings. I think the European Social Risk Fund
is the place to look for funding. Before we leave we visit an organic farm
under the hillside where we buy three bottles of cold pressed olive oil,
some home made jams and chutneys and two salad bags picked while we wait
- poor Caragh they are full of Coriander. When we get home we study our African
Maps and guide books, chattering about different routes and whether we want
to take the longest train in the world to Choum or risk the drive down the
unpaved road alongside the Atlantic.... Our friend told us to pick as many
oranges and lemons off the trees as we like so we test the different orange
trees today to decide which ones we prefer...of course we can´t agree..PYO
huh
 |
 |
 |
The previous
owner spoke 21 languages! |
Los Llanos
the restaurant that gave us 75 litres |
The filtering
begins in Ross's backyard ware
Kaye works late into the evenings |
 |
 |
 |
Fires on
every street corner at the fire festival in Torviscon Sierra
Nevada |
Big moth
at the restaurant |
The Nissan
resting before the next leg of the
journey |
Day
15 Collect shock absorbers and engine oil in the heat of the midday
sun, some last minute provisions and Eleutherococcus for my nerves!It takes
2 hours to load our expanded supplies (i am glad to say a lot of it is vitamin
C) Not far down the road we saw the damn dam. It is the biggest dam in Europe
and they expect it to take 10 years to fill. Will it flood the organic farm
where we bought the olive oil from yesterday? We saw conflict at both ends
of the same valley, at the top end there is a protest going on because of
the illegal quarrying and at the bottom end people are being slowly
submerged....all for greenhouses, hotels and golf houses on the coast? Early
this morning many people turned up to protest about the quarry operation
and some people jumped into the bucket of the digger. The driver jumped out
to pull them out and someone else grabbed the keys thus imobalising it.
Enter..digger driver's family along with the Guardia Civil and riot
police...commence 5 minute scuffle and then the family point out 4 people
they wish to have arrested (3 of whom were bystanders) After a thorough beating
the 4 people were detained in the town cells, by lunchtime as we were leaving,
still no Lawyer would defend them and the British Consulate had been contacted.
Local land owners are among those at the vigil outside the town hall, the
operators have tried to quarry the river bed 3 times in 10 years, this time
the Dept. of Environment have not opposed them. The travellers site which
is home to over a hundred families, and where many people have bought land
might not be so cool in the future, it may be under water and Orgiva could
be at the water's edge. Is this really the best way to spend European money?
it is local business that prospers in the short term but in the long term
it is only the big holiday operators. It seems crazy that the money has to
be spent in this manner, the labouring masses get so little and they need
so much. Anyhow, enough politics, the day ended at Torremolinos where the
skips were good and the sunrise stupendous. On the way through we bought
another 200 litres of sunflower oil from LIDLS, i like the Spanish charisma,
the man who directed us to the shop leaned casually on the front wing and
drew a map of how to get there in the thick dust on the bonnet (of which
I am very proud it has a well travelled look) Day's drive 100 miles
 |
 |
 |
Seamus
modifies Daihatsu window
handles for the Nissan |
Down over
the Mediterranean at Estepona |
Goodye
Europe |
Day 16
Visited the British Embassy in Malaga to receive a certificate of affadavit
- my intention to return with the vehicle to Europe. This cost me 130 euros
but I am told that the fine for not having a Carnet Dé passage is
a lot more...we shall see if it was worth the while in time hence. Suspect
some engine coking. Poorer starting performance and minute quantity of black
smoke on start up. Beach stop at Estepona, re-shuffle of tat in advance of
Customs at Gibraltar and Ceuta. We now have all our bikes on the roof and
the white tarp tightly over the trailer and contents. Evening shopping trip
into Gibraltar for a GPS and large quantities of houmous from Safeways. Seamus
has located sattelites by the time we arrive at Algeciras for the ferry.
finished day at 1848 miles; day's drive 108 miles
| Day 17 What a noisy night by the seaside that was;
trucks and boats busying around and motorbikes bringing night watchmen, seagulls
speak the same language wherever they are in the world and these ones make
me feel homesick! Nissan checked over at dawn and a list made of things that
need attending to; exhaust pipe to manifold blowing slightly front passenger
wheel hub has a very small hole oil pump housing gasket leaks coolant
intermittently 1 rear exhaust mounting missing laef springs are completely
flat at the back shock absorbers await replacement 12.00pm we arrived in
Morroccan customs half an hour ago, the sun beats down on us and thank goodness
for the lonely planet guide as we are prepared for a few hours of beaurocracy.
Hazel walks up and down from one window to another on our left, hands in
our temporary residence forms and passports. Next we have to buy insurance
from another window, it cost 52 euros. The "Chief" wants to do an inspection....
we nearly pass and then he looks under the tarp.....he shakes his head, we
are not allowed to pass. Our two morroccan helpers who we have tipped cannot
help us, the senior official comes along and I go through the whole story,
in my best French I explain how it's much better for the Ozone Layer, how
we use Solar Power to pump the fuel over to the tank. How it has taken me
a week to filter 165 litres of oil from restaurants and Pizza Shops.....
He advises me to ask for another inspection. So after asking politely for
permission to pass, sunglasses says no a second time and calls in his "Chief",
who will be 10 minutes...half an hour, an extra large bag of crisps, an avocado
and some pumpernickel later (and the now tepid houmous!)The Chief of Chiefs
arrives and wants to know what all the veg oil is for. "Ce'st pour mon voiture,
elle fait bien avec huile vegetal seulement", and I offer to show him under
the bonnet....5 minutes later we get on our way, even sunglasses was glad
to see us go and the fat man explained about the solar panel. 2 hours from
start to finish.. not too bad. As we pass through the barriers and are let
loose into Morrocco we see crowds of people and what looks like the hills
are alive with sacks of potatoes but is of course people coming through with
their European goods. We have worked up a thirst, after leaving the crowds
behind we stop to drink water and fill our bottles from the trailer stash.
We head for Rabat on the Atlantic coast. The scenery is hilly with pine trees
on either side, hundreds of people are passed holding up their wares at the
side of the road hoping to sell us some hats, asparagus or some strange looking
things like palm tree cuttings! Prickly pears make the hedges here, whole
families are out working in the irrigated fields. the lorries are decorated
with Arabic shapes and lettering all different colours, they have a special
"it's safe to overtake light" that flashes green on the nearside! It takes
us a while to get used to being tooted at. People collect bags of verge grass
for the animals that are at home. We arrive at the campsite in Salé
just before it gets completely dark and are welcomed to a peaceful night's
sleep in our tarp envelope. On our way into the city we saw Storks roosting
all over the place. Two were nesting on a sports field spotlight! Camping
cost us 62dH (there are 10 Dirhams to the euro and 1.4 euros to the £,
so it was about a fiver) I managed to play on the beach with the children
after dinner but generally I am finding it hard going and get very tired
about 9pm. Day's drive ended @ 2049 miles, 201 miles
Day 18
We awaken to the sound of the Iman calling the prayer. It is heard in every
town and city at sunup, sundown and once in between too. We passed through
the old city this morning on our way to Casablanca, hundreds of brown people
in brown clothes waving, tooting or poking bread into the air it looked hard
and chewy and my muesli nestled comfortably in my stomach! On the autovia
I saw a van with the roofrack full of sheep and their shepherd. Casablanca
looked so much like Birmingham I didn't even stop, we are down to less than
100 Dirhams but I guess I am quite worried about hitting rough roads with
a new pair of shocks in the trailer still in the box. The sun is intense.
