We had a choice of ferry times, one every 3 hours from 1 am. We decided the 7 am one was best but they advise to be there at least 2 hours before departure. So, alarms were set for 4 am (it is 5 mins to the port from the hotel), but Trevor was awake by 2.30 and rolled around unable to fall asleep again, so got up at 3.45.

We headed for the port and were through the Moroccan formalities in about 30 mins, what a difference from the southern border. One would think the border with Europe would be much more tightly controlled. The X-ray scan of the car revealed a “steel box” in the back that they wanted to know more about. It was the jerry can, and what’s inside he asked ? 20 litres of diesel Trevor said, only 20 he asked, Trevor confirmed and he seemed a bit surprised, perhaps other overlanders fill up on a lot more cheap fuel than us. There were a few passport checks and the car papers sorted and onto the ferry we went, behind a huge refrigerated truck and trailer. 

The ferry left about 45 mins early (we had a similar experience on the downward trip) and was very empty, perhaps two dozen people including truck drivers. It took about 45 mins and we were out quickly behind 2 trucks. Passports checked and customs just waved us through, quite amazing. It was only getting light when we left the ferry and clouds were heavy. 

We decided to see if we could quickly have a look around Gibraltar as we were in the area. It was not clear if we needed visas, or, being European residents, whether we would be let in on that basis. The traffic, both vehicles and pedestrians, into Gibraltar was quite heavy, clearly lots of people work there but live in Spain. They asked for our passports and we gave them as well as our residents cards, but they said we could only enter if we had a UK or specific Gibraltar visa. We had neither so were not allowed in, but we got magnificent views of “the Rock” as it is literally about a km away, despite the cloudy weather.

By this time it had started to rain quite heavily and we headed for home, about 4 hours away, taking the route via Tarifa, Cadiz and Seville as a change of scenery. Trevor felt like having a burger from Burger King, but it was only as we passed around Seville that we found one close to the highway. It was closed, only opening at 12.30, same with another one a short way further, so we opted for McDonalds which was open.

The roads in this part of Spain are certainly of poorer quality than in Morocco. There are holes and cracks and the road is not flat, its like a seesaw ride !

We stopped for an hour or so to say hello to friends of ours who stay just north of Faro and then made the final hour long trip to our home. 

Charlotte insisted that the car be unpacked today as our son arrives on Friday evening for a visit until the New Year and our tonne of laundry needs be done tomorrow and bedrooms prepared, etc. The car was unloaded, mainly into the spare bedroom from where items will be sorted and redirected to their proper place, while food boxes were unpacked back into the kitchen cupboards and Trevor emptied the last 5 litres of Adblue into the tank. 

Tomorrow we will post details of the final distance travelled and how much fuel we used. Trevor took a photo of the mileage but it seems to have gotten lost or inadvertently been deleted.

What an epic journey.  Thoroughly and perfectly prepared by Ulrich, executed by all of us and giving us an experience of a lifetime.

A BIG thank you to Ulrich for all the time and effort you put into making this one of, if not the most, memorable journeys we have had the pleasure of undertaking. To Alex, it was a pity you could only join for part of the trip, you would have thoroughly enjoyed Morocco and the rest of Mauritania.