Unbelievable that we have been on the road for only 13 days. It feels like a few weeks. We have experienced so much together.
Today, we arrived in a small town called El Marsa. It reminds me very much of La Marsa in Tunisia, where we have lived for almost six years.

But one after the other. We got woken up a few times last night on the parking. Once around midnight when a large overland truck from Guinea parked right next to us. A bit of chatting started and then we could finally continue sleeping. The next arrival around five o’clock this morning woke us up again. Especially Christoph was on his feet as the French RV passed by his tent rather closely and he feared that he had not seen the tent. But all went well.
At 06:30 the alarm went off and after a quick camping fresh up, I got to work on my laptop. The blog entries from last night and the one that will be published tonight had to be uploaded, formatted, photos added and published/scheduled before we could hit the road. We did not know what tonight will bring in terms of connectivity. Better now and here than postponing.

Our Guinean neighbour came over for a chat. It turned out to be the same we had seen last night in Dakhla at the corniche, a German self-proclaimed christ and missionary with his half-Guinean son. They are on their way to Laayoune to receive a group of Germans orthopaedics to guide them and their six cars to Ghana to work and help there. Although the entire parking was quiet he was talking so loudly that he certainly had woken many other (wild) campers up by now. He was full of stories and views about Africa and the world. One opinion stuck with us. he stated nonchalance, that he was actually very grateful to the Moroccans for taking over Western Sahara, because otherwise he would have had to get yet another visa to travel through it.
Another neighbour in a nice big beige MAN overlander rig swung his door open and greeted us. A Swiss national from Luzern on a world tour slowly making their way down the West coast of Africa. Of course, Christoph and he started talking Swiss German, while I finished my blogging and left the German behind minding his son.
All finished, we packed up the last items and drove off at exactly eight a.m. direction petrol station for a quick coffee and pain de chocolate and a top up for Eeyore.

The landscape around Dakhla looked glorious in the morning sun. For hours we continued on the National Road number One. From time to time you could see parts of the stunning cliffs that form the coastline in this part of Morocco. We stopped twice to admire the view and take pictures.

We were making good progress despite a strong wind from the Northeast. When we came into Boujdour around noon, we started feeling hungry after our quick and small breakfast. We stopped at a local restaurant. The owner, an old hadj, wanted to sell us a tajine, but that would have taken too long for us, so we opted for some brochette d’agneau (lamb). They came a few minutes later and we indulged in them with some local fresh bread. Very nicely seasoned. With a full stomach, we set off for the last 170km of today’s leg.

Long before reaching the destination, we already spotted the white clouds being blown into the air by a factory. We came closer and noticed that the clouds were actually not smoke but dust from the phosphorus factory that operates the longest conveyor belt in the world. A bridge came and we crossed it, to quickly stop and take a picture of the famous belt and factory. The 100km long conveyor belt connects the Bou Craa phosphorus mine with the factory in El Marsa and the port, from where it is shipped around the world. Phosphorus is a major component in many products from fertilisers, food additives and matches to water softeners. The factory is one of the largest employers in the region.

In El Marsa, the hotel, we had chosen instead of the planned camping that had closed down, was quickly found. The receptionist had only one single room left and wanted full price for the other double room to be used single. Not with us. We left and crossed the road to the second option. They did have two single rooms for a good price and we checked in. Finally a proper hotel room and shower after several days of camping or without one.

While writing this, I am sitting on the terrace of the hotel’s cafe and sip on a freshly brewed Moroccan mint tea. Happy days!

From here we will start on our final 900 kilometres to Marrakech tomorrow. Unbelievable, that, after all these kilometres we have already travelled since the border with Mauritania, we still have about one fifth of the total distance left and that in two days time. Will we make it until Tuesday and Christoph’s flight back home to Abidjan?