Northern African: Morocco - The Lions on the Road: Cycling London to Cape Town - page 69

Itwasmesmerizing,foralmosttheentiredayIhadthebeachtomyrightandonly8
vehicles drovepassedmeineitherdirection. Idecidedtocycleinthecentreoftheroad…it
felt as if it was my very own cycling path.
A Desert Experience
Toward the end of the day, the road started to veer away from the beach and soon
I was cycling by sand dunes on each side of the road. The wind started to hit me on the
side with great force. Because of this wind, there were large sand drifts across the road. I
dismounted on several occasions and walked my bike through the sand to the other side.
Eventually Icameuponalargeconstruction plowwhosejobwastoclearthesandfromthe
roads. I waved to the driver and continued on my way.
Iwasgetting tired at around6:30andstarted toseriously lookforaplace tosleep. I
came upon a waist high outcrop of rocks and decided that it would provide enough shelter
from the wind for my tent. As I was about to strip the bike, I noticed a building up ahead
bytheroad.Icycleduptothebuildingandknockedonthedoortoaskpermissiontosetup
my tent. There was no answer and so I assumed that no one lived there. I pitched my tent
in the courtyard and had three 6-foot high walls to protect me. I went into my tent and ate
my dinner. After which, I settled into my sleeping bag for the night.
Suddenly I heard the noise of a big machine coming toward my tent. I opened the
fly to see the construction plow (which I passed earlier) being parked 10 meters from my
tent. The driver hopped out of the cab and walked into the building. I quickly put on some
clothes and walked to the door and knocked. A man in his early to mid-30's opened the
door and I introduced myself and apologized for not getting permission first to put up the
tent. I asked him if it was OK to stay. He was extremely kind and not only said yes but
invited me in for some tea.