After three full days of cycling into strong headwinds, we finally arrived in Tarifa, the port where we will take the ferry to Morocco. Our campsite is near the beach and we realised quickly why there were so many kitesurfing and windsurfing stores everywhere, Tarifa is W-I-N-D-Y! Just cycling the 2km into town from our campsite to buy supplies, we were nearly knocked off our bikes by the wind. Zeina was ahead of me and I could see her leaning over at an almost comical angle to counter the massive gusts threatening to blow us off the road. Amazing conditions if you're on the water with your kitesurfing gear, not so great for a couple of tired cyclists. I had broken a spoke on my back wheel and took it to a local bike shop for repairs, the guy who fixed it for me asked about my Whale of a Ride T-shirt and after I explained what we were doing cycling to Marrakech, he promptly called his friend Dominique who operates the 'foundation for information and research on marine mammals' (FIRMM)
We then were able to meet Dominique and he explained to us about the work being undertaken to protect cetaceans in the Straits of Gibralter, where 300 boats a day travel through an area with many cetacean species present. We met some of the volunteers who give their time to educate visitors about marine mammals during the summer and traded stories about Moon Reef in Fiji and some of the other places in the world where whale & dolphin watching forms part of the local economy. It was great to meet Dominique and we look forward to meeting him at 'Whalefest' in Brighton on the 5th and 6th November. You folks who are interested in all things marine mammal related should note this event in your calendars as there will be many educational workshops, celebrity presentations, games for children organised by WDCS International and many whale and dolphin watching operators talking about their eco-tourism opportunities.
Zeina and I are very excited to be on the final leg of our challenge. When our tyres hit Moroccan soil for the first time in Tangier we'll celebrate with a glass of mint tea and then hit the road to Marrakech. The next update should have us posing near a Kasbah or Riad in the north of the country. We're hoping for a bit of cloudy weather as well, despite just getting a message from a friend at WDCS that Marrakech was absolutely boiling hot when she was there a few days ago....
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