Easy border crossing

We made it across the border to Senegal, and it was surprisingly easy.  Only took about two and a half hours.  Breeze for what is supposed to be one of the longer crossings in Africa.  We did cross late in the afternoon, which might have helped.

There are two main crossings between Mauritania and Senegal.  The main one is the Rosso crossing, which is supposed to be the most corrupt and aggressive.  The other one, Diamey crossing, is about 100km away, but this is on a gravel road, and not always accessible.  Also corrupt but not aggressive.  We decided to chance the gravel road.  Was a good decision.

About 25 kilometres from the gravel road we had our first corrupt encounter for the day.   About 500 meters after passing a police check point we got stopped by an single policeman (Not unusual, we once got stopped 3 times in less than a kilometre.).  Things looked a bit odd, because he was alone, had no shelter, vehicle or log book and he was VERY aggressive from the start.  Completely opposite to the other police stops in Mauritania.  Firstly he wanted our passports straight away, where the other cops only wanted copies so we refused and gave him copies.  This pissed him off and he went into a long speech about not allowing us to cross the border, and then something about needing insurance from him (for Senegal), and using his friends to help us cross the border otherwise we would be turned back.  At this point I remembered something similar I read ages ago on a forum (civilian posing as cop and wanting bribes), and couldn't help laughing out loud, and telling Morton he is a fake.  Mistake.   Man, did this make him angry!!  He then shouted at us for about 10 minutes promising us we will not get across the border and he will make sure we go to jail.  He get on yelling at me 'You will pay Euro,  You will pay Euro,' and pointing at his holstered gun.  We sat on the bikes refusing to get off, or handing over our passports which made him phone for backup.  We think.  Don't think he was on the phone long enough to make a real call.  We waited about 5 more minutes listening to his charade, and decided enough is enough.  Morton said a friendly goodbye. we started our bikes and took off.  I think not to bad for first proper aggressive encounter.  Followed most off the rules from Trailquest, didn't hand over originals, staying on the bikes etc.  I think laughing at the guy wasn't very clever, but the moment it dawned on me that he was fake I had such a huge feeling off relief that I couldn't help laughing

The gravel road to Diamey crossing was loads off fun.  Initially loads of loose deep sand with huge pot holes, very hard work on the bike, but great.  This then smoothed out and became allot easier.  We where very lucky that it has been dry.  Half of the road goes through wetlands, and would have been a mud bath if it rained recently.  You could see huge ditches, and ruts where the vehicles got stuck after the last rains.  Phew, very lucky.  This could have kept us busy for a day or two if it was wet.

The Mauritanian side of the border crossing ended up being the most corrupt.  Firstly the customs guy wanted 10 Euro's each to stamp our bikes out off the country.  We initially refused, saying we didn't pay to bring them in why should we pay to let them out (We actually did pay to get the bikes in but the money went straight into the guys pocket)?  He said the money is for the stamp and standard in Africa.  We said there is no receipt and thus its corrupt, and he said the stamp is the receipt.  This went on for about 40 minutes in a combination off broken French, English and Spanish.  Quite amusing.  In the end we saw all the locals where paying (money went straight into a drawer with loads off cash), so we said we will pay if we get a receipt.  Again he said the stamp is the receipt.  At this point I said there is nothing about 10 Euro's on the stamp, I want a receipt which says 10 Euro's received.  WOW, what a mistake.  This guy went off on a 10 minute yelling charade, something about his integrity, blah, blah, blah,  to the point he started foaming at the mouth.  At this point I politely left his office and Morton paid the bribe.

Next was Police clearance.  Very friendly and chatty guy, made lots off jokes and quickly stamped our passports.  Then he wanted 10 Euro's each to be able to cross the border.  It was past 18:00 and according to him you then have to pay to cross or wait until the next morning.  Morton refused to pay, and walked out.  I didn't want to spend the night on the border, so paid him 5 Euro, straight into his pocket. Am sure we could have crossed without paying, but I was eager to cross the border that night.

