Morocco Madness Day 15

Back to the port today, after an uninspiring hotel breakfast - the ingredients were there, it was just, meh... 

Reversing the bikes out required us to move furniture in the lobby! A short ride and we're there at 09:10, but it all seems quite deserted. We see that our 11:15 ferry doesn't exist, and the next is 12:01. I suspect the "01" is more relevant for a Tokyo bullet train departure than a North African/Spanish ferry. 

We hang around until 10:30 watching the swelling terminal population, including an obnoxiously loud pair of Harley bikes, and eventually decide to make a run for the border.  Only to be turned back because we hadn't yet checked in at the office window we've been staring at for the past 100 minutes. 🤦🏽 That takes all of five minutes and we're on our way again. 

Swiftly through passport checks, X-ray customs checks (an x-ray truck driven over a group of vehicles), sniffer dog checks and one more passport check. Then straight onto the ship. The Filipino crew member recognises my bike from the journey over and we chat about the Philippines embassy functions in Brussels, and the Filipino Satwa area in Dubai.... At least I do, he just listens... 🥱

And Christopher notes my name dropping 🤷🏽 yeah, sorry about that. 

The ferry seems busier and nosier, but we settle on a free sofa, before ear plugs and eye shades are deployed and the floor beckons. The journey passes more quickly than expected. 

Back in Europe and a fairly quick passports and customs check for me, but Christopher's equivalent passport and baggage take a temporal detour. But nothing too long and we're soon on our way. 

We figure we'll avoid the toll faff and it's only 30mins longer on a 3hr journey. But that proves a bit longer as we hit traffic due to an accident, and while I can easily filter, big Bertha with his overly lardy rear end struggles to squeeze through the gaps. So what do friends do? I leave him! 

About 5km further along the road, I wait at a bus stop. I contemplate having a dip in the inviting blue sea while I wait; it's just a few metres behind that hedge and row of houses, we've been admiring it since we left the port and it's calling my name...

But like a 'good friend' I wait. Longer than anticipated, but after about 15 minutes the Africa Twin passes by and I race after him to catch up. 

Back on track, we pass Marbella, Malaga before turning off and heading north east into the mountains. 

Then eventually we reach our destination... Granada! Where a surprise awaits a birthday girl!

We check into a capsule hotel!