Thursday 15 January 2015

Well, after yesterday’s excitement an early start was not really appreciated but we needed to get away in case the tunnel was still closed. So around 8.15 our small convoy set out and fortunately found the road clear, so within 10 mins we were parked up in the queue, waiting for check-in to open. The attendant did open his office early, allowing us to get the paperwork done, but it didn’t save much time because it turned into a “hurry up and wait” exercise, shuffling through the check points then waiting to load.

We eventually boarded 15 mins after the expected departure time and left only 45 mins late, which apparently is quite good! Although we had been told it was the fast ferry, i.e. the 35 min catamaran, it was actually a “proper” ship that was, nevertheless, very nice. Even had a theatre, swimming pool and solarium!

A smooth crossing, during which we got the police documentation sorted and had a coffee, and we docked one and a half hours later. Unloaded, we were directed to the customs and immigration area where, as last time, they parked us together, cleared everybody else then “did” us en masse. It didn’t take too long and by 12.15 we were all clear. A brief stop to exchange currency before joining the excellent toll motorway towards Tangiers. We’d made it all without fuss or problems!

A short stop for fuel then onto Asilah, our planned halt for the night, which is a “Guardian Parking” area. Basically an old car-park or unused piece of land is taken over and operated by a local as an overnight stopping area. Facilities are usually few or non-existent, but it remained guarded overnight and they are considered safe places to stop. The cost is usually around 30Dh, about £2 – which actually on reflection is quite a lot of money for a Moroccan! Ah well, they’re nothing if not enterprising!

Then after lunch Brenda relaxed in the van whilst Terry and Colin spent a frustrating afternoon trying to help get everyone sorted with internet access. It wasn't assisted by a too helpful guy, trying to get everyone up and running on various different devices whilst not really understanding them. It doesn't help, of course, either when the owners don’t really know what they’re doing……………….

Eventually we persuaded them to just buy the sim cards and Colin & I would sort them out, which we did and by bed-time almost everyone was ok. Except me, but I discovered that last year’s card still worked so all I needed was a top-up.

It was a shame really, because we had wanted to walk the group into Asilah to give them a taste of the real Morocco. But everybody seemed happy so we left it at that.