The Senegal side off the crossing was phenomenally easy.  We had to pay 7 Euro each for a guy to lift a boom so we can get into the Senegal side.  Ridiculous but its pay or stay in  no-mans land.  He had a cash book and receipts.  Legit I guess.  The police wanted 10 Euro each for stamping our passports.  Refused.  No problem.  Customs we had to pay to let the bikes enter the country.  This time 100% legit, with proper receipts etc. We knew we would have to pay this.  Compared to the Mauritanian side the Senegalese where very friendly and helpful.  All in all actually a pleasant border crossing.   It only cost us 60 Euro between the two off us.  We met people who spend 2-300 Euro to get a car across, so not to bad.  Whoop whoop.

World's friendliest gendarmerie

After crossing the border into Mauritania we decided to make a fast run for the capital and some visas.  We were hoping to get there by 12:00 Thursday (before they close for lunch) to hand in the visa applications and then have them ready for pick-up on Friday.  Leaving the weekend open for some more travelling.  As with al African plans this was not to be...

Tiny village next to main road

Wild camping

For the first hour or so after the border we had a phenomenal strong wind from the side.  We got battered all over the road and had a really hard time keeping up some speed and actually making some headway.  To the point were we where so shattered that we decided to call it a day.  There was nothing even remotely resembling a village so our first night of wild camping was to be.   Whoop, whoop. What a good choice.  Drove a few kilometres off road and camped in the middle of nowhere.  Only some small lights from few shacks on the horizon, showed that we where somewhere in the vicinity of civilization.  It was absolutely gorgeous,  especially the stars.  I have not seen stars so bright and numerous for a very long time.. 

Friendly police

Next morning was supposed to be a quick 200km to get to the embassies, but with numerous check points dotted along the way there was no way we would be there by closing time (12:00).   We where on the point off getting irritated with all the check points when we decided to stop for breakfast, and here one off the gendarmerie came and spoke to us.  Initially I was quite sceptical, and in Moroccan mode thinking 'what does he want know.'  I couldn't have been more wrong, he actually just wanted to chat and practice some English. He also explained to us that all the checkpoints was to keep the tourists safe.  They actually radio our positions ahead so the next check point will be on the look out for us, and they will go looking for you if you don't show ( Mauritania had some bad press and are now trying very very hard to show tourists it is a safe country).  I thought this was phenomenal (especially for Africa) and we had a complete change of attitude towards the checkpoints.  This must have shown because we had so much fun along the road from there on,  we stopped and chatted with the guards, made jokes, took photos, drank tea, and shared candy to the point that we didn't arrive in the capital until much later that day.  And missing all the embassies.  To make matters even worse this is a strict muslim country so Friday and Saturday is weekend.  We couldn't do anything until the Sunday morning.  All worth it though.  The friendliness off the Mauritanian people was just the antidote we needed after Morocco.

Mauritania is a very poor country, the capital looks like a dump.  It's dirty, buildings are falling apart and there is rubbish everywhere.  The roads are nearly empty,  with only a few shacks scattered along the way.  I was really surprised at the vast areas that where nearly empty.  It is a lot greener than Morocco so I was expecting more people and bigger villages.  Somehow it has really grown on me.  The few days we spent in the capital was great.  A bit frustrating because you would rather be on the road, but still great.  The people are very friendly and inquisitive, and I really enjoyed it.  It was nice to have people talk to you because they wanted to and not because they where trying to sell you some tour or show you their brothers lovely shop.  We still had some people try very hard to sell us stuff, but with a different mindset from the Moroccans. The best of these was a guy who tried to sell us some watches and shades.  From the moment he walked towards us you could see from his facial expression he was 100% certain of a sale.  When we said 'no'  his whole face just dropped to utter disappointment.  He just couldn't believe we where not interested.  How can we not be interested in European goods? The way his face changed was just unforgeable. But he stayed friendly. He actually waited for us outside the restaurant for 30 minutes, just to make sure we really didn't want anything.  Brilliant.  But still no sale.

Tonight we went to one off the biggest fish markets in this area, and got some dirt cheap lobster.  Nice little braai for a last night in Nouakchott.  Was very tasty.

