Introduction to the group

The rest of the group arrived at various times overnight, some as late as 4:00am. We went down for some breakfast at 8:30am or so and there still wasn't anybody up yet. But, we met everybody gradually as they came down over the next couple of hours.

Ruth and I wanted to go back to the ATM. We forgot that we were going to have to pay for our room in cash. Then we wanted to find a SIM card for the phone, and do some shopping to find some snacks that we can take on the trip.

First day in Nouakchott

We had only got to bed at 2:30am the night before, but still managed to get up around 8:00am feeling not too bad. By 9:00am we headed down for some breakfast. 

Mauritania was a French colony until 1960, and there is still some of that influence remaining. So what was for breakfast? Croissants!

Welcome to Mauritania... country number 58

A great way to start off a new year is by visiting a new country! Mauritania is country number 58 for us. There will be a few more new countries to add to the list during 2023. It's going to be a great year!

We didn't arrive here until well after midnight, so we really haven't anything to show you yet. However, we do need to tell the story of how we got here!

Today, we are off to Casablanca Airport!

Interesting place where we have been staying the last three nights. The guy who owns it is originally from Germany, but he married a Moroccan lady and he's been living here for 23 years. But his wife likes the city better, so she spends most of her time there, and he spends most of his time here in the countryside.

Another van showed up the other evening. A younger couple from the Netherlands. Just before lunch on the rainy day, our German host invited us all in for soup.

More detail about our trip to Mauritania

Yesterday was a rain day here in Morocco, so now is a good time to tell you a little more about our upcoming trip to The Islamic Republic of Mauritania.

Mauritania is one of the least visited countries in the world. That's actually one of the reasons I wanted to go there! 

I did not have a plan B

We really would have liked to have stayed one more night in the cherry orchard. Really nice folks running the place. When we left, they were trying to refine our pronunciation of some of the Arabic phrases we've been making an effort to learn... but without much success. At least we all had a good laugh about it.

We've pretty much got one sentence down pat... "Assalamu Alaikum" which directly translated means, "may peace be with you", but it's essentially used as "hello". Of course we could just say "bonjour" because 90% of the locals also speak French.

Time to head to lower elevations!

We waited until the sun came up over the mountain at about 10am, then set off walking uphill towards the cedar forests. We planned on about a 10 km (6.2 mile) return walk directly from the campground, and gaining another 300 meters (1,000') or so in elevation.

It was chilly, only calling for a high of about 13C (55F) but with clear blue sky and sunshine, and no wind to speak of. Quite comfortable for hiking uphill.

We were sure he was going to tip over!

We headed over to the big city of Meknes (population 650,000), but there really wasn't anything we wanted to see there so we took a route that avoided much of the city to get to the southern outskirts where there is a big modern shopping center with a big Marjane superstore.

Got there just before 11am on Sunday morning, and it was pretty quiet. Tons of space in the huge parking lot.

It obviously doesn't bother them or they would do something to fix it.

We had a relaxing morning, and then set off on a hike up the hill behind the campground. We didn't really have any kind of destination, just to get some exercise and see if we could find some views along the way.

Up on a paved road to the town of Moulay Moustapha El Hamdouchi (that's a mouthful!) and then a dirt track to the top.

Who knew there were Roman ruins in Morocco?

Yesterday morning we said goodbye to our hosts at the little farm stop restaurant. Such nice people. The father insisted we see his simple family home before we left, so we followed him up for a tour. 

I did not take photos, but it was pretty basic. One entrance room, one sitting room with a big homemade couch that lined all the walls, one bedroom for the adults and the two kids, and a kitchen. But it was clean and comfortable, although I did not see any heat source for chilly mornings.

A much better experience

Yesterday morning, a lot of the vans at the campground at Chefchaouen had moved out. By the time we got Max ready to go at 11:00am, it was half empty. Definitely, the best time to arrive at a new place is between noon and 2:00pm when you'll have the most choice of spots. 

We only had an hour and a half drive ahead of us to our next destination.

We're always impressed when we meet single women traveling alone

They were calling for another blue sky day, but the morning sure didn't turn out that way. Still, it was perfectly fine for a hike, so off we went.

I had seen a route up the mountain behind Chefchaouen, and there were a couple of viewpoints listed, so we headed up to get a view of the city down below.

The blue city of Chefchaouen

First order of business yesterday was to get a Moroccan SIM card. There are three different providers here. Maroc Telecom apparently has the best coverage, including into Western Sahara. But I've read that Inwi has an unlimited plan available. 

We walked down into the more modern part of town. We went to the Inwi store first. It was supposed to open at 10am, but it was five after and there was nobody around. A little ways down the street, we found the main outlet of the Maroc Telecom store and went in there.

Welcome to Morocco!

That was an interesting day! It's always an adventure crossing a border, but even more so when you're doing it by ferry. But overall, it went really smoothly. 

