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After a cup of coffee and packing of the trikes we were
ready to go, but had to wait for the ATC so that we could file a flight plan. The weather was good with a light wind. We took off at about 8:30 am and headed straight for the coast. My trike felt incredibly light
with the weight again reduced. We flew around the great Hassan II Mosque, (the tallest mosque in the world), past the city of Casablanca and headed south-west along the coast at 500 ft. I no longer feel such
apprehension when flying out over water the engine just keeps purring so sweetly. The weather was perfect a bit hazy but calm. Once we were 50 km away from Casablanca, we switched to our chat frequency of 123.45
MHz and stayed on it for the next 3 hours, chatting to each other occasionally. For a good part of the next few hours we flew just above the heads of the numerous fishermen on the beaches.
The countryside was beautiful semi-desert, dry and
dusty. Near to Safi we encountered some turbulence, so we climbed up to 4,000 ft where the air was actually warmer and smooth
. but our speed dropped to 50 knots.
At Essaouira, we descended to 500 ft again and flew
around the town and the main beach to look for the friends that were expecting us. They were on the beach windsurfing racing across the bay at incredible speeds. We spotted our first camels moving along the beach
with what looked like tourists perched nervously on their backs. I contemplated flying very close to them to try and get them into a gallop to give the riders a special kind of adventure but, as I descended down
to about 200 ft I encountered violent turbulence and clawed for altitude again. Essaouira is known as Africa's Wind City the waves told me the wind was at least 40 km/h.
We headed to the airport, which was 15 km inland.
There was no one in the tower to give us the wind strength, but from the way the windsock was dancing around we knew it would be turbulent. The landing was fine although it was very windy.
Olivier's friend, Laurent, arrived to greet us, but
couldn't wait and headed back to town. We unpacked and removed the wings, leaving them safely in a kind of courtyard out of the wind. One of the airport officials gave us a lift into town where we met up with
Laurent and many other surfers.
Later, we walked to the old town to the carpet shop
where Olivier's other (more
) friends were expecting us.
Habib is a Moroccan who Olivier met and befriended for the first time in 1983. Olivier has worked and travelled to Morocco for many years. It is the country which he thinks he knows (and enjoys) the best.
I have been delighted with what I have been shown and
discovered in Morocco. What a great country to travel through
. so much to see, taste and do and very safe, too. The Moroccan cuisine is amazing. What a delightful town Essaouira is, the streets and old town, the
harbour and the people.
We slept the night in Habib and his new young wife's
house after enjoying a great meal together.
Olivier and I chatted about our days flying. The 400
km we covered today felt like nothing like driving down the road to the shops! We are still amazed at what we have achieved so far without incident (touch wood!). At the start of our expedition, we didn't talk
about the end of the trip much
the end seemed too far away and remote and almost unachievable. So, when we occasionally talked about it, we wondered if we would make it. Now, we are in Africa and on the final
stretch and it almost seems unbelievable for us kind of takes some getting used to the idea.
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