When we left the hotel this morning at about 8.45 everything was still closed in the area, except for a few parents and children on their way to school.

We walked to the Kasbah and had breakfast on the square opposite the Kasbah, orange juice, fried eggs with some flat bread and a blob of cheese and coffee. 

Slowly things started to get moving as one by one the shops started opening and shopkeepers put their goods out. We noticed a display of paintings (there are many, many shops selling paintings with the blue city theme) that were a bit different to the majority of the typical styles available. Charlotte went back later to buy one as a belated birthday present for Trevor.

We then headed for the old Medina which is built on the steep slope and after some walking and climbing, Charlotte decided she had had enough a waiting spot was agreed while Trevor continued the walk. With the swistly and turny narrow streets one can quickly get lost and disorientated and Google Maps is not a great help in those small alleyways. Trevor had walked much further than he had expected and was quite far off course but someone pointed him in the direction of the Kasbah and he was able to find the spot where Charlotte was waiting. 

We then wandered down the alleyways until we got to the main road and headed for the parking garage for the car.

Trevor had seen an interesting old city wall quite high up above the town which is built on the side of a mountain and we drove there by car for a beautiful view over the city. 

Then, mission man’s exploration instinct kicked in as he had seem a road on the map that showed good views over the city. We were already halfway along the road so why not go a little further.😂🤣

We took a right turn off the tar road and onto quite a steep, rocky and bumpy gravel road through the pine trees and mission man put the car into 4 wheel drive. This felt a bit like our first gravel road on this trip past the mountain called the cathedral, and only slightly more manageable than the route up the mountain to have lunch at Zagora. The road was steep with some sharp hairpin bends and had to be taken slowly. At one of the bends we met a car another truck on its way down so had to do some manoeuvring to let him pass. The views were magnificent, very high above the city and the map showed the road continued a long way. Mission man continued as he had them seen a spot on the map referring to a water source dating from 1954. We drove past the point on the map but couldn’t find anything so turned around and after a few hundred metres met a man who was walking up the mountain (we had passed him earlier and a lot lower down). We asked if he knew the water source but communication was difficult and he indicated it may be further on. So, we did a 10 point turn on the edge of the ravine careful not to end our trip (and our lives on our last day in Morocco) 🤔😠. We continued on the road which flattened out and moved away from the edge of the mountainside and eventually found a concrete structure with 1954 on it. It looked like a collection point as it also had a covered “aqueduct” heading from it and downhill. We found what looked like was a dry stream or riverbed but no sign of water. Mission man decided the mission had been accomplished and so we headed down again stopping to take some photos of the amazing scenery and how close we were to the edge of oblivion. A skid of the car on the gravel road could easily send us all over the edge. The same feelings emerged as we had experienced before on other similar cliffside drives: its as if the more one drives and should get more familiar and comfortable with it, the more scared one gets !

We then set then destination for Tanger Med via Tetouan. Just before Tetouan we saw a beautiful lake/dam with a restaurant overlooking it and smoke from the barbecue, our last chance for mechoui. We stopped and ordered mutton chops but believe we got beef, otherwise the sheep must have been the size of a cow. It was a bit tough, but nevertheless tasted OK. The view was stunning, just a pity the sun was not ideal for good photos.

Lunch done, we went through Tetouan, quite a large place, and hit the highway which was sometimes close enough to see the Mediterranean. At Fnideq we came to the coast and could see the Spanish enclave of Ceuta (on the African continent). The police and army presence from then on was quite staggering and the barbed wire along the border was evidence of the challenges in keeping illegal immigrants from entering.  It was quite misty and a lot cooler as we went over the mountain to Tanger Med. A final fill up with the cheaper diesel and we headed for the hotel, right at the port where we get the ferry in the morning.

What an end to an epic African adventure as we embark on the last 500 km home.