Day 18 cont´d We travel on always Southward
and the sun gets hotter and with it our tempers! We do some miles on the
peajge but there seems to be no way to determine exactly how much we will
be charged. Our Dirhams are disappearing fast, we even try our hand at roadside
commerce - a boy sells us some ggs but trouble is all his relatives have
things to sell too! There are chickens and necklaces thrust in through the
window, it tkes us a good 10 minutes to extract the 6 eggs we really want
and we end up flustered with feathers everywhere!To stop the flocks running
away from the side of the road, all their legs are tied together. We decide
to camp in a campsite near Marakech, all electrics working well, temperature
good only exhaust and shocks need attention drastically. A mechanic is
reccommended by the owners. day´s drive 208 miles
Day 19 We wash all our clothes, the showers
are warm. At 10 am the mechanic arrives and says he can do all the shocks
and springs in one day! Off we go to the garage in the City,we have the shocks
on by lunchtime but the springs take longer.
The trouble with the springs was not the extra leaf and re-tempering itself
which only took 6 hours, but when it came to putting them back on the vehicle
- the hangers were too short and so new ones had to be made. This proved
to be impossible and Seamus and I had to spend the night in the Nissan as
I was afraid to leave it unattended. We unloaded all the water butts and
bicycles from the roof and put them in the garage for the night so it attracted
less attention. |
 |
Our first
view of Morocco after customs |
|
A view
of the workshop in Marrakech
where we had the suspension upgraded |
 |
The offending
articles are removed |
Day
20
The day began at 5.30am with the Imman calling the prayer,people scurried
around in the half-light with their big woolly jelabas on, faces hidden in
shadow from the pointed hoods.
At eight La Petit (the young boy) arrived on his bicycle and opened the
workshop.
He helped me load all the butts and bikes back onto the roof. We were invited
to breakfast in the corner of the garage-an olivey tajine full of fried eggs,
chunks of bread and hot, sweet minty tea.
La Petit was sent off on his bicycle to find an engineer to make the new
hangers and I set about doing some maintenance - greasing up the steering
mechanism and propshafts.
By midday we still had no new components and I was beginning to worry that
I might have to spend another night on the pavement, it was Sunday after
all. At about 3pm though the new pieces finally arrived by car and we set
to work to get everything just right as quick as possible. This was not
altogether straightforward as some of the bolts used on the springs were
too proud and had to be filed down to fit into their housing. It's interesting
to note that in a Moroccan garage the customers are encouraged to help out
with the work, 3 people filed down the nuts and I even helped to put the
engine back into the Mercedes! We paid 2000dH altogether for the work, which
was a bit more than I would have liked to have paid but haggling was not
something I wanted to do.I felt sorry for La Petit working so hard and without
a socket set, (he really enjoyed using mine), I did quietly give him 50dH,
which was probably a lot to him, more than what he would earn in a day. In
the garage next door there was a child of 10 covered from head to foot in
oil and working hard on cars all day.
By 6pm we had arrived back at the campsite and I looked forward to a better
night's sleep.
Day ended @ 2272 miles, day's drive 8 miles. |
 |
The walls
of the Medina in Marrakech,
Swallows live in the holes |
|
 |
Day 21
Last night Hazel went out to the Medina with Mohammed, the owner of the campsite.
She saw snake charmers, dancers and musicians in the old city.I was too tired,
sleep and liquid my only fascination. A long strike to camp and then - disaster-
the pump broke! On closer inspection I realised that the jubilee clip I had
put on was overtightened and had crushed the plastic outflow pipe. I had
strangely enough bought a large tube of strong glue in Spain for no apparent
reason and so I tried to glue it together, it worked enough to fill the fuel
tank with oil but I was not satisfied that it was an effective long term
repair so a back up pump was now on the shopping list.
We arrive in Essouira around 4pm. Beautiful beaches and busy seagulls crowded
in amongst a massive tourist population and mandatory hustlers.
A quick visit to the Internet facility brought me up short after looking
at my bank balance. I am very worried about money and don't think we will
have enough to get to Senegal.
I make contact with the Boundaries to Bridges Tour, they are in TaTa heading
East towards Zagora and have decided that they will not be going to Senegal.
They welcome us to join them doing their performances and workshops if we
want to.
Day ends @ 2411 miles, day's drive 139 miles. |
| Traditional
Morroccan dress |
|
Day 22
A cold, damp, cloudy morning is brightened up by the sight of a man ploughing
with some camels on the other side of the road. He uses one of his feet to
press down onto the plough as the camel drags it forward, at the turn he
clicks and hisses the commands and the camel shuffles around 180 degrees
grunting and snuffling. It is an ardous task to be watching but I am fascinated
by the whole scene as more camels turn up to join in the work, a few children
to plant the seeds. They carry on with their work, only waving and smiling
once or twice. One man comes over to ask for cigarettes, this is something
we have to get used to.
We can see the Argane trees stretching for miles accross the rocky hills.
They are Hawthorn size trees with huge nuts the size of large acorns in clusters.
These are the nuts that are used to make Argane oil, a principal product
of the area. We travel on to see the women's co-op where they make the oil
and spend a few hours watching the processes and Hazel does some filming.
http://www.targanine.com
The British Consulate and Oxfam helped to set up the co-op by buying large
pieces of neccessary equipment. The women bandage their fingers and hold
a nut on top of a stone, using the other hand they bash the nut open with
a samll stone in the other hand, the oily kernel is then flicked into a basket
in front of her as she picks up the next nut, their hands work fast. When
we tried it we realised how bruised their hands must be after a day's work
as many of the nuts have a diameter smaller than the diameter of a finger!
It takes 30kg of nuts to make 1 litre of oil and approximately 15 hours of
labour.
An experienced woman at the co-op will produce 2kg of kernels per day and
gats paid 70dH (35 per kilo). This is 7 euros or £5, and a good wage
here. I paid 70dH for 200ml of oil.
Late in the day we arrive at Agadir, a huge fishing port. I decide to search
for a pump here but at six there are no shops open. We camp on the beach
at Tamraght, as far as we can away from the campervan city.
day ends @ 2509 miles, day's drive 98 miles |
 |
 |
|
The Argane
nuts - used to make oil |
Hulling
the nuts |
Cool airy
working conditions. The women get
paid 35dtt per kilo of hulled nuts. If they get
really good at it they can do 2kg a
day |
|
Day 23
Caragh practices her haggling skills and gets a camel ride for 10 dH instead
of 20. We are hustled by bread boys, men with eggs, fish, jewellery, blankets
and "yeah right Swiss Watches". we are beginning to get acclimatised to hustlers,
I am keen on the rugs but would like to wait and see on that one and get
some haggling practice in first.
An octopus salesman called La Hassan invites us into his hut for tea after
I show him around the veg oil kit. The fishermen's huts are made of bamboo,
flotsam and jetsam. One of the old men tell us how they are now too old to
haul nets and can only earn 5dH a day carrying the litle boats up and down
to the water's edge.The bicycles on my roofrack are the main topic of
conversation but I am not ready to get rid of them yet.
