07.03.2023

We are still with Omars sister and family. I am still sick with flu and we use the day to sleep a lot, do some messaging, sort out the pairing of our Schuberth helmets (finally) and prepare for tomorrow. 

I also cared for my right shinbone (tibia) which is a bit damaged. But Omar had some horse ointment that I put on the bruises, and I had instant relief. 

That isn't as bad as it looks.

This is the horse ointment. I will buy some when I return home!

Then, late at evening, Omar called me down to the living room. The Family had prepared a birthday party for us, with a lovely birthday cake and nice finger food. What a feast! The hospitality is amazing here. Morocco is a beautiful country with beautiful people. I am very touched.

Here we are, at the home of Omar's sister and family. Sana had prepared loads of food for us. It was a shame that I couldn't eat that much, due to the medics I have to take.

Omar's sister Sana and her husband Aziz had prepared a great birthday party, with a birthday cake and lovely other tasty food.

That is the rest of the family: Miriam, Samad (Leo), Amin. Very nice, very friendly people.

Sana and Omar.

Cake and some kind of drumsticks and other lovely stuff. Very yummy.

Husband and father Aziz, relaxed, and telling stories.

Next day, we planned to continue our trip, direction Rabat. We booked a place in a farmhouse in the countryside. 

 Waking up after a good sleep we hear the rain outside, pouring down. I still have a cold and we decide to have a break for a day. We will go - that is: walk! - to BMW and try to get come cooling liquid for my Black Betty. Then we will have to disassemble parts of my bike to reach the cooling fluid tank, and then fill up what I lost.

Omar has installed a GoPro camera on his helmet, and we were keen to see me keeling over, but that part is missing in the recordings. Also, the trip through the fog didn't come out that well. We had for sure other things to think about but making a movie. What turned out quite well was the ride onto the ferry. The short clip has a size of 4 GB, and we have to wait until we find an opportunity to load that to my Mac.

Here for now one of the clips, still to be extended. Its Omar driving into the ferry. I had to drastically reduce the video resolution in order to get this video into the blog. Sorry for that.

I am still weak from my cold and some medication I have to take. While I slept, Omar took care of my bike. How wonderful to have a friend like that! Omar took the tank cover and most of the side covers off until he had access to the cooling water container. That one is usually closed with a lid, and that lid was off. That was the reason my bike lost the cooling liquid. Here now the videos of the procedure.

What a day! One of the worst days ever since I drive a motor bike. This is our trip today.

It started quite nicely with a lovely breakfast at the hotel Salobreña, in Salobreña. 

Then we took off for Tarifa, and that turned out to be the start of a really bad stretch of traveling. 

First, the weather ok, but then it turned horrible, it rained - and it got worse. Together with the rain, we had dense fog that we couldn't see 50 m. 

Google Maps guided us around an accident with 1,5 hours delay. Here, we were still quite happy and full of good spirits.

Then, at a traffic roundabout I was a bit too fast and then had to abruptly stop - which resulted in me tipping over to the right side. Omar and a Spanish car driver helped me up again. Some cooler liquid escaped, but cooling is still ok. Then, at a highway pay booth I was supposed to bypass Omar, who was just paying. That was a bit tight a slot, I got stuck at Omar's bike and tipped over - again! Fuck! This is not my day.

At the ferry, it was still raining. In my fantasy I had bad images in my head, about me driving up the slippery metal ramp and then falling again. 

But this time I managed well, and we made it without further damage into the ship.

We got on the ferry alright, bikes on the middle stand, fastened tightly.

You can see me in my raincover overall. My biker jeans were wet, and so was my jacket. At a petrol station I put on my overall, over the wet clothes, and immediately it was nice and warm again.

A friendly worker there asked us to put the bikers on the middle stand, not a big deal.

The weather was really bad and via a display the passengers of the ferry were warned of a rough sea. It wasn't that bad, though. 

Then, in the rush hour, we drove through Tanger. You can imagine that I have no pictures of that fancy trip. As I had no idea where we were going, I had to follow Omars bike on the tail - and people in Tanger are driving quite a free style. And up and down and left and right and crossing a busy street - it was a bit of a night mare, really. Omar's family welcomed us warmly, with sweet peppermiont tea, lovely cookies and then a full-blown meal. I was too exhausted to eat something. In this shit weather I caught another cold, I guess. I feel pretty miserable, to be honest. But that's the adventure, that's what I came for. 

 Our first day on the road. I am quite shaky, have a flu, feel weak and with little strength. But we start anyway. We said good-bye to Bernd and Brigitte, the guardians of our garage in Quesada, and then we took off. I had the lead most of the time. Tomorrow we will swap.

The weather at home in Montesinos was beautiful, as you can see in the picture below.

I couldn't eat anything, so, after an hour or so, we had to stop at a highway diner.

Here you see Omar, with his GoPro bra, a holster for the action cam. Lagter on we had the camera on top of his helmet. It worked out quite well actually.

We drove about 360 km today until we reached the destination, our first stop close to Malaga.

The hotels here are pretty amazing, very nice, good quality and very reasonable. We paid 43 € for the night per room (we booked 2 rooms, so that both of us have some privacy)

Arrival at Hotel Salobrena Suites.

Omar and his monster, a BMW 1250 GS Adventure. This bike is quite heavy, as far as I know it is 20 kg heavier than my 1200 GS.

And below, in the background, you can see me.

A shot from the hotel pool deck.

And here some impressions from the hotel room: view to the Mediterranian Sea, and nice interior.

 After some 5 hours sleep we took off for the garage to check our bikes. Everything is ok. We are both exhaustged, Omar from work and hay fever, I from a cold that I caught. I am a bit shaky, nbot in my old strength. Hope tomorrow I feel better. I want to leave early tomorrow, and rather rest when we are at our new location. 

This is our first stretch, 05.03.2023:

Leaving home in Garding

Last night, after teaching a Module 4 Leadership Seminar I returned home at midnight. Susanne gave me her birthday gift for my 70. birthday already, as we don’t see each other for the event. Hopefully , I have arrived in Marrakesh by then. 

Right now, I am buzzing through our house here in Garding, getting my things sorted that I leave behind and that I take with me, medics and papers and cables and communication devices. My flight leaves at 8pm. When I booked a train ticket to the airport, I read that the train might be late or cancelled, due to problems with the tracks. Just what one needs. 

Sunday, 26.02.2023

A new trip is coming up, one I have longed for for a long time. On my bucket list, I have written down a motorbike trip to Morocco for my seventieth birthday. Who knows how much longer I will be able to ride. Omar has planned the whole trip, I was not to take care of anything. It starts in one week. On Friday 03.03.2023 we fly to Alicante, arrive at midnight, on Saturday we rest and get the bikes ready, and on Sunday morning we set off.

Here is a picture of the route: