Bye, bye Europe – hello Morocco
Our plan for escaping the cold weather in Europe for this year was to discover Morocco. Living in Germany, this meant a bit of a drive through Belgium, France and Spain. We met some old friends along the way which meant the journey was a bit longer compared to driving straight through. We arrived in La Línea de la Concepción on Monday, 2 February, bought our tickets from "Carlos" (a tradition as we were told) and proceeded to our campsite which was next to Gibraltar. We took the opportunity and visited the rock for a couple of hours. At this point, we had no idea what was about to happen....
Once we were back from Gibraltar our phones simultaneously went off: a cell broadcast alarm for severe weather. Quickly we searched online and found out that we were facing non-stop rain with up to 200l/m2 over the next 24h and non-stop rain after that too, combined with non-stop storms. We were stuck in Algeciras/La Línea de la Concepción/Gibraltar as all the maps showed it to be the safest spot in the area. We have never experienced weather like this before and we don't plan on ever having to experience it again. It was a real test of our resolve and our nerves, but we survived!
On Friday, 6 February we finally drove to the port of Algeciras hoping our ferry would sail. All the signs were good: somewhat stable-ish weather, ships coming and going, and the ticket booths were open. We were incredibly excited once we had passed the ticket checks and were waiting in line for the Spanish customs control. Our ferry should leave in about 1h 30min. At least that is what the ticket said and as a German you do expect in your inner core that your ship will sail around that time.
3h later we were still waiting in the line for the Spanish customs check. Hope was diminishing, we had visions of sleeping at the harbour in that very spot. Then suddenly everything went quite fast, a gentlemen started directing cars to the customs check. When it was our turn, we were happy that the border patrol guard only took a quick look inside the vehicle and once happy we weren't smuggling too many cans of Sauerkraut let us pass swiftly. Then the next wait began and theatre unfolded in front of us. Three ships seemed ready to be boarded. But the lines were all mixed up. The line for the leftmost ship was the rightmost lane and vice versa. Trucks and cars were blocking each other any way possible. 2h later we finally made it onto the ferry...
... where the next line awaits: the on-board passport checks and visa stamp. We were lucky being amongst the first to drive onto the ship we only waited some 20 mins for the desired stamp. What a relief we thought, the tough bit is over now. But the sea had other plans and decided to be a bit rough. Thunderstorms formed and the sail was very very rocky. Some campers visibly moved on the upper deck, Kathrin didn't feel very well. Thank goodness it was only about 1h 30min sail time.
Arriving at Tangier Med, disembarking was another adventure as the metal ramps to drive off shifted a good 1 to 2m from left to right, so once again a friendly member of staff was directing cars off, waiting for the ramp to stop moving then frantically waving — signalling you to put the pedal to the metal and speed off the ramp.
What comes next you ask? Well you might have guessed it by now: another line to wait in. This time around Moroccan customs. The line wasn't moving at all. Not one bit. Until suddenly it seemed some very capable person started organising the line into about 6 lines. We got super lucky and were the first to be shown to line 1. We were immediately greeted by a friendly border patrol agent. "No drone, no arms?" - "No, sir" - "Ok, welcome to Morocco". He asked for my passport and the vehicle registration papers and wandered off. Returning after some 15 minutes with the temporary import papers and wished us a great onward journey.
We couldn't believe how easy this was as we had been witnessing other vans having to unload their entire cargo and some being directed to the massive car x-ray/scanner machine. For us, however, the lines and the waiting finally came to an end.
The clock read 10pm and we decided it wouldn't be wise to drive 1h to Tangier where we had picked a campsite to stay the first night. Especially as the thunderstorm was still rolling through. So, as if we had jinxed it back in Spain thinking we would have to spend the night at the harbour — we actually did. However, at Tangier Med.
What a journey, what an adventure!