June 21: Arrived in Africa

Woohoo! Africa it is! After my ferry from Sete, France was cancelled and the next one I scheduled leaving almost 900 miles further away in Algeciras, Spain was delayed, I was especially excited to finally arrive in Tanger Med, Morocco at around 5pm local time this evening.

My personal philosophy about traveling by ferry or plane is to arrive early to play it safe. So I arrived two and a half hours before my scheduled departure today, a half hour earlier than recommended by the ferry company. After sitting by myself in an empty waiting line for over an hour, I began to get a little sense for what a friend of mine calls “Moroccan time,” an allusion to the fact that schedules are not particularly set in time in northern Africa.

The ferry ride over itself turned out to be very pleasant, with helpful hosts on the ship offering up spiced tea with milk and a local dish called Pastela de Pollo that included chicken, ground vegetables, and cinnamon in a crispy pastry shell.

I wasn’t sure when I would eventually make it to my hotel as we arrived two and a half hours late at port and I had heard that the customs process could take quite some time. But when I smiled at the customs official and he grinned and said “you’re very pretty” in French, I had a feeling I might not have to wait too long.

After securing cash in Dirham, temporary motorcycle insurance for the country, and a local SIM card for my back-up phone I headed to my hotel, stopping to get a panoramic view of me and Adventure Baby with the Strait of Gibraltor in the background. I was extremely grateful that some local taxi drivers offered to lead me the last mile to the hotel as my navigation was routing me to the wrong place. What an adventure!