Our First HitchHiking Experience

We left around 10 the next morning and walked to the end of the high street to the grand taxi stand. It was a new experience for us and a young guy called Hussin helped us as he was heading the same way. 3 more men joined us and the 7 of us, including the driver, crammed into the 5 seater taxi - 3 in the front and 4 in the back. It cost 10dirhams each to go the 25km so it wasn't bad and it was quicker than a bus. Hussin, a student in Tan-Tan and from Ouarzazate, asked if we were looking for a hotel and we said that it depended on the prices, so he took us to a place he knew on the sea front.

The place was great and 150d a night was reasonable for room and location. After saying bye to Hussin and thanking him loads for his kindness as he didn't ask for anything in return which is rare, we went to our room to change into our cozies. After finally eating for the first time in ages, we went for a walk along the beach in search for some American tourists we heard were staying at the hotel and driving to Mauritania. Ok an ulterior motive, but our luck was down as we couldn't see any white people and some little shit decided to throw wet sand at us when we walked past. Deciding to settle, the friendly and fairly attractive male hotel receptionist got a parasol for us and we sat enjoying the sea air and view. Bothered only slightly by some kid who looked strangely like Joe Allen wanting to take Kat into the sea and he could not get the message that we didn't actually understand French that well. We did manage to go for a dip though and with Kat wearing Ben's t-shirt over her swimsuit, it left him with just his lycra Speedo shorts to run to the shore in. This was hysterical, not only for how naked he looked compared to everyone else on the beach but his run that went with it. He half dragged Kat down the hill with him but she had to stop for laughing too hard.

Once calling it a day we cleaned ourselves up and went to look for a place to eat. After walking around the town in a large circle for a while, it was 9pm when we found somewhere, only a few doors away from our hotel which we had previously passed, still open and serving food. The cook came out and asked what we wanted to eat we explained that we didn't eat meat or fish and he offered to cook a vegetable tagine, which turned out to be the best veggie tajine we had yet tried. The following day we walked a fair way with our bags out of the little settlement and to the main road junction where the road turned off to the south. Ben thought it would be a good place to hitch-hike from as we sat at the base of a monument, along with a beautiful puppy (which we fed and watered and Kat wanted to take with her). We'd only waited 20 minutes before we got a suitable lift. The driver's name was Mustafa and was heading to Daklha, the southern part of the Western Sahara just before you get into Mauritania. Explaining we had little money, he agreed a price of 50D so we boarded his vehicle which was a huge 40ft lorry 'camion' and sat on the bed in the back of the cabin. Two more men were traveling with him, Hassain and Mohammed.

After about an hour we shared our food and drinks with Mustafa and the other two men who were also traveling to Daklha; trying to converse with them in French whilst Mustafa was sharing a 'Moroccan cigarette' with Hassain, we were wondering how the journey ahead will go. It was not long after when we were starting to relax there was a sudden BANG!

A tyre blew and Mustafa struggled hard with the steering wheel to keep the truck on the road, but for all his strength he failed and we left the tarmac now going over very rough desert terrain with huge rocks troughs and lots of bumps.

There were three of us on the bed and were thrown around like rag dolls. Kat was in the middle with nothing to hold onto so Ben made a grab for one of her legs that was up in the air. During the commotion our 5litre bottle of water fell down from the seat and smashed a glass laid out on a tea set next to the large gas canister. With only a few bumps to our bodies we luckily came to a stop just before a huge dip in the rocky roadside. Mustafa checked to make sure everyone was still alive and not injured then went to see what the damage was. We all got out to see if we could help and to gather the broken bits of debris off of the road.

The truck looked a mess, it was the front passenger tyre that had had it. Shredded to pieces, most of the fiberglass wheel arch missing, the first step to the cabin gone plus damage to the petrol tank and clutch which we found out later on.

It was a big problem and Mustafa only had spares for the trailer and back wheels of the body of the truck.

So not only did we have to wait for someone to bring a spare, the bumpy terrain meant that there was not enough room for the bottle jacks. Luckily he had two jacks and he donned his overalls and starting jacking up the other side and moving the jacks in each time towards the damaged side as they slowly sank into the soft ground.
All the time spirits were high despite our continuous bad luck. We'd even taught them the card game 'Beat Your Neighbour' to pass the time and they showed us the popular card game in Morocco which is basically Rummy but with 13 cards.

Mustafa got a lift into Tan Tan to look for a part and get food for us, returning at about 9pm that evening. Hobbs and laughing cow cheese with a sugared milky yoghurt drink served in a big bowl that Kat managed to spill all down herself. Feeling like we were an added hassle for them by being there even though they never made us feel unwelcome, we felt worse when she got the milk everywhere. Changing her clothes out in the windy night, we'd planned to sleep in the tent, but as Mustafa was heading to a larger town for other parts and wouldn't return till the next day, he insisted we sleep in the camion. We were going to decline but as he said something about scorpions Ben jumped at the offer and thanked him. It was so hot and stuffy sleeping in there, never did Kat think that a one point she'd be sleeping with 3 men.

It was another waiting game the next day and we were starving by the time Mustafa returned with reinforcements. The food he brought though was freshly fried fish and hobbs. Without wanting to seem rude as he had got it for the 4 of us, we both ate some of the fish. Although they knew Kat was a vegetarian they couldn't understand her not whole heartedly digging into the fish and instead laughed at her when she took pictures of the fishes teeth! Yes teeth!

It tasted like a meaty fish and nobody knew the name of it. Picking the meat off the bone, Ben was careful not to choke and die as his mother apparently told when he was a boy but he enjoyed it nonetheless. It wasn't long after when more problems were found with the truck and more parts were needed. One of the many lorries that stopped and offered help turned out to be one of Mustafa's friends, Aziz. He was a big man who loved his music and loved counting his money. We found out that he was heading to Nouakchott, the capital of Mauritania, so Mustafa asked him to take us as the truck was kaput and we also were going there. He agreed to take us as and also drop Mustafa off of at Laayoune.

Our First HitchHiking Experience

Tan-Tan Plage, Morocco