This morning was a rough one.
Back from dinner around 12:30am, decompressing until around 1am with the plan to be up at 6:00am and out by 7:00am. As cool as the hotel was with layout, good hot water (not something all hotels have had) and nice rooms, it was not (let’s say) private.
I could hear everything going on in the rooms next to me (bathroom, shower, conversation, etc). Add to that – it was toasty with no AC or air movement so I slept with the door open for airflow (with one eye open) and trying to sleep with the knowledge we need to wake up early so I had those moments:
“Is it time yet?! Ahh… nope only 2”
“Is it time yet?! Ahh… nope only 3”.
“Is it time yet?! Ahh… nope only 4”
Then at 5:45am morning prayer started.
One Imam was amazing with great pitch and very flowing for the full 15 minutes. We were very close to his Mosque apparently because for the first time this trip, it was LOUD.
Shortly after he was joined by another (from a different Mosque) and then another, followed by a fourth for the last 5 minutes who was super deep voiced.
It was a bit of a cacophony with no possible way to sleep through it.
I found out later everyone was woken by it (except for Mike and Mimi who were at a different hotel). Teresa and Erica were particularly effected by the special moment.

As it ended. My alarm when off – It was 6am and time to get moving.

Our last day had started. Breakfast at 6:30am was exactly what one would expect – a bunch of sweet things with butter and various breads.

We were out of the hotel by 7:15am.
Even with the early morning start that didn’t stop David from SoloWheeling through the empty Medina.

It was super quiet and calm in the Medina with a light haze and a slight chill.

After loading up we drove over to pick up Mike and Mimi by 7:30am and we were on the Road to Rabat.

Over breakfast it was clear we were all travel weary. Now on the road along the coast each bump and rattle aches a sore muscle.
There is a lot of wildlife on the road this morning needing to brake fast for a dog and shortly after come to a quick stop for a couple of cows that decided to cross the road (somehow a novelty for us to see cows – possibly because we have been eating them for most of the trip, but last night we had fish), a herd of sheep and a Shepard crossing the road.
Perhaps leaving early means we run into more life things happening on the road.

Add to that today is another pretty long one.
I don’t think any of us want this trip to be over, but I think we are all ready to not be on the move anymore.

We had our first emergency bathroom stop at 8:45am which turned into an “everyone break”. Hamid found a town with a coffee shop to do the business and everyone loaded up on caffeine.

Needed to happen eventually.
We were back underway by 9:05am caffeined up.

This road has been extra special.
Super bumpy but when going through one of the towns they had SO many speed humps. Like WHOA!
By far more speed humps in 2KM then we experienced the entire trip to this point. They must have a real issue with speeding in that town.
Also at this hour the markets in almost every little town were packed with people.

At 10am we had our second emergency stop of the trip and in true nomadic style it was bush on the side of the road that got an unexpected shower.

We were ready to go in 5 mins, but spent another 5 as David played with rocks.

This road is without a doubt the most bouncy (up and down) action we have had. There is a pattern or frequency of bounce that goes on for kilometers and it’s quite uncomfortable.
Having been on this now for 3.5 hours I think we are all ready to be off this road.

We passed an industrial section with massive power stations .
You could see the oil tankers parked off-shore and the pipes coming up to the station. You could also see the coal variety. Then once generated the massive high tension power lines headed out to all points of Morocco.
It is a massive operation and the most consolidated industrialized complex we have seen on the trip.

We stopped at 12 for a bathroom break and some coffee.

5 hours into the journey and the group decided to skip all other tour stuff and head direct to Rabat.
There are varying accounts on how long this will take from 1.5 hours to 3 hours.
I’m betting on 3.
The roads are full of people carrying sheep in preparation for Hajj which is just days away. The sheep are used as sacrifice for food with the plan of sharing with the less fortunate.

The group decided to skip lunch meaning it will be from 7am until about 3pm without a meal.
Kahlid was on it (as usual) and immediately on the phone canceling the tour and setting up his dropoff time. He leaves us in Casablanca and immediately grabs another tour group for a train tour.
He really made everything so seamless for us.
Calling ahead, organizing rooms, organizing dinners, adjusting to changing plans without a blink of frustration.
If ever there was a moment of confusion he would roll in with a plan.
Whenever we stood looking confused at what a vendor or porter or waiter was saying to us – he would jump in and save the day.
Not enough nice words to say about him. We are all grateful.

We are now joining the Autoroute and I can say I’m very pleased to have the bumpy wavy road behind us. 4 hours of that was pretty brutal.

I’m now assembling everyone else’s thoughts from the journey (which are documented in another area).
It’s so great to read how deep some of these notes are.

This road we are on now was the one we first took to Marrakech just 6 days ago.
At the time this was a stark, rural, and foreign road, but back on it now it feels huge, industrialized, and established.
The cars are all clean and modern and shooting along a good clip.
The big wide highway with reststops, large gas stations and toll booths (which are quite packed today compared to our ride down.

No families starting at us
No houses lining it.
Not dogs running out.
No Donkey carts or scooters
No town markets to dodge
The farms look to me like they could be almost anywhere, but not really.
It’s that my scale of “orderly” has been ever so slightly shifted.
My view of “standard of living” temporarily altered.
The trash dumps that were so obvious at the start don’t register compared to what we saw further out.
The types of construction that seemed so incomplete and odd at the start now appear almost palatial and decorative.
The buildings that once seemed dilapidated now just seem “lived in”
I hope we can keep some of the perspective we gained on this trip in mind when return to our lives in various parts of the globe.

At 1:30pm we stopped at an exit just off the highway to drop off #14 (Kahlid).

He is off on his next adventure with another group. We were all sad to see him go and did our ceremonial countoff with everyone saying “FOURTEEEEEEN!” in honor of Kahlid.
And now we were down to 12 in the Van.
We were back on the highway 5 minutes later with the final push toward Rabat.

Somehow it’s normal to see goats in the back of a car.

We made it to Mimi’s at 2:30pm.
Everyone went upstairs to grab bags that were left behind and say “HI” to Mimi’s mom. There was also a photo book from the wedding that everyone gathered around for a moment. But not long. We were all ready to complete the journey.

Bruce lost his wallet in the process (but not really – it was on the dining table the whole time). One last bit of excitement as the journey comes to an end.
We packed our bags, did one final count-off with:
One, ten, thirteen, and fourteen. Extended.
And left at 2:55pm.

Arrived at the Sofitel by 3:10pm. Back where it all started 7 days earlier. Now we know each other so instead of awkward “Hellos” it’s sad “Goodbyes”.

Some were craving a sandwich and fast wifi so there was one last mini group gathering on the patio and then we scattered with most people flying out early the next morning.

It is really amazing how smoothly this went.
We had sickness, but it didn’t stop anyone.
We had a few bumps and bruises but no injuries.
We didn’t leave anyone behind.
We didn’t get in big fights or have awkward moments.
No one was kidnapped, or lost.
No issues with the van or accidents or breakdowns.
Not even any sunburns (we were all good about sunscreen and head gear).

Plans changed, but Kahlid kept it running smoothly and I’m sure we have no IDEA what was really needed to keep this show on the road.
It was a super smooth experience all the way around.

If interested on going on a tour like this you can reach out to Zina at Peak Destination Management. ([email protected]).
I am already ready to go again on a northern tour of Morocco and look forward to it soon.

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Today we traveled 455km – Our longest drive of the trip by over 100km.