On the way into Agadir I see a likely looking garage and have the exhaust
manifold removed with gas cutting gear, the nuts were too rusty for me to
manage with a spanner. It takes me 20 minutes to buy the correct nuts and
bolts at the hardware store but I am rewarded with my patience as when the
job is done the engine roars quietly under the bonnet and the loud cronky
noise is replaced by more pulling power up the hills.
The garage men give us a list of things to bring "next time";
Large Angle Grinder, Large Socket set, Power Washer, and compressor paint
sprayer.
In another half hour we have miraculously stopped right outside a shop thet
sells pumps, we buy a well made hand pump for 300dH and rush off to park
near the sea at a small grubby town called Sidi Ifni.
Whilst driving along in the sunshine I notice some loss of power and wonder
if the fuel filter is blocking up slightly.
Day ends @ 2628 miles, day's drive 119 miles |
 |
|
 |
Agadir
and the fishing port |
Caragh
gets to ride a camel for half price |
The Sardine
fleets tidily moored in Agadir port |
|
Day 24
Rest day - we do all our washing, make phone calls and check the internet.
Seamus fixes the stereo by taking it to peices, cleaning it and putting it
back together, he finds twelve and a half spiders inside it!
I buy some material to make headgear with and we chat to some French guys
who have just come back from Atar. They tell us about the road conditions
and climate further South.
Day25
Hazel has her second drive and notices a lack of performance immediately.
We are now openly discussing the issue of turning back within the group.
I make mental calculations based on our current fuel consumption and work
out that we need to have at least 500 euros to spend on fuel just to get
back to Spain from Senegal. this is based on the average price of Diesel
between 30 and 50 cents per litre. Buying new veg oil would cost us twice
this amount and cannot be considered at this stage. We have a total of 700euros
left and the question becomes when do we turn around and not should we. We
all agree that experience of the desert is the best thing we can hope for
and our Mauritanian Visas will have to stay unused in our Passports. It is
a sad time but we are distracted by the beautiful scenery. Immpressive shipwrecks
interrupt the rocky shores and Purple Statis and bright yellow tumble weeds
cavort against the shifting hues of sand and rock. Through the next set of
mountains we arrive at the beach again and now realise headgear is essential,
the sun is really hot and there is sand flying around everywhere. Each time
we arrive near a town we are stopped by the Gendarmerie Royal and all our
papers are checked through, this happens three times today.
We investigate some shipwrecks, the coast is wild and windy. We drive down
to the shore to sleep the night, there is no question of putting up a sort
of shelter as the wind is so strong. The sand gets everywhere, I am now getting
used to having lots in the bottom of my sleeping bag which I can feel whilst
I am shuffling my feet around trying not to press on the brake pedal in my
sleep. Off-road driving is good for my confidence in the Nissan's capabilities,
I am starting to learn the different types of sand structures for driving
or getting stuck!
day ended @ 2821 miles, day's drive 193 miles |
|
Our Nissan
looks tiny at
the bottom of the red cliffs
at Sidlfni |
|
|
Day 26
Beautiful dawn over the desert. I find some secluded rock pools to have a
wash in and admire the sea's battle with the desert at the edge of the Atlantic.
The flotsam and jetsam of people's plastic society life piles up in colourful
spews on the beach and in crevices. I hadn't imagined how many plastic bottles
could stretch for miles. All along the way we have seen the towns and cities
using the rivers as rubbish dumps, waiting for the rains to wash it all into
the sea....it makes plastic sense for Seamus and I to be poking around on
the beach looking for useful bits and pieces. He finds some nice net and
strings it accross the back to stop gear falling onto the back of his neck
in emergency stops.
At Tarfaya we ask for directions to the Internet as I am still in the habit
of trying to make regular updates.
Sassi shows us the way and invites us to his family house for some tea. A
grand mosaic hallway, luxurious couches and a large bottle of perfume to
splosh onto visitors who, whether they smell or not are subject to a tradition.
Of great hilarity I was the subject of amusement when I was dressed up in
traditional dress by the women of the houshold, i felt constricted and
pretentious as there is no way I would be able to drive or carry anything
more than a couple of bags, this female show of decorative beauty is not
something I am conditioned to feel comfortable in displaying. I can't imagine
what it must be like to live "domesticated" like this.
After tea which is half a gill of hot sweet gunpowder china tea mixed with
fresh mint, poured and repoured too many times Hazel smokes some apple red
tobacco in a huge bubbly pipe. Then we looked at the roof garden where Sassi's
dad managed to grow herbs for his health and his wife keeps pigeons. Sassi
came with us to the market stalls and helped us do a bit of shopping before
we went off to the Internet. The Internet facility was owned by a young man
who had a University Education in America, he has 6 kids playing on Playstation
games with huge monitor screens. He had clocks for Paris, New York, London,
Madrid, Rabat and Tokyo but they were all at the wrong time!
After stocking up on some bread and veg we carried on South, the apples were
the greenest thing we could find and they were wrinkly Golden Delicious!
Day ended @ 2999 miles,day's drive 178 miles
|
 |
 |
 |
Flotsum
and Jetsum piled high and all over
the beeches too! |
Seamus
investigates a shipwreck, the shores are
rocky and currents wreck many ships |
Dawn calm
before the wind settles in for the day
|
|
Day
27
Last night we had a hard time finding anywhere to camp, the wind as usual
prevented us from sleeping outside so we again had to sleep in the vehicle.
We chose to stay away from the road near what turned out to be a dead dog
dump. By 8am this morning we were visited by 25 or more silver and orange
dogs all barking madly at us. I think the dead dogs lying around were ones
that had been poisoned.
It was at this point that we decided to turn around and head North -East
into the desert and join the Boundaries to Bridges Tour. I was tired, stressed
and couldn't see why it would be to our advantage to drive on towards Dakar
when we didn't have enough money to eat or deal with emergencies after paying
for our fuel. The point of driving on Bio-fuel seems to be the main focus
of my efforts and I beleived that by turning around at this point I could
make the whole journey on vegetable oil.I had received an email from someone
else in the second section of the Plymouth-Dakar Challenge and they had just
reached England so I also knew that there would be no familiar faces in
Senegal.
We head towards Smara and hopefully some piste that is marked on the map.
We are now very close to the border with Algeria and the people are darker
than ever. The roads are flat, straight and so is the horizon. There is very
little traffic except for the occassional lorry or Land Rover. In the middle
of the day we build a fire by the road to cook a meal, a blown out lorry
tyre makes a windbreak. Our supplies of Welsh Spring water are lasting out
well. I have to be vigilant for Caragh as she can get sunburn very easily.
Hazel's finger which she sliced through in Customs is now healing well. We
are getting better at eating in the high winds(hold the plate under the chin
and put your back to the wind) it seems we can eat sand which is impossible
to keep from getting into food, clothes and generally everywhere one can
imagine it could possible get into.
The vehicle seems to be struggling a bit in the heat of the day especially,
or maybe I am tired. Even when the wind is behind us it feels like it's against
us. All checks, however prove that the engine is not apparently in trouble,
coolants and lubrication levels seem to be fine.
Just before sunset we arrive at Smara, the festival of the Lamb is underway
and all the children are enjoying some pocket money - flocking to the
Patisseries. Each household slaughters a lamb on the 1st February. The streets
are full of men and women wearing their most flamboyant clothes, bright blue,
pink or white satin skirts on the women and gold embroidery accross the chests
of the men. It takes us over an hour to get into the city gates because of
the details needed from the Police - mother's name, father's name,
profession,destination, address etc....