Tomorrow we head for the Mauritania-Senegal border.  Well known to be one off the most corrupt and mentally taxing border posts in Africa. Can easily take 4-6 hours, and I've met overlanders in Mauritania who have actually slept on the border because they refused to pay the numerous bribes. People skip Senegal just to miss this border. Morton and I have a bet on to see who is going to pay the least amount off bribes.  Fingers crossed I win!! Winner gets cold beer and haven't had any for weeks!!

Western Sahara

Gorgeous beaches

The stretch down Western Sahara was a long, hot, windy and monotonous trek.  The best description of it came from my GPS.  On the second morning I entered our destination for the evening and the first instructions where :  'Turn right in 510km.'  Yes 510 kilometres.

Police station

I was very lucky to get my windscreen on the Saturday morning in Marrakesh.  In all honesty I never thought the UPS guys would get it out off customs so quickly.  I managed to leave just after lunch and late that afternoon I met up with Morton in Sidi Ifni.  A very small and stunning beach town.  One off the last semi touristy outposts before we hit Western Sahara.  Spent a day there to service the bikes and explore the area, really stunning coast with miles of nearly empty white beaches.  Great way to chill and get our energy levels up for the stretch down to Mauritania.

Sidi Ifni hotel - paradise

Miles of  nothing ahead

Western Sahara is supposed to be one of the most infamous stretches of road on our route.  Lots of overlanders have blogged and warned about how empty and desolate it was.  We met a Polish guy who cycled it a couple of years ago.  It took him 3 weeks and he said it was so boring, he wished he'd taken a book to read on the road.  It is not that long, only about 1500km to the border, but our bikes are set up for off-road and have a big load on.  Our cruising speed is about 100km/h, and if you add in breaks, meals, accommodation search and the road blocks, then 500km takes up the whole day.

Miles of nothing behind

Miles of nothing to the side

The first morning off the first stretch we crossed the tail end off the Atlas mountains with a couple off nice hills and passes, and that afternoon we went through a massive sea of golden sand dunes.   'Not so bad I thought.'  I was completely wrong.  I t just became drier and drier.  Until all that was left was a few shrubs, rocks and immense amounts off sand.  Nothing else.  This was 90% of our scenery for nearly 3 days.  Ouch.  Mind numbing!!  The road was so straight that they put up warning signs even if there is only a slight bend in the road.  The villages became smaller and smaller until the last day they where only a few houses around the gas stations.  Half the gas stations where empty wrecks.  You would travel miles and miles without seeing a living soul. On top off all off this is the immense heat and wind, it engulves you and doesn't let go.  You can literary feel your energy being sucked away.  We were lucky that the wind was form behind most off the time, but when the road turned and it hit us side on we where battered!!  Sometimes really struggling to stay on the road.



The one good thing about the monotony was that we thoroughly enjoyed any type off change.  The best off this was the coastline.  Wow.  We travelled along a plateau about 25-50m above sea level.  This either ran straight into the sea or down cliffs into huge empty white sandy beaches. So when the road ran close to the sea it was absolutely gorgeous, with tiny fishing huts scattered along the waters edge.  I was so strange seeing people fishing off a 25m cliff, but they did it. I never saw anyone pull up a big one though.  The people here live a very very hard life.

The road blocks became a social outing, dragging them out as long as possible just speak to some people.  The further south we got the friendlier the officers became.  Was great.

The worst was being stopped in Tantan for a minor traffic violation and then having the police throw the book at us, trying to squeeze every last penny out off .  Luckily we are poor travellers with little money and loads off time.  We just played the African game and out waited them.  After about an hour we got away paying only a quarter off the initial fine.  Still a couple days lodging and food money but it didn't break the bank.

Fishing off a 25m cliff

Our last night was spent just outside Dakhla. They had a bit off unrest the last few days so the police and army where out in full force.  At the last roadblock, just before town, they where running around in a near state off panic with guns and rifles drawn, baseball bats and crowbars.  I pity the guys on the receiving end, and was immensely relieved that our campsite was outside town.

