Chi's Travel Log - Agadir, Morocco 23-02-2009

Portraits of some people I met on tour

adventure@chi11.co.uk

20090223 - Week13 - Agadir, Morocco

Week13

20090223 Mon - Camping Atlantic Agadir - med and arose 8 had a walk around the site spoke to a few Brit's en route, had breakfast put one of my gas bottles in for refilling washed Richards screen for him, had a ride round the camp then chatted for ages to Jack and wife, took lots of pics then showed jack my xda2 mobile connected up to the site wifi with it and generally played about. The sun went in after a scorching day time for a cool drink, had a gin & tonic with Frank And Kath then collected my gas bottle, got plenty of gas now still on the first bottle after 3 weeks doing lots of cooking and got two full spares. Had five minutes of rain after dinner which was a surprise then sent my weekly email off at the last minute and finished the night off talking to Bob & Linda over a bottle of Amaretto got to bed about 11pm.

20090224 Tue Camping Atlantic Agadir - arose 7:30 coffee, tidied up and had a quick shower before 8 then started getting ready to set off for 9 got the bike loaded and made sure all items were secure and cupboards locked for the journey. A really beautiful drive today back inland a bit up into the mountains on a small winding road the views were super even took a bit of video as I was driving through the mountain passes dropped back down the mountain to a campsite at Tafraoute, it was only a small site but had wifi and great views of the mountains. It had been a hot day with quite a few stops so I enjoyed a couple of glasses of cold cider before dinner, then just chilled out and caught up with my notes, must have taken at least 100 pics today.

20090225 Wed - Tafraoute camping - meditated and arose at 7:30 had a tea then sampled the showers on site they were nice and cold woke me up anyway, had a steady morning, got the moto out and cleaned around the van a bit, also got on the wifi and uploaded the site www.chi11.co.uk put a few pics on their with my daily notes, needs a lot more work yet. The 3 of us rode to town then out site seeing on and off road eventually we found the blue rocks, there were a few odd vans scattered wild camping it looked quite cool. we also checked out the other camp site and wild camping area near our camp, apparently there had recently been a load of hippies wild camping and having late night raves by the sound of it, just mist them never mind. Had a lazy afternoon made some potato salad for dinner then just sat out vegging till sun down with a few g & ts they went down well. wrote a few notes then had a potter on the computer before bed.

20090226 Thu - Tafraoute camping - started raining about 3am not too heavy, meditated and arose 7:30 coffee and a few notes. Had breakfast and pottered about on the computer most of the day sorting out the web site for my travel log went through the recent pics and uploaded a few bits to the site had quite a few snacks throughout the day because it felt cooler not used to it under 30° it rained most of the day so made the most of the time on the computer. After dinner chilled out and watched a movie before an early night about 8pm.

20090227 Fri - Tafraoute Camp - meditated and arose at 8 didn't sleep very well woke at 12 then checked time about every hour until morning, don't know why, never mind, pottered about then had breakfast, we decided to set off on the bikes to an oasis about 40km away, once we got out of town and into the open it got really gusty so much so that it blew Richard off the road into the rough where he had a spill fortunately on the grassy bit, broke the seat on the bike and a few bruises along with sore ribs, the wind was really bad so we decided to go back and give it a miss. When we got back to the site Richard was already feeling more pain from the spill, anyway we fixed the bike and decided to drive the next leg to Tiznit. Half way through the mountains about the highest of the day I was checking the altitude also eating a sandwich when I hit a pothole which bounced me into a deeper one really hard then the engine started to falter and it came to a stop. Richard and Paul were over the hill, anyway It would turn over wouldn't start, so I got out already surrounded by kids asking for something and generally pestering at this in-opportune moment, I checked the wheel, checked for any bits fallen off, then started checking all the wiring round the management system, Richard & Paul had arrived but still no joy between us, so it was decided I would stay with the van and they would carry on to Tiznit and get a fiat mechanic to come out. So off they went while I continued to check and double check everything, after about an hour and a half I discovered that there was a safety device in the engine compartment that shuts off the fuel if the vehicle is involved in a crash, and a reset button can be actuated if it is safe to do so, well I found the button and magic that was the answer, I was sweating a bit I must admit, are well all well that ends well phoned Richard and met up with them at the camp site in Tiznit at 6pm just soon enough before it got dark. Its now 7pm so going to take a shower, have dinner then a movie and bed, its been an eventful day.

20090228 Sat - Tiznit Campsite - meditated and arose at 7:30 light breakfast and set off at 8:30 nice steady drive down the scenic coast to Sidi Ifni where we camped at 11am. Made some lunch had a walk around and did a bit more work on the web site, there is a lovely sea view out of my window. Met Andy & Nettie from Oxfordshire and we had a few drinks and a good crack after dinner in their van got through a few beers and a couple of bottles of red before retiring about 10pm.

20090301 Sun - Sidi Ifni Camp Site - meditated and arose at 7 coffee and on the computer to try and get on the camp wifi but no luck, had breakfast, discussed the plan with Richard and decided I would carry on alone down to the Sahara tomorrow, went for a walk round the town and market bought some veg with a view to making a casserole. Had a lazy afternoon sat in the sun after preparing the food for dinner. Made enough for 3 meals so will freeze two meal portions. Actually got some ice out and made an ice cold cider it went down a treat in the hot afternoon sun while I was debating where and when next, got a few ideas basically chilling and a slow run back up the coast to Agadir to camp on banana beach. Dinner was lovely it went down a treat, tidied up and prepared the van for an early start in the morning. Took a bottle of red round to Andy & Nettie for a chat to finish off the day, retired at 10pm.

adventure@chi11.co.uk