The Internet is a wash out, it is now nearly ten days since I managed to
log onto my AOL mailbox, I feel like I am wasting my time and money.
We buy a box of cakes at the Patisserie and drive out of town, I am tired
and finding it difficult to deal with the crowds of children pressing their
noses to the windows, poking their fingers into the trailer and asking for
things.
When we arrive at the checkpoint and explain that we are plannng to take
the piste route we are informed that there are land mines set and we are
not allowed to pass this way, no amount of persuasion and argument will allow
us to drive on the road I had planned to take, there is military action going
on and we are told that we do not have a choice.
It turned out later that I was glad that we had to take the tarmac road because
we had our first breakdown. At around 9pm as we had been driving along the
most boring road I have ever driven at night, the engine suddenly started
to sporadically do power surges. It was happy in 3rd gear but would only
pick up to 30mph, I explained to the crew that we were breaking down and
that I would not be able to attempt a repair until daylight. I finally decided
to pull over after about 20 minutes of sluggish driving, there were some
lights in the distance but we had no way of knowing what they were.
day ended @ 3196 miles, day's drive 197 miles |
 |
 |
 |
Puple statis
flowers grow low to the ground
accross the desert floor |
Camels
are now commonplace, wherever they go
it must be hard to find anything to eat
|
Usually
they leg it snorting
and spitting but hitting
one would be terrible |
|
Day
28
I got up at dawn, there had been three vehicles passing in the night.
By 9am I had changed the fuel filter. It took me just as long to excavate
the spare parts box under all our camping gear as it did to do the mechanics.
After bleeding up the engine it seemed to be normal again, I did not do a
test drive without the trailer as I did not want to risk breaking down separate
from the rest of the crew and equipment.
If we were going to break down again it would be better to be altogether
with everything on board. So after a quick breakfast of the tiresome bread
and eggs or tinned fish we set off. Happy to say that there are no problems
and my worries about it being the injector pump are purely paranoia.
The Nissan is going well although we are being buffeted around so much by
the wind it is hard to tell what level of performance we are getting. Top
speed is approx. 60 mph.
We give a family of Arabs a lift from Guelmim to TanTan(120km) and to
our surprise this makes our usual Document checking procedure into a 5 second
conversation. We give them some of our apples which I think are a luxury
item in these parts, they put them in their pockets and bound off down a
dark alley home into the night.
To my great delight we are able to find a cluster of Argane trees to make
a camp in and I get a horizontal night's sleep on the ground by the fire.
I sleep in two three season sleeping bags with my hat and scarf on and am
warm for sound sleep.
Our fuel reserve is now down to about 500 litres.
Day ends @ 3413, day's drive 217 miles. |
 |
 |
 |
The desert
has many succulent plants |
Cactus
in the desert - very spiky |
Rough,
Strong plants |
|
Day 29
It turned out this morning that those trees were the last for a while and
the only sign of shelter we see for quite a while this morning is an oasis
or two . At the first one there are groups of dark, beautiful women doing
their washing and laying it out on the rocks to dry. They wave and smile
at us and I wish I had the strength to pull over and do my washing too. The
sight of the water makes me notice how weak I am but I am too tired to trust
my communication skills, people have no apparent sense of a need for privacy
and it's really quite exhausting trying to communicate for all of us. At
the next oasis we stop and find a well where we fill up all our empty water
butts. There are a few dates on the ground under the Palm trees and the taste
is invigorating to the senses as they are covered in a crusty salt which
lies under the Palms in a thick carpet, sparkling in the sun.
We arrive in TaTa after dark because we had a bit of a snooze at the oasis,
there is a campsite there and the owner when hearing that we sleep on the
ground gives us thr "Salon de Repos" to stay in (20dH each). Too tired to
argue I have another fish sandwich and fall into slumberland.
day ends @3558 miles, day's drive 148 miles.
Day 30
We are packing all our gear into the Nissan this morning and a gentleman
comes to ask a few questions about our trip and progress. We are very brave
he says to travel with no man. At this point Hazel asks if he can reccommend
a good place to go for breakfast and he offers to treat us to a meal in town.
He is the Mayor! We set off with the Vice Mayor who takes us to the Restaurant
and explains that we need to be fed. We are given freshly squeezed orange
juice, hot mint tea, milky coffee for Hazel and as much fresh bread, cheese
and confiture as we can eat, which is quite a bit! Cheese by the way, is
the processed portioned spready variety that comes in cute little wrappers.
I never saw a piece of cheese as we know it the whole time I was in the
Sahara. |
 |
Salt encrusted
Date Palms
come in all shapes and
sies |
|
So it's the 4th
Feb and when the Mayor asks us how old the children are and about home education
Caragh explains it is her birthday in 5 days so during breakfast along comes
the Mayor with a gift wrapped in shiny green paper. Caragh is grinning from
ear to ear, he invites us to birthday dinner this time next year, couscous
with the family! We thank the Mayor for our grand breakfast and explain the
day's agenda. We are plannng to take the piste track from TaTa to Zagora,
a distance of 125km. We have to do a little shopping, to our delight we find
the bread man delivering bread on his bicycle, we buy some loaves at 2dH
each and immediately Caragh who is carrying the bread gives some to a woman
who is begging for money. The woman is delighted with the bread and waves
and smiles at every opportunity around town. Now that we know the prices
of the food it is much easier to buy goods, acclimatisation.
Finally at 4pm we get onto the piste, it hadn't occurred to me that we should
not drive on after dark but in the end after another bread meal I did drive
on, trying to reach Zagora.I was concerned because we had not been able to
make contact with the BBT lot and they might have moved on, it seemed important
to try and reach the last location as quickly as possible. We met a shepherd
boy and his goats just before dark who found it difficult to contain himself
at the sight of our bicycles on the roof. If only we had an endless supply
of bikes to give to these people who view them as great chariots, which they
are of course if you can keep them running. |
 |
The Mayor
of TaTa fixed Caragh's head gear |
|
We passed some
talking milestones(two merry men) who said that Zagora was 30km away and
beleiving them, carried on. Stupidly I had not recorded our mileage at the
beginning of the piste so I had no idea of time and distance. The track was
very rough and many times we had to stop and check that the trailer was still
intact. The dust was invading everywhere and there did not seem to be any
chioce but to go on, we were all hungry but the extent of my exhaustion and
the quantity of sand inside the vehicle making a thick layer all over our
gear prevented me from being able to make a meal. I finally succumbed at
11pm as I came to an irrigation channel cutting it's way accross the track
at a green farm in the middle of the desert. My tired brain couldn't understand
that I was supposed to drive over it so I decided the best thing to do was
go to sleep.
Day ended @ 3724 miles, day's drive 166 miles |
Day
31
In the night, I think I was beginning to suffer the effects of Hypothermia.
I was very cold but the tirdness prevented me from being able to decide what
to do about it. I had been driving for nearly twelve hours, eight of them
off-road on the piste in the dark and not had a meal in two days!! The feeling
of helplessness was overcoming me and it was good that a fast, loud Land
Rover passed us in the night, it woke me up enough to give me the realisation
that I needed to get up and move around and it also told me that the track
we were on was indeed the right track and I should go to the irrigation channel
and see whether the driver had driven over it.