Written on our ticket booklet was the ferry departure times. It said 4am, 10am, 4pm and 10pm. We wanted to be on the 10am ferry and had read that it was best to show up at least an hour and a half ahead of departure.

We are off to Morocco!

It poured with rain pretty much all day yesterday. It had been in the forecast so we knew it was coming, but I think we got far more than they were expecting. 

We only had three things on the agenda for yesterday... cash, laundry and propane.

Busy day yesterday!

We did the short drive yesterday morning from Jimena de la Frontera to the port city of Algeciras (pop 121,000). 

We had a list of things we needed to accomplish. First stop was at a motorhome service point along the way, but it was quite busy with other motorhomes. We waited and watched for ten minutes or so, but the people using it weren't moving too fast and it looked like it was going to take a while.

Beautiful drive down through the mountains

We could definitely spend more time in this area. From Ronda down through the mountains to Jimena de la Frontera is absolutely gorgeous. It's only about 60 kms (36 miles) but it took us an hour and a half because of stopping at viewpoints along the way.

It's a twisty curvy mountain road, but it's in good condition and fine for a motorhome.

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Preparing for Morocco, and views around Ronda

We arrived in Ronda before lunch, doing the drive straight through from Archidona. We figured if we stopped along the way we might get sidetracked again, which tends to happen to us.

Ronda is a big tourist spot, and there are lots of campervans and motorhomes here as well as other tourists. We had no trouble finding a decent free overnight spot though, located across from a new Lidl store.

There's too much to see along the way!

Once again we didn't get as far as planned. But, we sure managed to get some exercise!

There's just too much to see and do in Spain. It's like every little town along the way has some kind of attraction. We could easily spend a full year just exploring Spain.

The story about the ringing bells

Yesterday I mentioned that when we were in Granada there was a constant lineup of people ringing the bell at the tower of the Alhambra. And that the bell rang all day and you could hear it from pretty much anywhere. It was kind of annoying.

Well I just couldn't see that being the case every day, so Ruth did some research.

A day in Granada, Spain

The main attraction in the city of Granada is the Alhambra... an Islamic Palace built on a hill overlooking the city. The history of the Alhambra goes back to the 9th century, although most of the current structures were built between the 14th to 16th centuries.

My father had visited the Alhambra in November of 1954, and had taken two photos, both of which we were trying to match up.

A few details about our upcoming trip to Mauritania

Yesterday we drove into the big city of Granada (pop 250,000). There are no ideal places to park to explore the city, but the best option is a fenced compound that is trying it's best to be a campground. But really, it's just a gravel parking lot for motorhomes. 

It's €12 ($17.50 CAD, $12.75 USD) a night without electric so it's not cheap for what you get. But, it's a safe place to leave Max while we go explore the city today.

We were not successful

Happy New Year to you all!

Friday night had been spent in the big parking lot at Guadix. Not a bad night, considering it's just a big parking lot. Maybe a dozen other vans spread around. Not very scenic, but we were only there for the convenience of visiting Guadix. 

But I had seen a sign that said there is a Saturday market in the parking lot.

December Expenses and 2022 Expenses Review

We had a budget of $1,600 CAD ($1,180 USD) for the month of December and how much did we spend? 

We spent $1,598 CAD! I don't think we've ever come that close to being right on the money as far as our projected expenses for the month go. Of course you couldn't come much closer if you tried. So, we're pretty happy with the way we ended off the year, from a budget perspective.

Exploring Guadix, Spain

We got up and did some driving right at sunrise. It was only a half hour or so to Guadix on the main highway, so we figured that by the time we got there the sun would be high enough to keep us warm. Daytime temperatures inland are pleasant with the sunshine, but it's chilly enough overnight and it takes a while for things to warm up.

One of the reasons we came to Guadix is to match up another of my dad's photographs from his trip here in 1954.

2022 Year in Review

2022 was a good year for us!

We spent a lot of time touring in Max, in fact we pretty much lived in Max for about nine months of the year. And we had a really good vacation back to Canada that included four provinces.

We warmed up soon enough due to the exercise

Had to put the furnace on again yesterday morning. It was a little chilly due to the altitude. And although it was a beautiful spot, I knew that we wouldn't see any sun until about 11:00am because there was a big mountain ridge blocking it. But we had stayed there overnight anyhow because we wanted to do a hike before we left.

Once the sun appeared, we set off up the mountain behind us.

So nice to not have much of a schedule to keep.

We had showers and used the dump and fill facilities at the free motorhome aire in Casas Nuevas. We were in no rush, and we didn't get going until after 11:00am. Then we set off on the backroads heading southwest.

Not going far, and if we saw something worth stopping at then we would. 

Out for dinner in rural Spain

Just a relaxing day yesterday. Of course we did get out for a short walk in the afternoon just to stretch our legs. 

Along the way, we stopped in at the local pub to check and see if we could go for dinner. Turns out they close at 6:00pm, so we went for a very early dinner!

I think today will be a day of rest!

We were due for some exercise, so we set off walking directly from the motorhome aire and into Sierra Espuna Regional Park. 

