The stuff you don’t see

One of the things we might’ve failed to get across in our posts on here is how our lives now have so many and varied inputs on a daily basis. A sort of state of constant flux or rudderlessness. Most often in an inspiring and exciting way but also in a way that can lead to discombobulation.

I wanted to give a quick taste of this by listing (and posting pictures where we managed to take any) of the past 36 hours or so, which, granted, did include a border crossing but it’s just such a crazy mixed bag of experiences.

We met another cyclist (Linz). We ate, chatted, camped in a petrol station and rode together. Lovely!

Whilst camping, we encountered super helpful staff, cockroaches, and a dog that gave birth that night in a box in the back corner of the workshop we slept in.

After bonding over a shared love of m’semen for breakfast, we crossed the border(s) as a trio. We eventually got through after repeatedly refusing to pay a “Bicycle Tax”.

Met Chantal, Yann and their children (we can only remember one of their names—sorry—so best to leave them both nameless to be polite…) who are on a one year world explore together as a family, and who have previously cycled the entire length of Africa. Very lovely and very inspiring! They also gave us some great tips and contacts for our journey ahead.

Rode our last stretch with Linz and saw the Iron Ore Train before meeting Henry (from the UK!) on our way down the peninsular as he was heading out. More socialising than we’d done for a while.

Stopped under an abandoned sign to eat some lunch in the shade. Lots of honks and waves from drivers. Plus some beautiful scenes on the way in to Nouadhibou.

On approaching and entering Nouadhibou, litter, traffic and general chaos increased, markedly.

We watched a sea of just-hanging-in-there green Mercedes taxis beep their way about town. We met children with various demands, ranging from high-fives to having items we were carrying. More cows beside the road than we’d seen in the entirety of our time in Morocco. We got ripped off in a cafe due to neglecting to exchange money at the border, but at least that meant we were fed and watered when trying to work out the rest of the admin for the day. We used WiFi in a shop and had a lovely time with the shop owners, booking our hotel in the process. We saw people drinking even foamier tea than we’d become accustomed to in Morocco. We failed to get money out at various ATMs. We met an amazing artist/maker with a small shop that we will revisit. Eventually, we arrived at our hotel for a couple of days where everyone was a delight (though like the ATMs their card machine wasn’t working either…)