Dakar 2010

[Hana-motoadventours]

2nd Jan.2010 Long expected Day D


Myself packing last bits & bobs!!! Where do I put the hairdryer???



Team ready to go! Toward the unknown!!!


Dave,Jeremy,Hana,Cris,Martin,Dave & Dave!



Due to a bad weather forcast for the planned departure day on the following day, and despite most of our
party having only arrived in Spain that day, we decided to get packed and depart for that evening's ferry from Tarifa
to cross toTanger. The ferry was booked for 21.00 Hrs and as our depot is only 50 Km's from Tarifa we knew that
setting off at 18.00 Hrs would mean arrival in the dark, but that would be better than being stuck in Spain for a
couple of days due to any bad weather. We would just cross to Tanger and take it from there the next morning.
The Ferries had been cancelled a couple of days prior to our departure.



We had a late dinner and everybody fell into bed around midnight, happy to be on the road, away from home.
Finally. For me personally the last day before departure is the most stressfull. So much so, that I forgot to pack my
waterproofs and only realized once in Tarifa, luckily, Dave Kyle , who accompanied us to Tarifa on his Kawa, together
with Cristina lent me his jacket. Pants were too small. OH,OH, sorry, far too big for me ;-)

Next day, the sun was shining and we all enjoyed the twisty mountain roads passing Chefchaouen,
Ouazzane, we stopped for lunch in Moulay - Idriss. AT the lunch stop I realized, that there was still
some considerable distance to make up and not much daylight left.

Tonights destination is Marrakech.I had booked a hotel there. Anyway, David, always the eternal optimist
decides we should continue on the scenic route, rather than turn on to the highway at Meknes.
We made it to Khénifra after sunset, which is a situation that does not make me very happy, luckily the group
do not seem to fazed by the late arrival so I try to take it easy. The hotel is better then I expected.
Fireplace, nice food, just no hot water in my room, erg..
Next day we continue to Marrakech and from there to Agadir. After Chichaoua the weather changes and I am grateful
for my tight waterproof jacket .There is lot of road construction going on between Marrakech and Agadir. Parts of the
new highway are ready, you see bridges along the route and lot of lorries around, the construction traffic cover the tarmac
with a nice sheet of a sticky mud. Combined with rain, it´s an entertaining place to ride through, even so , our heavy bikes
with TKC80 tyres behave surprisingly well. Our planned itinerary was for arrival in Tan-Tan this evening, but we are under
no allusions, destination Tan-Tan is not possible today. We end up in Tiznit in a very nice 4* hotel "Idou Tiznit",not cheap,
so we all share rooms. It´s good for team building ;-) , The hotel has garage and serves some tasty and sofisticated crackers with the .

Lunch stop in Layoune.We ran out of "fiche" for the police, so need to make a couple of hundred fotocopies.
Every police control we pass,and they are quite frequent down here, ask for Fiche with details of everybody.

Day 3 Desaster day 1.
At Sunrise on Day 3 we left Tiznit in a fairly happy mood. It has to be mentioned, that we are not the fastest group,
so to be able to stick to our day plan, we need to get up early each morning and stop by dark every day. I personally don´t mind.
What better can you do than ride your bike. Anyway, to make the story short, just before lunch and about 60 km´s from Tan-Tan,
disaster strickes....David´s bike breaks down. REGULATOR !! And the best thing of all is , he hasn´t got a spare one.

Where´re you all off to????

The final decision is to tow David´s Honda Africa Twin to Tan-Tan.We give Dave & Dave a head start and find out later, that we can´t catch them almost untill Tan-Tan. Approx. speed 120km/h towed on a strap. I am pleased,I don´t ride the Africa Twin.
We find a mechanic in the town who says , he has a regulator from Varadero 1000. After 3 hours that we use for lunch, the regulator didn´t arrive yet, so we decide to abandon the Honda in Tan-Tan. We discuss a price for garage for the bike and continue. David rides now with me on my bike. I go pillion for the rest of the day. My happiness is endless. Can´t remember being so demoralised ever before. Pillion for next 18 days/7000km´s ???????????
We make it to Tarfaya with the rest of daylight.There is only one hotel in the village.

Don´t trust these happy smiles, the hotel was well below an acceptable standard. Actualy,it was not the hotel, they didn´t have enough rooms for us, so the owner rented us a 3 bedrooms appartment just around the corner. One bathroom for all of us, bring the adventurer spirit on,mate.....
If we keep going like this, we will become very close friends in the end or we will kill each other????

Anyway, today David goes pillion with me. I am a bit concerned about leaving the village as the ground is a bit sandy but all goes well.
The bike is lower then ever before fully loaded and two people. But for the first time I can reach the floor with both feet flat.


Now I am happy again , riding the bike, but David is not as happy as me, specialy, because it´s the first time in his life, being pillion.Every police stop,the officers wonder, what´s wrong with him. I laugh and he refuses to answer.

Where´s the BBQ ???

In the morning in front of the hotel "Sahara Regency" in Dakhla. (www.sahararegency.com)
This is one place really worth visiting. Fantastic bay and beaches.
We leave on a foggy and chilly morning. It takes couple hours till the sun disolves the fog.
We follow the Atlantic coast down to the border with Mauritania.

After refuelling and a bite to eat at El Barbas, we finally reach and cross Moroccan border.
This is the 'no man´s land' before Mauritania.

To read the whole story please go to:

https://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0A...JndDZrOQ&hl=en

thanks for reading & Happy riding