Our flight brought us as near to Morocco as any 1 penny flight could have done. After delivering us to Jerez De La Frontera, Spain, we must now travel further south, by land and sea, and ultimately out of Europe. Crossing the narrow straits of Gibraltar, we leave Spain in good spirit and turn our thoughts toward our arrival in the Port of Tangier, Morocco.

We hoped that today’s journey wouldn’t be an epic, although not for the usual reasons. Fatigue and discomfort have never been issues, but, today, time is a factor. Realistically, could we cover the full distance we’d hoped to in just one day? From Jerez De La Frontera, Spain to Chefchaouen, Morocco? Had we got our asses out of bed at a reasonable hour then we probably could’ve managed it comfortably. So, where would we end up tonight?

Our room the previous evening was low-grade by Spanish hotel standards, yet palatial by ours. 50 Euros secured us a super night’s kip and plenty of hotel freebies to pack before we rushed out in the morning - complementary soap, complimentary shampoo, and complimentary shower curtain. I joke, of course. We left the shower curtain and the towels behind (we were nearing check-out time and it’d already taken me over thirty minutes just to prise the complimentary hair dryer off the wall). We reached the bus station around noon.

Our luck was still in. Shortly after we had polished off our traditional Spanish breakfast of a large bag of Cheetos and a can of Coke, a bus arrived. Several hours later it deposited us directly outside the Algeciras Ferry Terminal. It looked like a good day, but was soon to get even better.

Inside the terminal, we stood, absolutely stunned by the sheer number of options available to us. From Algeciras, ferries could whisk us away to Ceuta or Tangier - and by any one of a whole fistful of operators. I was astonished that so many different ferry companies, all competing over this one stretch of water, could turn a profit. But, after buying 2 tickets for the next available ferry (which just happened to be the super-duper, get-there-before-you-leave, you-can’t-bend-it turbo craft), which also, incidentally, turned out to be a hard lesson in the laws of supply and demand, I better understood their ability to survive. And, at 40 Euros for a 1hour passage, I ought to change that to thrive.

Yet, I had no reservations; I had just purchased a ticket to Africa.
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