NEW HORIZONS nov2024
Spain to Morocco
LET'S GET HOT!
It’s adventure, they said. It’s so much fun, they said. You can totally off grid, they said. You see so much of the world, they said. 😳😁
Upside down with my head in the bench my world consists of water pipes and electricity. On the other side of the Mediterranean Sea we see Africa. The promised continent. Where all the adventure awaits us. But for now we’re very happy. Our water boiler died (again, second time) and receiving a great replacement is a moment of total happiness. This morning 2 packages arrived with all the right materials. And as a technician you can’t be more happy. Let’s get to work and have hot water again.
And yes, as a cyclist we never had hot water. And yes, you don’t need hot water as an adventurer, a world explorer, a hardcore outdoor explorer. But our cyclist friends don’t use social media so if you all keep quiet everything will be ok 🤫🤐☺️.
INTO AFRICA
This is a very boring movie. But for us it’s the best. We’re leaving Europe behind and start the next chapter of our adventure. Africa. Visited many times but never with a 12 ton big machine. Stupid idea or not? Here we come.....
CHEFCHAOUEN
The blue city. Beautiful and also a very interesting history. Today it’s also a city with Instagram streets. Never heard about the phenomenon before. In the small alleys beautiful girls are standing as a statue to be photographed by semi professional looking young men.
World is changing. No idea if it’s for the best or not. Anyway, it’s still a beautiful place.
RIF MOUNTAINS
We expected the worst. We experience the best. On our 30 year old Michelin map there is no road, only a track. And although the road is bumpy, it’s tarmac and it’s there! So we have a great ride through the Rif mountains. Home of the Berber people. The road through the mountains has changed completely compared to a few years ago. The Moroccan government is investing heavily in this area and as a result we are seeing more and more development. Of course it is still the area where drugs are easy to get. But if you are not interested in it, like we are, the atmosphere is very relaxed. One moment we are in the mountains and the next moment on the coast. And in the meantime we continue to run and hike a lot.
VEGETARIAN FISH
In India we learned that fish is the vegetable of the sea so we eat vegetarian. The biggest disadvantage of an expedition truck is that you have a complete kitchen on board and you don't really have to eat 'outside'. But if you do you miss one of the most important aspects of a culture, the food. So get out of the box and eat outside together with the locals.
TO THE DESERT
From the coast we drive south. On our way to the desert. At first we drive through completely new places that are not even on the map. But soon they make way for small villages and a little later they turn into emptiness.
THE STONE DESERT
Yes, it is a desert. But not in the way you would expect. It is a desert full of stones, rocks and rock slabs. And that has the advantage that the chance of sinking into the sand is very small. It has rained a lot in the past few weeks so we are happy with the petrified desert. But driving here is not really fast. We bump over all the rocks and make slow progress. For us it is the first experience to travel so far from civilization with a 12 ton heavy machine. Every day we learn something new, and every day we gain more and more confidence in the truck. And the further we drive the more sand we encounter. And then we realize that after years of building the truck we end up in the landscape we dreamed of. The sun is rising, let's go!
FIGUIG
In the middle of the border town of Figuig we park our truck opposite the police station. And immediately we experience a very calm and relaxed atmosphere. We decide to stay and before we know it Mohammed shows us his hometown. Surrounded by palm trees, the town is in the middle of a system of water sources and canals. Water is of vital importance here.
FIGUIG TO BOUDNIB
To be honest, we thought we would be in Boudnib (or Boudenib) pretty quickly. It didn't look too exciting on the map. Even Google Maps showed a straight new road, so with a bit of luck we would be in Boudnib in a day. It turned out to be three. But what great days again. From beautiful slopes to dangerous mountain passes to very nice encounters. We find out that traveling by truck is not much faster than by bike. And that the adventure can be just as big.
BOUDNIB TO GOULMIMA
Sand! Lots of sand. Days of gaining lots of experience. We learn what it's like to drive through the sand. Actually a bit like surfing. Let the truck do the work and glide over the sand. So much fun to do. We can't get enough of it. And in the middle of the sand dunes the realization comes again. We are so happy that we can do this.
And then the track ends. No trail, no track on the map. Nothing but empty land with countless riverbeds. We know we have to go west. We don't know what awaits us. New experience. We know this with the bike. Then it's just keep going on and you'll get there automatically. But with a big machine so much more can go wrong. And soon we see the first obstacles. A meters deep riverbed where we have to go down with the truck and then back up again while we don't know if we'll sink halfway. And that was just the first. Many more will follow. Long story short, we got through without many problems. Lisette only screamed once so that's pretty good.
And in the middle of the desert, the artist Hannsjörg Voth (http://www.hannsjoerg-voth.de) has created a huge work of art. Surreal world.
And? How are we doing now? Actually quite well.
The first few days we had to get used to the enormous emptiness in the desert. With the truck we are able to stay in the emptiness for a long time. Much longer than with our bikes where we are limited by the water supply. With 400 liters of fresh water in the truck we do not have that limitation. But that also means that we have gained a new experience. And we loved it.
But to be honest, we are starting to miss cycling. The long days of riding through the desert now have to be alternated with beautiful cycling kilometers and that is what we are going to do....