Sand, sand and more sand

The last bit was the border crossing to Mauritania.  Not a difficult one and only took us about 2 and a half hours.  A breeze for Africa.  The great part was meeting our first proper overlander. A Portuguese guy, who just spent a year on his motorbike travelling through Africa.  Asking him how it was he just smiled from ear to ear, with his face glowing.  So jealous.
There is about 5km off sandy track between the two border posts.  It is well know that there are landmines in this area, and everyone is warned to stay on the track.  How hard can it be, just follow everyone else's tracks. HAHA.  Not in Africa.  The moment you leave the border post this track spider webbs out into multiple smaller tracks.  As the one piece off road gets used up or taken over by the sand another one is used.  The problem is which one to follow.  We managed to get lost twice, and I think we even did a small bit off of the tracks.  But we are safe and sound in Mauritania and managed to miss all the mines.  Phew.

Bikes parked in hotel loby

The further South we get the more it feels like the real Africa. Loving it more and more.

King off the mountains

We have been criss crossing the High Atlas mountains for the last few days.  What an experience!  Every time I think it can't get better than this, the scenery manages to surprise us with something even more spectacular.  

Entrance to Todra Gorge

Fertile plains, barren mountains

There are two valleys running from south high up into the Atlas mountains, where they meet at a small village called Agoudal.  They are the Todra gorge and the Dades gorge.  The roads up the Todra gorge is all tarred and has a pass going up to 2700m, while the road down the Todra gorge is half tarred and half gravel.  We thought we'd go all the way up the Todra, and then see if we can take the gravel road down the Dades.  Going up the Todra was fantastic.  It started as a very narrow valley with high cliffs overhanging the road, nearly felt like a cave, and then as you made your way up the valley it spread out until it was miles and miles wide.  Again we did pass after pass, with huge flat plains between the passes.  All along the river it was phenomenally green, with small fields being cultivated by man and animal power.  The villages where built along the mountain edges where the soil was less fertile.  It was fantastic to climb like this and see how the world changes as you get higher and higher.  At the 2700m point it was amazing to look down on these huge mountains and plains.  We reached Agoudal at about 16:00 and wasn't sure wether we should tackle the gravel road so late.  We weren't sure how long it was, or what condition it was in.  

Pass up to 2700m

Bliss

The road was marked on my map but not on the gps.  Luckily we then saw a mini bus coming along the gravel road, and so we though if a mini bus can do it, we can on the bikes and so we pressed on. The gravel road ended up being a small tricky track with loads of sand, rocks and potholes (only in Africa will a mini bus drive on such a road).  After about 5km we stopped and nearly turned around, but in the end we decided to carry on.  We had enough food, water and fuel to last until the next day and were more than happy to camp out in the wild.  This little road turned out to be the best decisioned of the day.  We climbed two passes with the highest taking us up to 2940m, what a phenomenal view.  There was no one in sight except for a couple goat herders, no villages, just open mountain ranges as far as you could see.  Stunning, stunning, stunning.  From the 2900m point it was one long pass down to 2000m.  It started off snaking along the mountain ridges and then ran into dozens and dozens off tight hairpin turns all the way to the next village.  This was still all small gravel roads, hard for the bikes (We actually passed a single small truck going down this pass. How?).  Was so much fun.  The bikes loved it as much as we did, and handled perfectly.  This was the first big punishing ride.  It wasn't until 8pm that we reached our accommodation.  We where shattered, nearly 12 hours in the saddle but so worth every minute.  We climbed just more than 2400m from our lowest to our highest point.

