Distance: 76.0 km
Ride time: 5:21:34
Average: 14.2 km/h
Max speed: 28.4 km/h
Total: 53881 km
We left Kenitra early and was in for a bit of adventure on the rural roads of Morocco. Trying to avoid the busy A5 highway was a fine enough idea, in fact I’m not even sure if you are allowed to cycle there, but we did eventually end up on some pretty rural dirt roads. Africa is not over yet!
No cycling in Morocco is complete without a mint tea break – including 1/4 of the cup filled with sugar. No wonder the local’s teeth here are not always looking their best.
By now our road was reduced to a pretty rough dirt track, going through some villages where I didn’t feel completely comfortable. I think it mostly had something to do with the angry looking stray dogs and all the trash lying around. It was at this moment that I realized how I’m very much looking forward to Europe and the more comfortable cycling I’m expecting to find there. At the same time I’m also very happy that Manon got to experience a bit of real African adventure.
Trying to avoid a 20 km detour around the Merja Zerga lake, we took a gamble. We knew that there would be no bridge the way we were going, but the locals seemed to indicate that there would be small boats crossing the narrow strait. The unknown question was – would we be able to bring our bikes?
The answer was luckily yes (for an extra fee of course). We pushed the bikes across a wide Atlantic sand dune before lifting all our stuff into the small boat that would take us across the water. Oh yes, this was indeed real a real adventure!
Arriving in Moulay Bousselham we were both pretty surprised to find a full-on Moroccan holiday beach town, catering to the thousand and thousands of Moroccans who are here for the holidays from Europe. Again we found a very reasonable priced camp site and was able to put up the tent within hundred meters from the beach. Good stuff!
Manon had been experiencing some knee problems so it was a rather easy decision to take an extra rest day. Moulay Bousselham is a beautiful place – and, as the number of people on the beach tells – also super popular.
From here Europe is getting ever closer. Only two days to Tanger!
It seems Africa gives you another surprise, just around the next corner!