Into Africa Written by Rowan Dixon
hidfhidfhidfh Part 2 3 Days into our expedition and we had already covered 2500km, mostly through Europe, and then into the Rift Mountains in northern Morocco. Lennie, the Land Cruiser 90, had so far run perfectly, and now we were camped high up in the rift mountains surrounded by stunning scenery. As the sun rose over the horizon on the 4th day we had our first ‘shower’ of the trip. This involved each of us individually stripping off at the front of the vehicle, and pouring water over our heads whilst the others ate the breakfast Neirin had cooked up. Just before leaving a local goat herder walked up the gravel track we had camped next to. Our Arabic is poor, and he didn’t speak French or English, but we managed to have a ‘conversation’ using hand gestures and pointing. We discovered that he was from the town we'd driven through the day before. After packing up, with Scott at the wheel, we headed south down beautiful quiet mountain roads. It was the perfect opportunity to get outside of the vehicle, something not possible in the UK for obvious reasons, and watch the world go by, as we slowly made our way through the Rift mountains towards Fes.
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THE MUD LIFE MAGAZINE
We arrived a few hours later, and what a city! The streets were bustling with activity, and it was fantastic to see the traditional tanning methods that are still used, which aren’t just there to make tourists happy. We got lunch in the bazaar, a mix of vegetables and meats cooked on the street and stuffed into fresh bread. We wanted to cover more ground today, and were looking to make camp at a spot we'd found on google earth - a sandspit on the beach 40km south of Casablanca, so after spending 3 hours in Fes, we headed off. The rest of the drive was a mixture of country roads and motorways. Just before we arrived the sun dipped below the horizon, which made finding the track hard, however we eventually found a way onto the sand bank. The winds were very strong, and that coupled with dry sand made pitching the tents very difficult. Just as we had finished, and were starting to unpack our sleepijng bags when we saw the lights of a 4x4 in the distance heading towards us.
