Sweet smell of success!

We made it! Stopped at Tifnit beach on our way where we got the bikes good and stuck in the sand, tried to convince some fishermen to take us to the finish line in their boat, and almost made a really bad decision to drive several kilometers through soft dunes in the hope of finding a road...

Made it to the finish line party and my helmet finally tried to kill me.

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Civilization!

Yesterday we started off in the little crap hotel and started with another day of dirt driving for the first half of the day. We had tarmac some time when it should've been lunch and made our way into Zagora. After having a good lunch and a little bit of access to Wi-Fi we decided that several of the bikes need to be checked out because they're starting to make weird noises. The mechanic that we found had one of the Decour support vehicles parked outside of it, so we assumed that he was probably a pretty good mechanic. He adjusted the valve tensioner and we lubricated the chains and were good to go! A bit more night driving got us into Agdz and we made it to the hotel Rose du Sable. We get turned away at first because the manager saw that there were five of us and said he didn't have room. But then one of the bikes wouldn't start and when I went back to the door to check which other hotel he had mentioned to go try, he said that he had one room. At that point the Adventurists crew popped out of the hotel door and we all had a cheerful welcome. A great dinner ensued with lots of stories and tall tales being told. And more than one bottle of liquor was consumed. So we all spent the night in the one room with an extra mattress on the floor.

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Lost in Moroccan desert

First thing in the morning we picked up Robin's bike but it took until about 10 AM for it to be ready. After celebrating his bike was back to life, we headed out towards the Gare Medouar crater. Robin, Jim, and I decided we would test our luck making it up to the top of the crater rim. After a lot of struggling, we were successful. We basically had to carry the bikes up. We made our way down to another town, Mecissa, for lunch. And after lunch was about over two of the Adventurists crew showed up randomly.

And then everything went wrong.

We tried to make our way across the tracked desert. But it took us 20 minutes to find the right fork in the road in Fezzou and we had to be led there by random Moroccan. Come to find out his name was Salim, the nomad. He took us through the desert and across the worst terrain of the trip. About 60km of it was done at night. About 170km total for the day.

And then the auberge (hotel) we ended up at had no showers and no heat in the rooms. At least they had a room to lock the bikes up at night

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Slow start to the Monkey Run!

I joined forces with the Honeymooners and Third wheel, and Bobby Danger a.k.a. Robin Collins. We got off to a slow start the first day, and had a breakdown towards the end of the day. So we didn't get as many miles as we would've hoped. It worked out well though because the hotel that we stayed in, the Kasbah Ennasra, was pretty damn awesome. Except for not having enough heat to warm up the room, or hot water... but they were able to call mechanics they were able to fix the one bike that had broken the rocker arm in the motor. And do it overnight!

We only logged about 80 km the first day.   

Marrakech!

I made it to Marrakech by train today after dropping my wife off in Casablanca airport for her flights home. Planning to meet up with other Monkeyers today/tonight for some shenanigans.  ![Uploading file...]()![Uploading file...]()

Arrived in Morocco

My wife, Jacqui, and I arrived in Morocco today. After landing in Casablanca, we drove immediately to Fez to stay in the Riad Layalina Fez. Jacqui is going to travel around with me by car for the next week just to have some vacation together. The highway to get from Casablanca to Fez is similar to any US interstate. It's a beautiful Road, well marked, with lots of gas stations and rest areas on the way. The only big difference, is the fact that there are cars driving the wrong way sometimes, trucks that are only going 20 miles an hour, and cows and herds of sheep running along the shoulders. After we arrived at the Riad tonight, we had a private dinner for 2, but it could've fed six people easily!! The photo with the bottom is what was left over after Jacqui and I stuffed ourselves! [Uploading file...]()   

Packed up

I finally got my backpack packed up and ready! It shouldn't be too heavy, but who knows what I've forgotten.

Although I definitely have in there a pirate flag, toilet paper, and some tow rope!  [gallery]