Road up to 2900m.  It starts between the mountains at the back of the picture

On top off the world.  Those are mountains far below

Breakfast

Yesterday the plan was to take a tarred road from a town called Skoura, into the mountains, to Demnate and then head west towards Marrakech.  This road is about 130km long and we thought it would be much the same as the day before.  Whatever, so wrong and quite pleasantly surprised.  The last 100km off the road was one mountain pass after the other. Up the one mountain and then down the other side, and then straight up the next.  No huge open plains in between,  just one small valley, squeezed in-between the mountains, after another.  The perfect tarred road was nothing more than a semi tarred single road,  with potholes and sand and rocks and hundreds off hairpin bends.  Some off these hairpins where exceptionally tricky, very steep up or down, with edges fallen away, and rocks or potholes or soft sand. Or all of the above.  Sometimes with only a small strip of tar.  Trying to dance the big heavy bikes on this strip of tar was such hard work, but SO MUCH FUN.  

It was amazing to see how the villages adapted to grow their crops.  Every small semi level area was teracced to allow crops to grow, with the villages spread out against these steep mountains.  The houses more on top off each other than next to each other.  I was stunned to see where the people managed to build houses and where they managed to grow crops.  Again photos can't even come close to show how beautiful and mind blowing it was, but we tried.  

Desolation

Village and crops against the mountain

The quick 130km road engulfed most off the day so we stayed the night in Demnate.  This morning we drove through to Marrakesh.  Back into the chaos off the big city.  And we hit it with a bang.  I tried my best to have the replacement windscreen here for pick up this morning.  Even had an email confirming it should have been here on Wednesday already.  I had the address and phone number off the UPS agent (Not DHL), as given by the UPS web site.  Couldn't be more prepared, I thought.  When we arrived at said address it didn't exist, and the phone number was the wrong one.  I ended up phoning UPS head office in Casablanca, they promised it was in Marakesh, next phone call they said it was in Casablanca and then next one they said it was in Marrakesh.   Even the managers at UPS where giving me different stories. I then finally got the new number for the UPS guy in Marrakesh, and after a very long phone call of broken french from both sides we figured out the package was at customs.  This took more than 2 hours.  So much for an early start. Another couple hours of multiple phone calls proceeded until a very nice girl at UPS Casablanca said she would do her best to get my windscreen released and in Marrakesh tomorrow morning.  Fingers crossed, otherwise I get it on Monday.

Small piece of cultivated land and path to it on the right

After the peace and serenity in the mountains, Marrakesh doesn't really have much appeal.  It looks beautiful, the market is huge with gorgeous food and the locals try very hard to give the tourists what they want.  Maybe to hard.  I spend the afternoon walking and eating in the market, and that was enough.

 The next stretch for us is the run down Western Sahara to the Mauritania border.  Western Sahara is still a militarized zone so we basically have to stick to the area around the main road.  It is supposed to be the most monotonous and boring  piece of road this whole trip.  All 2000km of it.  OUCH!!

Rain in the Sahara

Yesterday we finished our trek through the Atlas mountains and down to the Sahara.  Again a stunning day's drive.  Was only about 250km but with all the photo stops it took the whole day.   It was much the same as the previous day with massive plains in between the mountain passes, but this time the plains were all red ground and rocks.  After every pass it just became dryer and dryer, until finally there was very little growth except for a few scattered scrubs.  The heat was phenomenal with very dry, hot strong winds.  It all added to make for very barren and dramatic scenery. It was beyond me that people can make a living here.  Coming down one off the  passes, I came around a corner and in front off me was this massive blue lake.  Absolutely amazing and so unexpected.  It stretched for kilometer after kilometer.  Can't believe there was enough water for such a sight.


A few hours later we were on a plateau with nothing, just red deep red rock and sand.  It was just unbelievable, and I was completely lost in though wondering how anything survives this.  I was struggling on the bike.  And then suddenly the road opened on this huge big green valley.  WOW! Palm trees, a river a loads and of people.  It looked like a tropical island surrounded by a sea off angry red mountains. The contrast was absolutely mind blowing.  We tried to get it on a photo, but without the hours driving through nothing it just doesn't work.  We spend most off the afternoon driving along this river to the Sahara proper.

We stopped for the night in a one horse town called Merzuga, it is on the edge off the Sahara with the dunes coming right up to the town.  Nothing but a dusty main road.  Straight out off a Hollywood western. Just as we found our accommodation a massive sand storm blew in, complete with thunder and lightning.  Perfect timing.  Then it started to rain.  IN THE SAHARA.  I was shocked.