By the time dawn arrived I had made a fire of twigs and was sipping hot miso
soup, in half an hour we came to the channel and of course found the tracks
right accross it. In the morning of a new day it seemed perfect sense, why
the farmer would have to irrigate the crops even though the track passes
straight on through the middle of them. Three healthy, bright young boys
came rushing out to greet us as we passed through their farm and confirmed
that this was the case. They tried to get us to come and drink tea but I
think we were feeling too fragile for social interactions. It had a profound
effect on me that farm of greenery in the middle of the desert.
|
 |
 |
 |
Our first
signs of desert |
The plants
get stranger
all the time |
Interesting
rock formations |
|
Day
31 cont'd
A forty minute drive brought us to Zagora town where we were surrounded by
touts for camel rides, hotels, camp sites and garages. I only really wanted
to find out where the Boundaries to Bridges Tour were located but after half
an hour of frustrating phone call failures I decided to hole up in a camp
site and prepare food for the crew as all our gear needed sorting somewhere
and privacy is a distant memory in these parts unless you pay for it.
One large pot of soup later and after emptying the Nissan and cleaning everything
we were ready to begin the search again. Eventually I resorted to phoning
Piet in England and through relaying information we found out the location
of the BBT. 90km South - the town of Mehamid.
I decided to sleep at the camp site before attempting the drive, there were
no directions, only that the town was so small, any local would be able to
tell us.
I had now learned to remember to log the time AND mileage on the approach
to a piste, as on a long one like this the experience overwhelms ones ability
to estimate distance. I also realised that when demanding such massive
concentration from myself as this type of driving does it is neccessary to
ensure adequate food and rest BEFORE and DURING the drive and not to
underestimate the level of skill required.
Day ended @ 3743 miles, day's drive 19 miles.
We had been told by the Vice-Mayor of TaTa that Zagora was cheapest for rugs
in these parts so we investigated the rug shops. It takes hours of haggling
and really we were not in fine fettle, I bought a few rugs but think I paid
twice as much as I really wanted to. |
 |
This is
a really good, easy piste. The piste from
TaTa to Zagora was often unmarked,
corrugated or deeply rutted accross |
|
 |
 |
 |
The rug
shop in Zagora |
The same
shop showing Tuareg artifacts for
sale |
Yet more
Tuareg booty |
|
Day
32
We had to stock up as we were told that Mehamid was very small with no banks.
It took us a while to find everything we needed in Zagora. At the Post Office
there were people asleep on the counter in a three-deep, queue-like formation!
A puncture repair kit took us over an hour to find and at every opportune
moment people attempt to have conversations about the same old thing - is
this the first time you have been to Morocco? Are you French? Can you give
me a present?
The children can admirably weave a dromedary or gazelle out of palm leaf
in approximately 4 minutes, then they present this to you and it's hard to
refuse. It is then of course not obligatory but courteous to give something
in return. Fortunately a puncture repair kit with 20 patches is only 24dH,
and the kids are happy with a patch even if they don't have a bike!
Getting near to Mehamid we picked up another hitch-hiker, this one seemed
to have all his wordly goods on his back which was bent double with the weight.
Seamus strapped it all onto the roofrack and we arrived in Mehamid just before
dark. I gave the man some food for his supper for which he was very
grateful.
Whilst I was doing this and heping him get his baggage, Hazel was taking
directions to the BBT campsite from a tall young man with a large turban
who I named the Galloper and Hazel and Caragh later named "the fake tribesman".
He sent us off to the other side of the river where we drove into the old
village. Unfortunately our arrival provoked hysteria as we drove onto the
football pitch (it was very dark, I couldn't see very well where the road
was as everything is sand)and a gang of youths chased us and climbed onto
the trailer. I had to stop and retrieve Seamus's bike which had been strapped
to the trailer. By this time we were in an alley and the only way out was
backwards which was very difficult in the dark with a trailer, 9 foot drops
on either side of the track and more than 20 excited young men surrounding
us. The situation became quite hysterical, two of the young men tried to
grab my breasts when I lifted the bike up to Seamus on the roof, some children
at the front of the vehicle were giving Hazel a hard time attempting to get
their hands on anything from the dashboard and poor Seamus who was standing
on the trailer trying to direct me was being punched and kicked by the younger
ones, they also picked up rocks and chucked them at him. There was so much
noise and confusion it took me a good few minutes to reverse out, the last
thing I wanted to do was injure someone. On our way back to the town we were
in a bit of a state and it became obvious to me that in this emotional state
I was incapable of trusting anyone elses directions. In the end we waited
in the town centre until we found someone who agreed to go and get one of
the BBT crew, this took 40 minutes but seemed the only way I could remain
calm enough to provide reassurance to the children. We saw the Galloper and
explained what had happened at which point he visibly cringed. He explained
that people only go there with a guide as the old town has a bad reputation,
and yet he sent us there!
It is a point of note here that we learned many things about this region
this evening, including;
1.Try to
avoid arriving places in the dark.
2.When
getting directions, don't follow them until three people say the same
thing.
3.Remember
that in their anxiousness to attract revenue, proprieters may deliberately
mislead you in the hope that you may end up needing to take refuge at their
"conveniently situated" camp site just there!(hence the name - fake
tribesman)
4.If possible keep all valuables out of sight at all times, bikes are much
in demand so they should be up high on the roof out of reach.
At the BBT base camp that evening after a bowl of soup and a comforting chat
in English... we suddenly remembered how tired we were and built a bender
for sound sleep...the BBT crew were putting up the geodesic dome in the light
of the full moon, this was for two reasons;
a) because
it was too hot to work during the day and
b) it is
the only time the wind drops
Day ended @ 3806 miles, day's drive 86 miles. |
Day 33
We awoke late and met the neighbours - a couple from Germany and their little
boy.
The geodesic dome is now up, the backdrop of yellow sand and blue sky sets
off the subtle white shape of the dome. At the morning meeting we find out
what is planned for the day, a parade into town and back, some music and
three films to be screened. I offered to cook for the day.The crew consisted
of about twenty people and I could cater for that many people in my fragile
state, it also meant that I would not have to be very sociable for that
day.
I donated my mosquito net to be used as a projector screen!
I had all the food ready by the time the parade came back from town, the
entourage included 150 children and a donkey cart.The clowns and musicians
interacting with the townspeople were all filmed by Hazel and this film was
shown via firewire at the end of the evening. It was really good for Seamus
and Caragh to be involved in this after their traumatic experience of the
day before, Caragh especially, got a lot of satisfaction from helping to
make people smile and laugh. Most of the audience were stars in the show
and the atmosphere was both relaxed and jovial. A fire for the tea making
ceremony was all we had to provide as there were no shortages of
volunteers. |
 |
BBT Base
Camp |
|
Day
34
I awoke with that wonderful feeling of trying to remember where I was.
Seamus finds a job as bread boy and cycles into town to buy the morning's
bread for the crew - 20 loaves. We are included in the communal eating
arrangements 20dH each per day.
Morning meeting shows me that the group is 3 main factions and this will
be the last festival where the group will be this large.
One group are heading off to Mauritania to do a project about slavery,
the second are planning to perform at the Dragon Festival in Andalucia and
the third are planning to go off on their own and do something else
entirely.
I am quite happy to join the second group at this stage although I have not
committed myself to doing the Dragon Festival. Hazel has a desire to join
the Mauritanian posse but thinks it is unlikely that she can expect her
cat-sitters to last out another 6 weeks.
