Two nights in Marrakech and we were getting desperate. Trying to cope with the crowds and the noise, having gotten used to the solitude of the Sahara, was difficult. Snake charmers, shoe shiners, food stall attendants and hordes of ‘fly-in’ tourists, all getting in our faces. And all this without a beer in sight! Hashish is available on every street corner but a cold drop of that liquid gold could only be bought in 5 star hotels (or so we thought). Luckily salvation wasn’t too far away. It turns out that alcohol is available everywhere in Morocco, you just have to know where to look. Moroccans love their beer, but are discreet when buying and drinking it. Supermarkets have separate entrances to their liquor sections, while bars hide behind tinted glass windows. The bars are pretty dodgy actually. Middle aged desperados sit idly at tables, silently downing beer after beer, while not so attractive ‘ladies of pleasure’ try and cheer them up. There’s not the usual chatter or ‘life’ you’ll find at a coffee house but… we like them

It was with some relief that we headed south from Marrakech and into/over the mountains of the High Atlas. On the way to the desert pistes of eastern Morocco, we wanted to ride through the Dades and Todra gorges (apparently worth the detour), but when we saw hotels and cafes around every bend of the road leading up to the gorges and then a posse of fifteen French mobile homes coming the other way, we made a quick u turn and headed for the ’safety’ of the Algerian border.

The piste from Tagounite to Taouz was exactly what we were looking for! Some nice open sections, chilled out villages/villagers, sand and dunes. The Access definitely coped better than the Africa on the dunes…

Away from the city locals were a lot more welcoming (though it has to be said that most Moroccans are very generous hosts). We stopped in one of the villages to ask directions and were instantly invited to share breakfast. Tea is served with every meal. Super strong, super sweet and with plenty of mint…

From Taouz it was asphalt all the way to Fes - the cultural capital of Morocco. Coming back over the Middle Atlas we got caught out by rain and even saw snow at the top of the pass. It was cold! We enjoyed Fes a lot more than Marrakech. Getting lost in the small alleys of the Medina and visiting the leather dying/tanning workshops was cool…

The capital Rabat was a short hop from Fes. Not a very inspiring city, but interesting enough to spend a few days in. There’s a Polish embassy in Rabat so we took the opportunity to get replacement passports, as ours had run out of pages. In fact, Iza had to rip a few visa stickers off along the way from Angola in order to even make it to Morocco

Since entering Morocco we have been wondering what to do with Iza’s bike (Access). It’s not worth transporting it to South America as the port fees alone would be more than what the bike is worth. Plus we doubt it would make it around the Latin continent. It’s held up well given the roads in west Africa, but has started to fall apart a bit and make strange noises. We’ve had quite a few offers from locals and were tempted to sell it (as they offered us prices that were close to what we paid for it in Togo). Ultimately though, we decided to send it to Poland via a friend that is visiting Morocco. It has sentimental value and will be a good training bike for the kids The Moroccans that wanted to buy it will have to make do with their 30cc mopeds…

As for the Africa Twin… well considering it’s done over 85,000km on this trip alone, it has held up extremely well. Apart from some electrical problems and the usual wear-and-tear, we’ve virtually had no problems. It is due for a proper service in Brazil though. New items required include; brake discs & pads, chain and sprockets, front spokes, front fork bushes, a new front tyre, spark plugs and the usual service items. It’s also started to back fire and the clutch is slipping badly… hopefully it’s not too serious!

Since deciding to continue our journey to South America, we’ve been investigating the best (cheapest) way of sending the old(ish) girl to Rio de Janeiro. If we were to travel with the bike we’d probably air-freight it, but given that hitchhiking the Atlantic will take some time, we’ll be using sea-freight. That has brought us to Casablanca (the biggest port in Morocco). It hasn’t been easy but we’ve managed to arrange shipment, clear customs and crate the bike.

Grimaldi is the shipper of choice (or rather lack of). Typically they only do roll-on-roll-off (when you sail with them), but have agreed to help us out. It’s taken a lot of running around but everything looks set to go. The only problem now is receipt of the bike in Rio. We’ll arrive 2-3 weeks after the bike, but want to avoid the storage fees, hence we’re looking for someone living in Rio to help us out. No luck as yet, so if there’s anyone out there with a reliable friend or agent in Rio, let us know!

BTW. There are some new photos in the Gallery (Angola - Morocco) and we recently did an interview for Krakow Post. Here’s the direct link for the online version (in english): http://www.krakowpost.com/article/1613. The print version can be found here.