Not much in the way of actual marked trails, but I saw a circular route on the map that looked like it might be a trail. Most of it turned out to be a gravel road, but we did almost 14 kms (9 miles) and never saw a vehicle.

We had a great Christmas Day!

After hot drinks and breakfast we got out fairly early for a hike before things warmed up too much. In fact, we needed our sweaters for the first part because it was only 12C (54F) and there was a cool breeze. But there was a lot of blue sky and sunshine.

And, we were headed uphill so it didn't take long for us to warm up.

Merry Christmas from Spain!

I was looking back at where we have been the past few years on Christmas morning. Last year we were in Greece, and Christmas day 2020 we were at the hospital in Antalya, Turkiye having eye surgery! 2019 and 2018 we were at different places in Mexico. 2017 in Texas, and 2016 we had returned to Canada for Christmas in the cold. 

This year, we are parked beside an orange grove in Ulea, Spain.

Palm trees and sunshine

Seems most of Canada and the U.S. are experiencing a major blast of winter for this Christmas weekend. Most have either snowing or ridiculously cold, or both. Friends in British Columbia just went through an icy deep freeze. It was -40C (-40F) at the park we used to work at in Cabri, SK. And our home town of Ottawa is having a major winter blizzard. Our daughter in Nova Scotia is doing well though with a high of 10C (50F) yesterday!

Not meaning to rub it in, but here in southern Spain, we are having our best weather yet. Palm trees and sunshine and a high of 24C (75F).

The sky was on fire!

We had a nice relaxing day yesterday. Max took a day off from driving, and he just sat in the desert enjoying the sunshine and blue sky. Ruth and I did get out for a walk though, just to explore the area and see some of the desert scenery.

Wild camping (boondocking) in the desert

When we read about how crowded it is on the south coast with free camping van and motorhome people, we are glad that we are not beach people! We are only about 50 kms inland from the coast, and not another van in sight.

Funny enough, we've been in Spain for almost three weeks now, and while we've been following the coast south we have yet to walk on a beach.

Steep hike to a cave

With nice weather in the forecast, we decided to head to higher elevation to do some hiking. There is a recreation park only about 10 kms (6 miles) from Castalla called Sierra del Maigmo and I had read of an area where we could park overnight.

The road up was steep in places, with signs warning of a 20% grade. 

We got up there, but nobody was home!

Got an email back yesterday confirming our vehicle insurance for Morocco. We're under a new insurer this year and when I had read the paperwork I had noticed that insurance was only valid in Morocco "with prior approval of the insurance company".

In Europe, you're generally covered for all of the typical European countries. But depending on the insurer there can be exclusions. In our case, we need to get prior approval for Tunisia, Serbia, Montenegro, Moldova, Bosnia,... and Morocco.

It's all a bit unorganized

Woke up Sunday morning at the cemetery outside of Bocairent. Peaceful night, even with three other motorhomes parked nearby. But the cemetery soon got busy. We would have thought that people would be in church Sunday morning, but I guess some of them visit their dead relatives on a Sunday morning. At one point, we didn't think we were going to be able to get out of the parking lot.

We left at about 10:30am. Not headed very far though. I love short driving days!

We did lots of exploring yesterday

The weather guessers didn't do a very good job yesterday. We were supposed to have sunshine with cloudy breaks, but it was more the other way around. Cloudy, with sunny breaks. And we even had some rain drops in the morning. Oh well. 

But, when the rain had passed, we got out and did some exploring. Twice!

Back into the mountains

Because it's a little warmer, most people stick to the coast in the southern area of Spain. And that's totally logical. But boy, we sure do enjoy the interior more. We find the coast very busy and industrial, and really not that scenic. And if you want free motorhome parking, it's not that easy to come by, and you likely won't be alone.

Yes, there are also a lot of campgrounds along the coast. But they're not cheap, and we remember from past experience when we were here doing a motorhome exchange in 2017 that they can be very crowded, with not much space between sites.

Into the big city of Valencia, Spain

Valencia is a big port city on the east coast of Spain. It's actually a bigger city than I thought it was, with a population of just under 800,000.

Unfortunately the coast of Spain has a reputation for motorhomes and camper vans getting broken into, so you have to be cautious about where you leave them. We have read lots of reviews where people have had problems, so we've decided to take the cautious approach and pay for secure parking when we visit cities.

Glad we stayed put!

It turned out that this area is exactly up our alley, and we're glad we stayed put for another night. Lots of exploring to do on foot... with hiking trails, caves, and waterfalls!

And it turned out to be a nice day as well. 

We headed out, but not very far!

Still dealing with some showers throughout the day yesterday, but at least the temperatures are decent. It's supposed to hit 20C (68F) today, and we no longer have to use the furnace in the evening. Forecast for the next week calls for lots of sunshine, so we are finally into some decent weather.

We said goodbye to hosts Mirella and Bart, and of course Diezel the dog. And we headed out... but not very far!