The afternoon's activities for me involved helping to put on a women's film
event in the house of a local schoolteacher. There were about 6 of us went
to the house and set about getting the equipment ready to show the films.
We waited for an hour for the rest of the women to turn up and then showed
the first film. It was a film the BBT crew had made about the womens' Argane
co-operative and went down very well.
The next film was a bit more controversial in that there were some "indecent"
scenes in it and there was a lot of content about glue-sniffing and violence.
Surprisingly only one or two women left with their very little ones and the
majority were content to stay for the afternoon's entertainment. The film
was based on a true story about some gangs of boys living on the streets
of Casablanca. One of them had been killed by a rock to the temple in a street
fight and the plot revolved around how his friends contrived to find enough
money to give him a funeral. One of their major tasks was to visit his mother
who was a prostitute and tell her he was dead, not only that but they had
to try and extract some money from her. The film was in Arabic with French
subtitles and I enjoyed it for the artistic qualities it tried to dwell on.
After the film we chatted with the women for a while and invited them to
our camp for some tea and pancakes the next day. They thought they might
like to come but were worried about their husbands' reaction to there being
strange men there. We promised to make sure they hid away, in fact they offered
to make the tea and pancakes!
Later at the dome there was a contingency of young men who came to play
traditional music and show off their dancing
skills. |
|
|
|
It took
20 minutes for the solar cooker to boil a
kettle of water, at the end of the festival the
cooker was donated to the local
school |
The
well where we drew washing water,
it was too salty to drink |
They make
really good buckets
from old car tyres |
|
 |
Day
35
9th February - Caragh's Birthday
Her face was a delight to see when she finally got to open the present from
the Mayor. A camel bone jewellery box inlaid with intricately carved silver
and brass, inside the regal purple velvet enclosure there was a charming
little letter inviting us all to a family dinner the same time next year.
Caragh and I went shopping and it was market day. We enjoyed going around
checking out all the different things that might contribute towards a birthday
tea party. We bought chocolate and loads of bananas. It was fun being relaxed
and checking over the different quality of vegetables. Thank goodness there
is no need to haggle for food!
It took me about two hours to find the pieces of jewellery that she wanted
and then we had to haggle over the headscarves and slippers as well. We figured
it was a bit of a stressful way to do birthday shopping but there was no
other way to get the presents.
When we got back to camp I spent an hour cutting up palm wood to make cocktail
sticks, then another hour cutting up bananas and covering them in melted
chocolate. We had no oven so we had to make do......
Later on I was asked to be a driver for some off-road piste work taking a
film crew around historical buildings and places of interest. I agreed to
go as it seemed a good way of investigating the local area.
I prepared the Nissan as I had to be at the schoolteachers house at
9.30am. |
 |
Caragh
has a birthday Camel ride |
Waiting
outside the shop |
|
Day
36
The first thing to be filmed was the local history museum. I decided to stay
with the vehicle all day whilst the filming was being done rather than jumping
out and following everyone around, I could snooze in my own company and even
write a few postcards. After the museum we located the dying Palmeries and
the irrigation channels blocked by the encroaching Sahara, the last place
we went to was on the camel route to Timbuktu. Mehamid was one of the last
stopping places before the 52 day stretch of unpopulated sands due South
to the ancient trading capital of Timbuktu, the jewellery Caragh chose depicted
the Southern Cross which was the main celestial navigational aid and prevented
the Nomads from getting lost. We saw some burial mounds of important Nomadic
Tribespeople, pyramid shaped mounds against the skyline.
Later we were invited to a Nomad's house for the ancient tea ceremony,I had
stopped accepting their tea long ago but figured the best way to deal with
it is to take the glass offered and then quietly pass it to someone else.
We were not allowed to do any filming in their house, the women traditionally
refuse to be photographed at all under any circumstances.
Back at base camp we discover that the BBT crew are well into their desert
olympics, all sorts of games and fun on the sand dunes. Seamus has made a
friend - Hamsa, who is about 12 and has a bike too, they cycle around together
teaching each other tricks. Every time I see Seamus he tells me a new word
of French or Arabic that he has learned.
Hamsa asks if Seamus is allowed to go to his house for tea the next day and
I agree. |
 |
 |
 |
this is
the settlement where we parked outside
the town of Mehamid |
these
are the bricks that they make their
houses from |
the houses
are well made and they don't need
many solar panels! |
|
Day 37
Evaluation day for the BBT. This takes all day and finishes at 9pm.
One main aspect of the conclusions are the ever present issues of management
vs. self-directed autonomy, I have come accross this many times before and
see it as a sub-heading to RESPONSIBILITY. Ultimately there needs to be those
people who are willing and able to take responsibility for fundamental group
needs, after which trust follows and then whatever room is left over after
those issues have been dealt with the creative autonomous drives can be
manouvered around successfully. There are always people who like to be lead
and there are always people who like to lead. The trouble seems to be mainly
when people get bored and want to reverse roles but don't communicate
effectively!
The issue of communication was large, as this was an International Project,
the languages spoken were Spanish, French, German, English and Arabic, this
means that all meetings take a long time as translation is an issue for
people(they often feel that they have been given only an abbreviated version
in translation)English and German were commonly the most frequent languages
spoken. I expect there will be a more comprehensive synopsis of the evaluation
in due course on the memenet website.
Seamus enjoyed himself at Hamsa's house in town and proudly tells me of his
new bits of French vocabulary.
Day 38
The last day of the festival.
I worked with some kids and made "dune pictures", some folks taught diabalo
and others arranged the evening entertainment.
I interviewed Hintsch today and learned about his self-built vegetable oil
conversion. I was doing the interview and Hazel filmed it all. He has had
some problems with both straight mixing of fuels and a two tank system. I
learned some relaevnt data and he gave me some good literature on the subject
plus a contact for someone in Barcelona who is keen to set up veg oil collection,
if I should choose to go back that way.
The sunset was irresistable and I realised that I had made myself a home
in the desert. Katrin, one of the German women did a brief but powerful fire
show which blew the African men's minds(the African womena are not allowed
out after 9pm) |
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Bones
and stones make good dune art
materials |
Diabalo
was really popular, shame
there weren't more to go round |
The local
Berber Musicians played their
music for hours |
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Sunset
and sand dunes - ideal components for International fun and
games |
|
Day
39
We took the geodesic dome down today. I started at 8am to be sure of getting
enough work in before the heat of the day would stop me from working. By
1pm I had had enough and went off for a lie down. I found out that by soaking
my headscarf in water and putting it back on my head it was a good way of
keeping cool for half an hour. I can't imagine trying to live here in
summer!
Later the locals made us a tajine and we all sat around the fire telling
jokes and asking riddles. It takes a long time to be so familiar with language
that ideas, feelings and concepts can be discussed, you have to be content
with the basics, which is why the theatre and drama workshops work so well.
Day 40
It takes us about three hours to strike camp, we burn all our rubbish in
a big hole and bury the remains. There are no rubbish facilities here in
the Sahara, rubbish is taken to the outskirts of town and burned, whatever
is left blows off into the desert or festers in a pile. The goats and sheep
eat anything compostable.
By mid afternoon everyone who is going is ready to go and we meet in town
for refreshments before hitting the road. We travel with Katrin as back-up
because she is worried her fan belt might snap.
I am suffering diarrhoea - Marakech Express as it's known around here!