Today was very chilled out.  The heat killed us.  Woke up just before six and climbed the biggest sand dune around for the sunset.  What a trek.  I was shattered when I reached the top.  The morning we gave the bikes a bit of a service, and then later the afternoon we went playing near the dunes.  Was so much fun to mess around without all the luggage.  Had a couple of close calls when we hit unexpected soft sand, but didn't fall.   My bike is in love with any road that's not black tarmac.  Tomorrow we slowly head back towards Marrakesh.

Two steps forward and one back

Finally Ready to leave Rabat

I woke up about 4 o'clock this morning to go to the bathroom.  As I was about to step out off the tent I noticed that we were surrounded by about 5 cm of water.  They water the camp ground during the night with irrigation pipes, and forgot that we were there.  I had to go wake up the night guard to come and switch off the water.  It  was lying about 1-2 cm below my tent's water guard.  So close.  All my stuff would have been flooded.  I thought it was hilarious.  Hours away from the desert and we nearly get flooded.

It was such a mission to try and get a windscreen organised.  Because I am in Morocco nobody want's to sent it here. In the end I found a German company who where willing to sent me a replacement. The girl I spoke to was super efficient and we are not using DHL.  Can only hope it will be an improvement from the service I got with DHL.




It was about lunch time on Friday when we finally hit the road to Fess.  I had my spare tyre on the back and what a disaster.  Bike handled like a beached whale with a death wish.  I couldn't believe the tyre made such a big difference   It was fine before, and now handled even worse than when I had the three tyres on the back.  It was such a big let down.  Towards Fess we tried to stay off the main roads.  Was the most beautiful little roads, going up hills, passes and the quaint villages.  I loved it and the bike hated every minute off it.

Garbadge truck

The morning in Fess was washday.  The hotel in Rabat had no washing facilities and after a week even my cleanest clothes where beyond hand washing.  I used the time to completely repack the bike, get rid of more stuff and re-organise it, trying to balance the weight better.  That evening I did the same again.  Good result, the bike handled perfectly yesterday.  Still heavy, but loads better.  Zen is coming closer.

Fess was a bit off a double edged sword.  In the afternoon we went walking around the Medina.  We didn't want a guide because it was Saturday afternoon and most off the stalls were closed.  Not really worth paying to be shown around.  We had the weirdest experience with the guides.  Most are pretty persistent and will start showing you stuff, and if you don't explicitly tell them 'no' they continue and then expect you to pay afterwords.  Now we are pretty used to this and have got the hang off saying 'no'. 

 But there was this one guy who would not leave us alone.  He would walk just behind or in front off us for couple minutes and then join us and start showing us stuff.  We would say 'no' multiple times before he would hang back again.  Few minutes later he would repeat the whole process.  This went on for quite a while.  His second trick was to take short cuts to get ahead off us and as we walk out off the alleys he would start his sales pitch.  Every time it would be like we haven't dealt with him before.  Persistent my a....  It nearly became quite aggressive before he left us alone.  The weirdest for me was the animosity the locals had towards the tourists.  You could feel it hanging in the air.  We did not feel welcome in the Medina in the slightest.  The next morning we went to the leather tanning factory and what a nice place.  The locals where fantastic, helpful and so friendly.  Completely the opposite from the previous day.  I really enjoyed the experience and Fess managed to redeem itself a little.

Yesterdays riding was fantastic again.  We are slowly heading up the mountains, so it was all mountain passes with massive plains in between.  The scenery was very dramatic and changed so much.  The plains were so different that you could have been travelling in different countries.  The one would be fields of yellow grass with dark rocks everywhere, and the next would be this red sand/clay with nearly no vegetation and the passes would be green pine forests.  Fantastic ride.




