.png)
Hello barefoot walkers!
Back to our trip trough Morocco (read part 1 first) I let you with our adventures:
Day 4
We woke up and it felt like the time had stopped, everything was static, just the sounds of animals whose origins we couldn’t quite identify. Moments like these make us realize that when we step out of the routine life imposed, we become part of a planet that has so much to offer.
Next, we took the stand-up paddle board and went to explore the lake. It had many turtles, frogs that were very vocal at night and lots of fish. We paddled to a small beach that can only be accessed by water and stayed there for a while, contemplating everything around us and skipping stones on the water to jump (you know what I mean).
We returned to the caravan with empty stomachs and tired from paddling on the lake. We ate and rested a bit.
After a good rest, we noticed that the internet had stopped working. We decided to go to the nearest city to resolve the issue and do some shopping. We bought a card with a code that needed to be activated and we thought that sending the code to 555 would activate the internet. We had internet for a moment but not for long (later, I will explain how to activate and have internet easily in Morocco).We couldn’t find a market with food, so we drove to another town where we did our shopping.
We spent a short time in that town (M'Diq) ,is by the sea with beaches, most of the buildings were new, streets were either new or repaired and it had a high standard of living for Morocco.
It was time to find a new spot to spend the night. We stayed by the lake again but this time with a panoramic view. We walk to the lake, played the handpan (I don’t know how to play but I want to learn) and another day of our trip came to an end.
Day 5
We planned to use the day to work and relax but that’s not quite what happened. During the morning, we worked with the soundtrack of birds singing, goats passing by, a donkey occasionally making its presence known and children always greeting us with “hello” or “bonjour.”
After a relaxed work session and full bellies, we went for a walk, barefoot as always, to the lake but this time on the opposite side from where we went yesterday. Each step made the path more challenging and harder on our feet however the desire to reach the lake kept us going.
Eventually, we found ourselves in the middle of thorns and plants unpleasant to step on, the ground scorching hot and our feet scratched and reaching their limit. We made it, it was almost desperate . We knew we had to return but for now we wanted to enjoy the shade of a tree on the lake’s edge, where we fought so hard to reach. I even took a dip to cool off.
We had to head back and going the same way was not an option. The return path was equally painful. I advise you to use barefoot shoes to avoid our situation.
The rest of the day was spent enjoying the view of the lake and the sounds of nature.
Day 6
We woke up again to the sounds of animals. Today was the day to leave this spot. We needed to do some shopping, solve the persistent internet issue and visit Chefchaouen. The drive was smooth through the mountains (I didn’t know Chefchaouen was in the mountains) and as soon as arrived we went to an official Maroc Telecom store to finally resolve the internet problem.
They explained clearly what to do to activate the internet:
1- You need to buy a SIM card from Maroc Telecom.
2- Buy a code (a card with a code) which can be for 7GB (50 Dirhams) or 15GB (100 Dirhams).
3- Insert the SIM card into your phone
4- Call 555, select option 1
5- Enter the code followed by 3 (example: xxxxxxxxxxxx3) and your internet is activated. (If you have any questions, send a message).
To be honest, the city of Chefchaouen is unique because of its blue color, which gives it a special charm but it is a typical mountain town largely geared towards tourism. After visiting Chefchaouen, we decided to head to the coast on the western side of Morocco.
Getting there was challenging, about 3.5 hours of mountain roads with endless curves and some bad pavement in places. Upon reaching our chosen spot , we had to drive 2 kilometers of a very rough trail pushing the limits of what our caravan could handle off-road but we made it, the caravan never lets us down.
We stayed on a cliff by a beach , a very quiet place, alone (occasionally a car passed by), and a 5-minute walk to the beach. It’s an area patrolled by the military due to its proximity to Spain (a gateway to Europe), they politely asked for our passports.
We only had batteries to see the beach and recharge our energy after a long day with a tough journey.
Day 7
This day was very relaxed. We spent the morning working however our water tank was empty and we were in the middle of nowhere, I used two jugs to fetch water from a nearby spring.
In the afternoon, we tried to surf with the stand-up paddle board, as expected, it didn’t work well. The board was too big to catch any waves, but at least we tried.
In the evening, after a nap, we were attacked by mosquitoes, they kept us inside the caravan.
Finally, I managed to get internet (the internet was working good but the place was in the middle of nowhere, we didn´t have any signal) to make a video call with my dad (it’s always very important to stay connected with the people you love, even if sometimes you are far away from them).