We make it back to Zagora all right and find the river bank to park on, the
River Draa actually has water in it! This is where the posse are splitting
in their different directions.
Day ends @ 3906 miles, day's drive 66 miles. |
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This dome
was hand built and It's the first one
I have seen that uses this type of pole to put
up and take down to take the weight |
Time for
a quick break |
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|
Day
41
A good night's sleep and I am feeling better. I concentrate on my medicine
box and use meadowsweet, sage and elderflower tea made very strong. I also
take a large dose of Wild Indigo and put myself back onto the Liver Detox
mixture we were taking for Malaria.
3 bananas give me the required strength to get on down the road to Erfoud.
Hazel did some driving and I put my head down to rest a bit along the way.
BUG ALERT! - this time not a six inch grasshopper but a wildly coloured orange
and black striped wasp looking insect, in the back.
This is the drill
1.Caragh sees it first and starts screaming
"bug, bug".
2.We pull over at a suitable spot.
3.Everyone jumps out of the vehicle, leaves
all the doors open and starts jumping up and down and pulling at their
trousers.
4.Carefully each passenger then peers carefully
under their seat and around their things before the offending insect is found
and gingerly evicted to some safe spot away from the road.
It left me feeling a bit shaky on this particular day!
We meet Tina, Emu and Milan the German family and park up together near an
irrigation channel. There is a little derelict house there which I turn into
a kitchen and bedroom for the night.
Day ends @ 4110 miles, day's drive 204 miles |
Day
42
Tina and I get up early and get on with our washing at the irrigation channel.
Seamus and Milan are overjoyed to have water to play with, there's a fast
flow. In fact this morning Tina and I rescued a dog that was in the channel.
The sides were too steep and smooth for it to get out and the water was flowing
fast, we managed to grab it one by the head and one by the tail and haul
it out onto the bank. I saw lots of useful bits and pieces floating past
but they were in the centre of the channel and there was no way of grabbing
anything unless I wanted to risk jumping in to an unknown depth. It's amazing
how something so simple as having clean clothes can cheer one's spirits so
dramatically!
I notice that the new fuel filter I put on is leaking so I have to remove
it from it's housing and tighten it up, it can't be tightened in situ because
the electric heater element provided by Elsbett is clamped on and can't be
adjusted without taking it off.
A short day's driving brings us to a lake where we find the rest of the BBT
group heading North. We all eat together and are visited by some locals who
want to blag cigarettes. There is loads of wood to burn on the shores of
the lake so I make pakoras over the fire. We have now been sleeping outside
for over a fortnight and am wondering how it will be not to see the stars
last thing in the cold lands North.
Day ends @ 4176, day's drive 66 miles.
Day 43
I went looking for fossils today but didn't find anything in the rocky outcrops.
We set off after midday but soon stopped for some retail therapy at a roadside
pottery shop. Seamus swapped his old walkman for a decorated plate and gave
it to me for my birthday.
The climate changed dramatically after we crossed the Atlas mountains, the
wind was bitterly cold and brought our woolly jumpers out of the bottom of
our bags.
As we neared the ancient Cedar Forest of Azrou we noticed hundreds of feral
dogs at the side of the road. They weren't just small weedy mongrel types
but big dogs, white, black and brown in all shades and in the shapes of Alsations
and Mountain dogs. They seemed to be staring blandly until we drew near and
then we figured they must be waiting for us to have a picnic, or maybe we
were the picnic! One car had broken down and the man was surrounded by about
ten of them all sitting watching him an a circle, my crew were not keen on
stopping to find out if he needed some help.
We parked at the edge of the Ancient Forest and had a big fire of bits we
found on the ground. Seamus and I slept on the roof and Hazel and Caragh
indoors as we didn't like the way the dogs howling sounded like wolves....
Day ended @ 4327 miles, day's drive 151 miles
Day 44
I have lost the fuel cap! The last fill up was in Zagora when I was feeling
ill and I forgot to check that the kids had put it back on, because the keys
were in the ignition I had just assumed that the cap had been put on, the
keys lock the little door shut over the fuel cap. I had noticed oil spill
on the rear wing but had put it down to spillage.
All checks reveal coolant leaking slightly in three places but it isn't serious
enough to need to fix it yet, just regular observation will do.
Manage to send and recieve a text to/from England which cheers me up and
I start to get excited at the thought of returning to my life again.
After two minutes of driving we find the roadside full of apes. We spend
half an hour observing them and feeding them nuts which a Scottish man who
comes out of the forest gives us. Seamus is amazed at their human-like
expressions!
We arrive in Azrou and after an hour of fiddling, find a fuel cap that fits
in a motor parts shop. The rest of the morning is taken up with shopping
and haggling for more rugs, we chose this place because the Lonely Planet
Guide says it's cheapest. For 1000dH and two knackered bicycles I received
3 large woven rugs, 8 ancient, woven cushion covers, a purple jelaba and
a hand of Fatima necklace. I'll do better next time I'm sure.
We arrive in the evening at Fes where we find a camp site to stay.
Day ends @ 4402,day's drive 75 miles |
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Seamus
and Milan help themselves to Nature's
Playdough whilst we do the washing |
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The Atlas
mountains are now between us and
the desert |
|
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They were
really chilled out, even when their babies walked accross the
road |
Day
45
I spend my birthday in the old Medina in Fes. It takes a whole day for us
to find and catch a bus to the City, find the Medina and buy some leather
shoes for Seamus. I treat myself to some Saffron and Incense at the spice
shop and bootleg Arab tapes, then we have a meal before attempting the return
journey to camp. It was sad that I got my USB cables robbed out of my camera
bag but really I was just glad that they didn't get the actual camera. We
got hassled quite a lot in the Ville Nouveau but once we got into the Medina
itself there was no trouble. I saw the skinniest mule loaded up and treading
up the hill I have ever seen in my whole life, they wear shoes made of old
car tyres to stop them slipping on the cobbles, their owners shout "akoi,akoi"
which means "get out of the way or you'll get run over"!
Day 46
A quick stop at Makro and then I spent the rest of the day behind the wheel
trying to get through the Rif mountains. We were not prepared for the hissing,
calling, shouting and gesticulating with bundles of hashish from what seemed
like a thousand men and lads, desperate for a bit of cash. The terraced
agriculture system was astounding and no less so was their determination
to make us stop and buy some, they tried to roadblock us by crowding our
vehicle in large numbers or driving in front of us and stopping! The only
women we saw were bent at an acute angle perpendicular to the road, on their
backs they carried bundles of sticks twice their own height and as long as
a car. I wondered at their part in the work apart from that at the side of
the road and in the grimy cafes. The three towns we passed through were slimy
and rank, maybe that was just my impression of the male population who sat
drinking tea at tables, above their heads thick smoke and carcasses entwined
each other to produce an effective curtain which made the interior of the
buildings seem even more dark and sinister. Piles of manure and compost were
drifting onto the road from sheds and I tried not to think of the ecosystem
as I looked at the fertiliser towers.
As the altitude of the road dropped so did the ardent nature of their enthusiasm.
We arrived at Chefchouen and whilst waiting for Hazel to book a flight at
the Internet we feasted our eyes on the women and children walking around
and people generally ignoring us.
This and the rain seemed to bring emotional relief and with it of course
tiredness, we headed for the top of town where, up in the rain clouds we
found a very cheap camp site and some friends from Orgiva!
