Morocco Trip - Getting there from Bikes in the Fast Lane

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Morocco Trip - Getting there

January
2005

  File under Personal Travel
  Author: Mike Werner
  Location: Normandy, France

I'll not bother you with photos of the ride from Normandy to Spain (we got a lot of snow and ice in the mountains).

We drove from Normandy, via Orleans, Toulouse, and then Barcelona.

We spent 30 and 31 in Barcelona with the Dakar rally, and followed them on the 1st of January to Granada and then the following day to Algecira

You can see all the photos I took of the Dakar rally below:

30Dec
31Dec
Jan 1
Jan 2

We then headed back to our hotel in Granada to leave the following day (3 Jan) to Almeria.

This was the closest place we could find that could put desert tyres on our motorcycles (and keep our street tyres until we returned).

Total Distance: About 3000 kms
Road Conditions: Autoroutes (some snow & ice)
Time: 3 days

	On the ride from Granada to Almeria we had to cross the Sierra Navada mountains. They are impressive mountains, specially in the winter, since we had snow and ice on portions of the road.
	But they looked impressive. Lots of twisting roads, massive drops on both sides and beautiful scenery. The weather was sunny, and even went up to 5°C.
	When we finally found the garage that was going to change our tyres, it turned out to be a KTM shop. The owner was extremely pleasant and helpful, specially since we arrived after 12:00 and he was going to close for lunch between 13:00 and 16:00. But he stayed open for us, and changed the tyres on both motorcycles (they also has someone riding the Dakar race).
	Since it was too late to take a ferry, we decided to stay in Malaga. The following day we took the slow ferry to Tangiers (Tanger). We had to wait 2 hours for the ferry to depart..
	Just before boardings, 2 other motorcycles joined us. To our surprise it was Tiffany Coates (the young lady who had done a Round The World trip on her own) and a friend of hers (Kieran). Both were on their way to Timbuktoo via Dakar, Senegal.
	The tie-up of the motorcycles was not professional (the FRS ferries are better, CoMaNav is not that good). The rope they used to tie-up the motorcycles was cutting through the saddles !!
	The ferry took 3 hours (FRS does it in 70 minutes). But they did have a pleasant waiting lounge where you could eat and drink (or write your memoirs).