Later at night, we went to the beach to feel the freedom of living in a caravan - it was incredible. After this day, our batteries were recharged again.
Day 8
We left our spot heading to the nearest city to buy food and refill our water.
Asilah is a small town, enough for our shopping needs, though we couldn’t fill our water. We drove for quite some time to a new spot by the beach and when arrived we had to pay 20 dirhams (we never pay to stay overnight but we were tired from the trip and made an exception).
Still time for a swim in the sea and to sunbathe on a beach that seemed a bit touristy.
By nightfall, the wind was very strong, since we were parked on a cliff the caravan was shaking a lot, so we decided to move to the city center where the wind was less felt because it’s not comfortable to sleep with the caravan constantly moving. It was very late, we found a place that seemed good enough to sleep, despite being among houses, at least we didn’t have the wind.
We ended up falling asleep after a tiring travel day.
Day 9
We woke up in the city with the noise of planes taking off and landing. When we looked out the window, we realized that parked next to the Tangier airport, we hadn’t noticed when arrived at night.
It was a different morning, our goal was to leave as early as possible for a better spot. First, we filled our water at a campsite (we just asked if we could fill the water, another place to find water is in cemeteries), filled the fuel tank and drove to Tetouan on the eastern coast of Morocco to escape the wind that was still blowing.
We found a spot right on the sand where the waves almost touched the caravan. At this moment, we had just arrived at this spot and I’m writing to you while Lisa takes a well-deserved rest after driving 3 hours on these mountain roads.
It’s 6 PM, the rest of the day will be spent working and it feels so good to sit on the beach with the sound of the waves while writing about my experiences -I have no words for what I feel.
See you tomorrow.
Day 10
I have bad news, Lisa woke up sick with body aches.
It’s going to be a day for her to rest, I will take care of her the best I can and catch up on some pending work.
I have to say that the Boxio toilet was/is essential help for our comfort and in situation like that i already use some caravan toilets and any is so versatile like Boxio toilet.
It was a very quiet day for me but a worrying one because of Lisa.
Day 11
Lisa woke up feeling better, so we return to the lake where we stayed on day 5 but this time we stayed right by the water. . After a more relaxed day, we will try to make the most of our last two days in Morocco.
When we arrived, it was impossible to resist the wonderful water and I spent some time swimming, surrounded by mountains and a deafening silence.
We already knew this spot, it was wonderful to just enjoy the peace that nature offers us.
We also took the opportunity to do some maintenance on the caravan, nothing major - it’s always ready to face new roads.
Day 12
Today is the day to catch the ferry from Ceuta to Algeciras. It’s a mix of feelings: on one hand, sadness to leave Morocco, on the other hand our hearts are full of happiness because we are doing what we love most, traveling by caravan.
The border took some time because, as expected, the caravan inspection was more detailed.
They used a dog to check for drugs and we had to open the doors several times. Honestly, I didn’t understand why we had to open the doors so many times but everything went smoothly.
We took the ferry in the late afternoon, after 1.5 hours we were back in Europe.
The idea was to stay at the same place where we stayed on day 2 before catching the ferry and the next day head to a beach in southern Spain.
Day 13
That’s what we did. On this day, we went to a beach in southern Spain, it was the best beach of the entire trip. Truth be told, we didn’t find any great beaches in northern Morocco. Just my opinion, but for the north of Morocco, it’s better to go to lakes in the mountains.
The water temperature was perfect for taking the last dips of the trip, Believe me, we spent hours in the water. After whole day on the beach, back in the caravan we had a somewhat emotional moment because we knew it was our last night in the caravan on this trip. We felt that living in the caravan must be our destiny. I believe tears are our body trying to speak to us.
The spot was not very quiet for sleeping. We knew, close to the road and would probably hear car noises but the problem was some cars stopped near the caravan shining lights on it besides the noise they made.
We stayed there until we fell asleep.
Day 14
Day to return to Germany
We just drove to Faro airport and caught the plane back.
It was an incredible trip with the perfect person. I can’t put into words the feeling of freedom and the pleasure we have in traveling.
If you have any questions, need advice or just want to share experiences, feel free to message us.
On our next trip, we will travel across Europe to prepare the caravan for the ultimate journey. Follow the blog and don’t miss our adventures around the world.
Don´t forget:
Carlos
Comments