Day ended @ 4568, day's drive 166 miles.
Day 47
Proper rain and wind with it! Here we now roll up our tarpaulins and accept
that the sleeping on our roof days are over. Hazel leaves today for Tetouan,
from there she will easily catch a taxi to Ceuta and within the afternoon
in reach of Malaga Airport and home.
I go with her to speak French and make sure the driver knows exactly what
she wants, after a quick check at the Internet and a surprisingly large amount
of email processing I go back to the camp site and just before the kids get
bored our friends arrive.
Another shopping trip in the rain and running out of gas gives me even more
enthusiasm to get on the move and get out of the mountains accross to Spain
where the sun will be shining.
Day 48
I am now ready to leave for the last part of the Moroccan journey, some Moroccans
borrow my sand ladders to get a Mercedes out of the mud, it's the first time
my sand ladders have been used on the whole trip!
We set off late for the ferryport. Tina and Emu flash me over after 30km
and tell me that they left their tin bath at the layby where we stopped to
have dinner, it has all their half dry clean clothes in it. We pulled into
a layby unhitched my trailer and went back in the Nissan to see if it was
still there. Much to Emu's surprise it was, (albeit squashed flat from his
big truck driving over it). He was glad to have all their clothes back.
Day ended @ 4640, day's drive 72 miles.
Day 49
A quick visit to Tetouan where we visit an ancient herb shop. I am obviously
getting better at haggling and get three pots of saffron ointment for the
price of one.
Accustomed now to continous hassling I find the customs a breeze. Our mate
Hintsch turns up in the night and lucky for him we are altogether when his
van breaks down in customs. We are soon waiting for the ferry and rustle
up a meal, whilst we are eating the children entertain themselves with watching
a man trying to escape from the customs. They angle grinded up his car and
then he legged it but got stuck in the middle part of the fence. I am wondering
how life will be when we are at home doing day to day life again.
On the ferry we have a quick meeting about the Dragon Festival but I think
there is too much work for too little crew.
We arrive in Algeciras in torrential rain, this is the night that the Earthquake
hit Morocco.
Day ended @ 4688 miles, day's drive 48 miles
Day 50
We attempt to collect vegetable oil in Algeciras. After a whole day's work
we have collected 20 litres!
We do all our washing at a place called The Lighthouse, it's on the main
street in Algeciras. You can get free hot showers(clean towel,soap and shampoo
provided)left luggage and travel information about Morocco. Full English
breakfasts are served between 8 and 12. For 5 euros you can have a service
wash of 5 kilos of clothes. Don't thank me thank Jesus.
I treat the kids to a Pizza as we still have no gas and in the worst rainstorm
I have ever driven,we set off up the coast of Spain.
At Estepona I find the park up we used on the way South and we have a wild,
windy night by the sea. Sometime in the middle of the night I decide that
it is time to go home and having made that decision I feel a lot better.
I figure that by the time I have taken the children ski-ing and visited my
friends in Portugal en route we will likely be at our physical, emotional
and not least financial limits. There are no words to say how far away I
felt from a life I once had, our experiences change us forever and even though
I really wanted to be instantly back in the UK at that moment I knew that
nothing ever stays the same....
Day ended @ 4730 miles, day's drive 32 miles.
Day 51
Driving from Estepona to Orgiva took me a whole day because I was trying
to find waste oil at loads of restaurants along the coast. I also spent some
time trying to locate a bulk load of waste oil in Granada via a Spanish friend.
Day ended @ 4888 miles, day's drive 200 miles
Day 52
Here the place is in turmoil because eviction papers have been served and
everyone is flustered. We meet some friends and to our delight they have
a trailer we can sleep in. It's very cold here compared to what it was like
in January.
I trash the trailer electrics due to a crazy situation on the El Morreon
track whereby some folks thought they could get their bus down there but
it wouldn't go round the corner.
Day 53
I meet up with Ross my teacher friend and he helps me get a full Spanish
gas bottle. I now have a contract for as many bottles as I want. I also manage
to get my grease gun filled for free at one of the garages in town, it may
seem like very little but these two jobs took me a whole day!
Day 54
I spend a day working on the Nissan to prepare it for the next part of the
journey. The indicators are not working and all the gauges have gone weird.
I adjust the back brakes and grease up all the suspension, steering and
propshafts. I visit an auto electrics garage and he orders me a flasher unit.
Day 55
I wake up feeling ill, I have a rise in temperature and I ache all over.
I fill up the tank with fuel, collect 45 litres of waste oil from the kind
restaurant up the mountain and fill all the water butts with Lanjaron spring
water. The flasher unit is fitted and all electrics are now working
satisfactorily. I am now ready to go but too ill to drive. I find a friend
with a spare bed and crawl into my sleeping bag...
My children bring the medicine box and I go to work on myself, I take strong
Yarrow and Sage tea, six cloves of garlic and a large dose of Wild Indigo
tincture. My temperature reads 38.3.
Day 56
Drop in temperature but very weak, 24 hours since food.
More of the same medicine and a lot more rest. My friend looks after the
children.
Day 57
I am up and about again and repair all the trailer electrics.
I am now ready to go ski-ing. My friend is now ill and I have to look after
him.
Day 58
We leave at eight o clock for the Sierra Nevada mountain range.
My friend who is an excellent skier takes us to his favourite shop and we
get kitted out. Seamus chooses snowboarding and so does his friend both Caragh
and myself hire skis. My friend has a monoski. We have our passes and are
on the beginner slopes by 11am. Caragh picks up ski-ing really quickly and
within an hour she has advanced to the next grade of slope. I fall about
a lot and by the time we stop for lunch can stop about 75% of the time. We
are all really thirsty.
After lunch we get onto the chairlift and go higher up the mountain, we set
off and very soon I am practising air acrobatics again, Caragh swoops down
casually and says to me" ooh, that was quite a bad fall mum are you ok?"
I put myself back together and set off again, this time impressing Seamus
too. After this I go up and down a few times and each time get slightly more
control, it seems that I am quite happy until I see another human in my periphery
and then I lose control and woosh..end up in a heap.
So at 4pm we have to say goodbye to the magnificent slopes and the all the
glamour of the resort and head down the mountain to Sana Fe Hot Springs..
I am glad it is just getting dark so I don't feel inhibited. I sit under
the waterfall and hardly notice anything other than how good it feels to
have the hot water pummelling my aching limbs.
Day ended @ 5090 miles, day's drive 202 miles.
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Day 59
A late start to the day's driving as we had to take advantage of all that
hot water and do the washing. I got into the spring just as the sun peeped
over the horizon, Seamus and Caragh hadn't made it in last night so they
got in quickly too. It was nice and quiet and peaceful, right where the spring
enters the pool the sulphuric smell is very strong. By 11am the place was
crowded and I had lost the urge to be in the water. When all the washing
was dry we set off after a quick workshop on how an Elsbett kit works.
Day ended @ 5190 miles, day's drive 100 miles.
Day 60
Caragh was complainng in the night of sunburn, I applied Witch Hazel and
Calendula cream liberally and gave her lots of juice to drink.
I do an emergency fuel stop at LIDL's and tip 100 litres into the IBC.
We have a long day on the road today, I forgot how mountainous Portugal is.
We see some fantastic scenery, like menhirs and stork homes.
At 10.30pm we finally arrive at our friends' house near Co | | |
