29th Jan 08

Date: 29th Jan 08
Location: El Rajida
Weather: Scattered sunshine and dry, 25°c
Status: Ben – recovered, Luke – sleeping, Colonel – fixed and fit

Earliest start of the trip so far, slept the night on the edge of some stunning sand dunes and got up at 5am for the 200kms drive to Casablanca for Luke’s yellow fever jab and then onto Rabat to the Mauritanian embassy to buy our visas for the next country. All very easy, no this is Africa as I keep reminding Luke!

Drive was excellent on the best roads we’ve encountered so far, headed to Rabat to get our application in before 10am for the next day service…but no, not available until tomorrow at 3pm!! So we headed to Casablanca another hour away and found the clinic which Luke has to go to for his immunisation tomorrow. Mad big grotty city which does nothing to recreate the splendour which the film of the same name portrays!

Couldn’t even find a good place to stop for lunch so bit the bullet and had a McDonalds for the first time in about 10yrs. Zoe you would be so proud!

Left the city to find the only campsite in the area and as with all of the others out of season there was hardly anyone there apart from the stray cats and resident parrot! Luke whipped up a storm of couscous and we hit the sack early after the days adventures.

Up at the crack of dawn again tomorrow for more admin nightmares….

End of day location: Casablanca
Distance covered: 290kms