a few hours to kill in Casablanca

An early arrival in Casablanca left us with five hours to kill before our connecting flight to Nouakchott. With the airport offering little amenity, we decided to taxi into the Old Medina for some Moroccan coffee.  A little bit of haggling reduced the return fare from 700 dirhams down to 400 and we set off with our new friend Luis. 

What Luis lacked in teeth, he more than made up for in enthusiasm.  A running tourist commentary was maintained, even as he wove maniacally through the traffic.  I'm sure he didn't really understand the question when I asked him how many pedestrians he killed each day, because his deadpan answer was "35". 

The Old Medina had not changed much since our last visit, but this is hardly surprising given that it has existed for more than a thousand years.   The rabbit warren of twisting old lanes are a quiet respite from the oily traffic, broken only by occasional men offering a friendly salaam in greeting.  

who moved Dubai?

It appears that rumours of Gary's competence may have been greatly exaggerated.  On arrival at Qatar's gleaming new international airport, Gary said to us "Well, it's good to be back..."

This was an interesting statement, because we've been travelling with Gary for the past two decades, and we were pretty sure that Gary had never visited Doha before.  

A little more enquiry had Gary insisting that we were currently in Dubai, the capital of United Arab Emirates.  

Quick reference to boarding passes soon set him straight, and he is now clear that we are departing shortly from Doha to Tasmania.  

why Africa?

journey stats

welcome to a new supporter

4RideAfrica are pleased to announce that Urban Armor Gear have joined our supporter group, and will be providing some of their rugged electronic cases for field testing throughout our journey.  We are quite confident in this line of rugged cases already, as our initial testing had us park a fully laden bike on top of one without cracking the iPhone screen. Watch this blog for reviews and photos of the gear in action.  If the blog posts stop coming, then it is safe to assume that the gear didn't work  :-)  

a note of thanks

As always, the logistics involved for our journeys are complex and time-consuming.  We could not possibly manage everything without the help and support of several key sponsors.

Thank you to the logistics team at Bikes Abroad.  Their ability to deliver a motorcycle, anywhere in the world, on time and intact, is unmatched.  Having worked with other freight agencies in the past, I now recognise and value the amount of work that is required to navigate the various carrier and customs requirements required to to move hazardous cargo around the world.  The Bikes Abroad team take care of literally everything for us, allowing the team to focus on other matters such as route planning and researching the local beers.   www.bikesabroad.com

Thank you to our insurers, World Nomads.  World Nomads have insured us through 70+ countries and a myriad of adventures.  Their list of inclusions is the stuff of nightmares for other underwriters.  For most insurers, the devil is in the detail and you need to read the fine print very carefully.  World Nomads simply doesn't have any fine print, and they have settled the occasional claim cheerfully and quickly.   www.worldnomads.com

Thank you to AGS Movers for the provision of a shipping container and secure storage facilities in Nouakchott, Mauritania.  We look forward to uncrating and collecting the bikes in a few weeks time.  Hopefully they will start perfectly, as having them stored in a clean, dry environment for the past year is a good head start.  Last year they were locked up in a musty barn in the south of France, which made getting them fired up again an interesting exercise.   www.agsmovers.com

Sena will once again provide communications for the group whilst on the road in West Africa.  The 20S units used last year proved to be reasonably robust and reliable.  The group intercom dropouts have been resolved by replacing two of the items from an older production run and firmware upgrade.  Thanks to Tracey and team at Adventure Cams (Australian distributor) for all of their efforts to resolve the drop out issue.  This year's Sena kit will include the new Prism HD camera, so blog readers can look forward to some great high-definition helmet footage throughout the journey.   Check back later in the tour for a full review of the new Prism HD helmet camera.  www.sena.com

We have proven to be Motorrad Garage's worst customers.  Petra and her team (Australian distributors) generously provided some great gear to support our travels a few years ago.  Despite our best efforts, none of the Motorrad Garage gear has failed us yet.  Given the extreme conditions (subzero, 45+, sand, etc) we have experienced a lot of equipment failure, but the Motorrad Garage gear remains unbeaten.   www.motorradgarage.com.au

preparations underway

Planning is well underway for the 2016 ride, and we are in possession of a handful of visas to ease our passage across borders.   Ghana is a breeze with a visit to the Consul General in Western Australia, Senegal is even easier with visa-on-arrival and all fees abolished in 2014.  Liberia and Sierra Leone on the other hand .....

The plan for this year is to pick up the bikes in Nouakchott (the capital city of Mauritania), and then wander down the west coast of Africa taking in the sights, sounds and smells of the dark continent.

A bit of pre-ride maintenance is required before we can set off on our journey.  Last year's trip across the Sahara was not without mishap; and both Gary and Ty's bikes require some serious attention in order to proceed safely.  Gary in particular managed to 'break the back' of his bike on the Sahara crossing, and will need to drill right through the frame and bolt it together using hi-tensile bolts.  Hopefully this 'temporary' fix will be permanent enough to get him through to South Africa.

It will be a good opportunity to renew our friendships with Franck from AGS Worldwide (who has generously helped store the bikes in a shipping container for the past 11 months) and the team at the local garage who cleared out the entire workshop in order to work on the bikes.

A couple of days in Nouakchott is not found on many travel itineraries, and it is routinely referred to as the sandiest capital city in the world.  With harmattan winds blowing straight in from the desert, it is a constant battle for the authorities to prevent the city simply sinking back into the surrounding sand.  We are looking forward to crossing the border into Senegal and then down into the jungle and other green zones of West Africa.