Preparing to leave campsite. Hans re packing.
Murcia – Nador (Morocco)
152 miles.
For the first time since setting off last Monday this is the first day I have woken up naturally without an alarm clock and without the prospect of a long drive. I finally woke about 9.30, heaven.
After a soggy tuna sandwich for breakfast we had to work on the car. The fan belt has been slipping badly and is really embarrassing whenever we pull away. We were also concerned about excessive oil usage but realised that I had read the dipstick wrong the previous day.
So instead of being low we were now about a litre over full. You would think I would know how to check the oil level by now.
We did some last minute shopping at an amazing shopping centre in Murcia. I really needed a new air mattress. I had a thin military one but it’s just not comfortable enough. Im too old to completely rough it.
After shopping we took a slow drive to Almeria where we would catch the ferry to Morocco. It was a good drive down. The Spanish country side is beautiful. I actually slept in the car for the last hour. I must be getting tired, I never normally sleep in the car.
We have decided that the car is too heavy. We have collected too many donations. Clothes weigh a lot. I had a bit of a heated discussion with Steve as he wanted to off load a lot of the clothes in Morocco.
I took this a bit personally as I know my friends made the effort to donate these items and I really wanted to take them all to Mali. Anyway, we have agreed that some as to go soon. When we start to travel on the harder terrain we could seriously damage the suspension . We will still take all of the younger kids clothes to Mali and all of the school and arts equipment.
Also to save weight we removed the rear seat. It must have weighed over 80 kg. This has made a huge difference. If anybody needs a seat for a Mitsubishi Shogun it’s by the bins at Murcia docks!
We finally boarded the ferry ready for sailing at 2300. It was a real party atmosphere as a lot of the teams had decided to take the night ferry. There was lots of cheering and horn blowing. I think the vodka had been in full flow for a while.
We had our first mishap on the car deck of the ferry.
Toilets at shopping centre
We had been given a special jack called a high lift jack. It is about 1.5 metres long and designed to jack up a jeep in deep sand. Well, we had it in the back of the jeep as temporary storage. When Steve took out his bag from the back of the jeep he must have dislodged the jack, because when he closed the back door the glass shattered into a million pieces. Not even in Africa and the poor car is being wrecked. A roll of gaffer tape solved the problem. We will fix somewhere along the route.
We booked a cabin as I could not handle another night like the sailing to Denmark. It cost a fortune but was worth every penny to get some decent sleep.
I can’t believe I will be in Africa when I wake up. We are amazed the car has actually made it. I think a lot of our friends are even more amazed
