We are
enjoying our last hours in Morocco soaking up the sun poolside at our hotel.
Tomorrow morning we are planning to leave Agadir Morocco at 5am and head into the Western Sahara,
an occupied territory of Morocco- but disputed with several different
countries. We are not looking
forward to the more than 12-hour drive through some pretty desolate landscape.
It probably will be one of our most aggressive driving days and we hope to
travel nearly 600KM before making camp beside the road. From there we need to
meet a military convoy in Dahkla to lead us through a heavily mined area on the
way to the Mauritanian border. It is unlikely that we will have any contact with
the outside world until reaching Dakar Senegal on or around the 21st
of February. If by chance that
changes the updates will appear right here.
We are
all back together after briefly separating from Al and Pat in Marrakech as their
truck was once again having a gearbox issue and in need of further repair. The
three other trucks arrived in Agadir Monday morning with little incident along
the way except for another diesel episode with Mike’s truck. Once again diesel was inadvertently
filled instead of gas. After an hour of intense arguing in French and draining
the trucks fuel tank we were on our way, although it took about 100KM before it
was running properly again. We have
now written gasoline only on the side of all the trucks in English, French, and
Arabic.
The rest
of the day in Agadir was spent relaxing, drinking a few beers and going to the
beach. The weather is gorgeous. Temperature around 85 degrees F. Last nite we
went to the local discothèque and retired quite late. This morning was spent largely in bed
and then by the hotel pool.
Pat and
Al arrived from Marrakech this morning with a fully repaired truck and are now
doing some final tinkering before tomorrows drive. The other trucks are all doing fairly
well. Jim’s is still having an issue with the starter and requires the
occasional push- but then again so do most of the other cars here in Africa.
Mike’s truck is consuming an alarming quart of oil per day, but seems to be
running fine otherwise. Shane’s 101 so far has been pretty
solid.
Our
average speed to date has been a measly 52KM per hour. Not too fast, but
considering the treacherous roads through the Atlas Mountains probably not
surprising.
We will
be celebrating Valentine’s Day tomorrow with a loaf of bread and some jam in the
desert. Not particularly fun but oh
well.
-Michael
Ladden