Poor Morton (travelling companion) had so many problems with his bike yesterday.  Twice we had to stop and practice being bush mechanics.  The last time we were in the middle of nowhere, after doing some exploring, with the sun coming down fast.  The rear sprocket managed to come off the rear hub, it was quite a rush to replace it before the sun set.  He knows what he is doing and we managed just in time.  We found a camp site after about 10 minutes and had camp set up just before sunset.  Perfect timing.  In hind sight it might not haver been the cleverest thing to go exploring in the late afternoon, especially since his bike was niggling yesterday. Morocco might not be so bad, but we can't take such chances further down the road.  Lesson learned.  

Seesaw

What a day... Chaos, mayhem and  I'm still in Rabat...  Long story....

Got up early this morning to hand in my Mali visa application  The whole week I was promised that if I hand it in first thing  in the morning I will have my visa by lunch time.  When I arrived there the woman working behind the desk said the chancellor is very busy and I can only get my visa tomorrow.  After about 10minutes of me begging in my best broken French she said she will try her best and I can come and see at 15:00 if it is ready, but she can't promise anything,  She spoke zero English, but was really sweet and helpful.  Feeling a bit under the weather I went to DHL to ask to send my tyres to Marrakesh as I wanted to leave today.  Guess what?  The tyres where there.  Very quick few days.  Whoop whoop.
Instantly felt better and went to have them put on my bike.  On Saturday I spoke to some guys at a very nice and smart looking tyre shop who promised it would be no problem. Easy to do.  I took the tyres there and they had them swapped in no time.  Actually too quickly, they where so rough with the bike and the inner tubes.  I constantly had to remind them to be gentle and keep a  close eye on what they where doing.  There where two off them working at a frantic pace so I couldn't see everything they where doing. After they where done I went over everything to make sure all is ok.  It wasn't.  They managed to strip the thread for a very important bolt that keeps my front wheels in place and alignment.  As soon I showed them this, their little bit of English disappeared, and they just pretended nothing was wrong.  AAGGGHHH!!!  Frustration galore.  I tried for a bit to see if I could re thread it but didn't work.  Rethreading is not such a big problem if you have the right tools.  Which I didn't.  And there is no way you can ride the bike like that.  I spend about 20 minutes trying to explain to the guys what was wrong, but they kept on playing dumb.  I finally got them to point me in the general direction of where I had to go to get it fixed.  With a very wobbly and off balance bike I very very slowly set off to look for some better help.

After about ten minutes I saw this really dodgy looking scooter shop  (basically hole in the wall), but they were busy with lots off people stopping for a chat and advice.  I used my best sign language to explain my problem and immediately the guys new what was wrong.  Phew.  It took some work but we managed to fix the problem.  When we where done I took the bike for a test drive but it was still wobbly and completely off balance.  What now???  We finally figured out that the first guys didn't seat my tyres properly and that was causing the wobble. In the end it was another whole in the wall shop that re-seated the tyres.  Instantly better. So amazing to see these guys with dodgy little shops knowing exactly what they are doing and doing a good quality job, while the nice smart tyre place was a complete f'up.  I was just ecstatic that the bike was ok again. All this kept me busy till 3pm,  didn't even have breakfast or lunch.  So much for a quick easy tyre change.  I was feeling great and very relieved, now my bike was ready for the rest off the trip.  No more issues to sort out!  Whoop whoop.

Arriving at the Mali embassy my visa was ready. Result.  Think my luck is changing?  I parked my bike in front off the hotel and went to the market for some food (the garage I normally keep it in was closed).  Came back after a couple of hours to park my bike in the garage and the windscreen of my bike was smashed.  Some female driver reversed into my bike, it fell over and broke my windscreen (hit and run)... I was speechless!  What else can go wrong?

Luckily no major damage!  But it's going to be very uncomfortable without a windscreen through the desert.  There is no chance to find a replacement in Morocco.  DHL again?  This is turning into a very expensive joke!

I did meet a Danish guy who is doing much the same as I am.  Seems like a very nice guy, so we are going to do the next few weeks together.  Result, it's not all bad.  And everything is done in Rabat, no more admin for a few thousand kilometres.  Tomorrow we hit the road.  Finally.  Can't wait.