Today we will finally make it to Africa. We get up at 7:00 AM, breaking camp and departing by 8:20 AM. We drive to Algeciras, where we have an hour to walk around the town. We go check out the local market and pick up some fruit and buy some of the local deep-fried bread (tastes just like yeow-cha-kway). We then go look for a post office to send some post cards, but we are only able to send two of four as we do not have enough Pesetas. The pricing is a bit screwed up - we can buy a kilo of apples for less than it costs to send a postcard.
In Algeciras, we board the ferry for Africa at 10:30 AM, with the ferry departing at 11:00 AM. We head out into the Mediterranean Sea, sailing past Gibraltar (which can be seen through the haze in the photo to the left). Unfortunately, the haze was quite heavy and all we could see was pretty much the silhouette of the "Rock". The ferry ride was quite pleasant. We saw lots of dolphins, with quite a few breaking the surface and leaping in the wave. We even saw a large turtle come to the surface for a breath of air - at first I thought it looked like a person, as it had a large head and its flippers were as big as arms.
We arrive in Ceuta at 12:45 PM. Ceuta is a Spanish enclave in North Africa and has been in their control for hundreds of years. Ceuta was grabbed by Portugal in 1415, and when Portugal and Spain united under one crown in 1580, it passed to Spain. We walk around the town for about an hour, looking at the town center and doing a bit of shopping (including buying a bottle of Spanish Rioja red wine).
At 2:20 we arrive at the Moroccan border, where we start the long process of clearing immigration and customs. They we all very friendly, but it just takes time. Jacqui (and the other ladies on the truck) were given a rose by one of the officials as it was International Tourism Day. Jacqui noted that she has not seen a flower from me in a while. The clocks all had to be set back 2 hours when we entered Morocco.
We were all glad when we crossed the border and finally entered Africa (Ceuta does not really count). We then had a 2 hour and twenty minute drive to Asilah, a small town on the Atlantic Ocean. We went to the As Saada campsite, where we set up camp, had a shower and did some laundry. After a very nice sunset and dinner a number of us walked into town. We strolled through the medina (the old town), in amongst the old fortress walls (built by the Portuguese), which date back to 1471. They are in quite good condition. We stopped off at a cafe and had some of the famous mint tea and some cookies sold by a vendor walking the streets with his wares. It seems like a very pleasant town, with quite friendly people who do not hassle you too much.
We returned to the camp site by 10:00 PM and got ready for bed. Tonight, we are sleeping in the tent that we brought with is. It was quite good - we shall see how it lasts.