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Published: November 25th 2022
Malaga biking
Half way to the topThis is my first overseas trip since January of 2020 and it was great to get back to travel again after COVID. I left Canada on the 19th of October and flew on Air France to Paris and then on Malaga in Spain. Great flight but a minor mistake was made booking a hotel in Marcelina instead of Malaga which made for extra cab fares.
The hotel was the the LaLuna Blanca which was pretty good for the price. It had very helpful staff and was within walking distance of the beach promenade which had excellent beer and seafood.
The next day after initially awaking at 2.00 AM -:;():&$ , It was up at 7.00 for the enjoyable breakfast meal. First on the agenda was a cab ride to the Bike2Malaga store where it turned out I was a tour group of one with a private guide (Samy) (one of the best guides ever) We headed out quickly through the city streets and were into the climb right away which was basically from sea level to 900 meters. The climb part represented about a 25 kilometre steep stretch highlighted by a fantastic view and the very enjoyable
My guide
Samy Sam interactions between Samy and car drivers who got too close or passed without giving us space. They got "digital" instructions and a string of Spanish expletives. After the climb, there was a 25 kilometre downhill stretch which definitely took some space off the brake pads. The entire tour was about 3 hours. Then it was back to the La Luna Blanca by taxi for a shower and a return to the beach walk and the Mosquito Restaurant- sea bass and a margarita accompanied by Spanish ballad music. ( a classic travel meal experience)
The next day involved a somewhat less enjoyable bus ride to La Linnea which is the Spanish city just across the border from Gibraltar. Hotels on Gibraltar are pretty pricey and I got 3 days in La Linnea for the price of one night in Gibraltar.
The bus route along the Costa Del Sol is by an endless series of beach side condos- I would probably have to be paid to stay there. I think it is a retirement haven for people from northern Europe and the UK. (lots of cosmetic surgery places -semi trailer tankers of Botox fluid etc.) We left Malaga at 1150
and the bus ride took about 3 hours. Masks were compulsory on the bus and a nearby woman with a pretty bad cold obviously didn't get the memo about nose coverage.
If you stay in La Linnea you have to walk across the border to Gibraltar and get a passport check (each way) After the border entry, the first phase of the trip is to cross the Gibraltar Airport runway and then walk into the town centre. We were held up a couple of times by planes which is quite unique. There is a soccer field at the entrance to town and local teams were practising as I went by-I also stopped to watch a game.
My first trip into Gibraltar from the excellent OhCampo Hotel was sort of an exploratory journey to see if I could find the bike shop.It was easily found and open so I was able to rebook my time to a morning slot. The bike shop is right by the town centre so did a walking tour-there are several British style pubs. For dinner I went with the standard fish and chip meal-it took 2 waiters to carry the
Second part of trip
The Rock of Gibraltar plate to the table. It was good to have a 2 km walk back to the hotel... In bed by 10.00 and fully awake at 2.00.
The next day I had breakfast at the hotel, then took another brisk walk to the bike shop. There are 5 of us with the other 4 being 2 couples from Sweden. Our guide gave us the usual orientation and indicated that we would need to run up the mountain in Turbo mode (15% grade in places) These bikes have a twist shift with a readout graph and a belt drive. The first stretch was pretty flat and we stopped several times for history lessons. We also saw the freighter that ran aground-the captain who is now in jail having ignored pilot instructions. We then did a steep climb in a curving tunnel which was very tough as I wasn't on the shifting program yet. A fellow rider tuned me up a bit on shifting technique and things quickly got a lot easier. We did a pause at a Mosque and got a view of the African coast and the strait of Gibraltar-lots of freighter traffic.
The climb
The runway is closed
Waiting to get to Gibraltar then got steeper and we continued on up to St Michaels Cave (spectacular light and music show in the tunnel) The road is narrow and kind of hangs off the cliff -excellent steep climb up to the suspension bridge and home of the Barbary apes. One unfortunate tourist got attacked and bitten near the bridge- A number of other selfie-seeking tourists were probably fortunate to not get similar treatment...Our guide did first aid and we both encouraged the injured individual to seek medical attention when he got back down the mountain. We then did a fairly fast downhill ride back to the shop- an excellent 3 hours. Another option to get to the top is by tour bus which definitely looks far scarier.
The rest of the day was spent walking with a quick stop for beer and tapas. (13000 step day) -excellent find in an antique stop was a replica poster announcing Nelson's victory at Trafalgar- he is a definite hero in Gibraltar.
The next day the plan was to take the cable car to the top to take part in bird banding but there was a big lineup at the cable car
Starting the tour of the Rock
Getting checked out on the bikes station. I also got held by two incoming planes so I decided to walk up the mountain to the Gibraltar Ornithological and Natural History Society site. (long steep climb again but without benefit of pedal assist) The banding team was just finishing up the mornings catch (mostly black capped warblers plus one little owl) the volunteers are all from the UK and seem to have been doing this for years- banding is called ringing here. Three of us went down to the Mosque site to try and catch a blue rock thrush. One of the people had been trying to capture one of these for 19 years...Within 15 minutes we had one in the trap-big celebration. My two companions were from Wales.
I caught the next bus back down the mountain and walked home (15,000 step day)
The next day it was off to the Algeceras ferry terminal on the 7.00 bus and then on to the ferry. After a short trip (less than an hour) we arrived in Ceuta which is Spanish Morocco and defined as a separate country by the Century Club (number 106) According to my pre-trip research one could take
First part of bike tour
This is near the ship wreck a taxi to the border and then do a ride share to Tangiers. However this option did not not appear to be readily available so I ended up in a gypsy cab for 90 euros. As it turned out, given the complexities of the border crossing and the difficulty finding the Agoda hovel the taxi was a good choice. The road to Tangiers is spectacular.
I organized the accommodation through Agoda which is an organization which has a lot to be modest about. it took us us 45 minutes to find the building and another 30 minutes for the owner to show up at the door. The building entrance was guarded by a group of feral cats, who were lounging about on an abandoned sofa.The 11th floor apartment was accessed via a pretty dodgy elevator so I used the stairs for subsequent trips. I would classify the apartment as minus 3 Star and all for 58 euros (cash only) The only saving grace was the location (short walk to the train station)
Tangiers had the reputation of being the least attractive part of Morocco and it met these expectations (very aggressive beggars) After getting
Great views on the way up
This is above the naval base money and a SIM card, I did a long walk along the front street ,had dinner (sans beer) and then bought my train ticket to Marrakesh. The train departs at 11.00 and it takes about 5 hours with one change.
The next day after a good sleep, I took a shower, dried with the bed sheet and basically had a relaxing morning. Navigating 11 flights of stairs is great fun with a roller suitcase. Crossing the street here ranks with Cambodia and cars do not stop if you are just standing at the crosswalk. The best bet is to find a group of locals and cross with them. An extra degree of safety is provided if the there is a baby in a carriage as motorists seem reluctant to mow down small children.
The very modern train left on time and we arrived at the transfer point at Al Boraq where a less modern train was waiting.
An alert entrepreneur in Al Boraq station very skillfully assisted me to the connecting train and lined me up with his son the guide in Marrakesh. Very smooth...complete tour all for a quoted price
St Michaels tunnel
Huge light and music show- well worth a visit of about $32 Cad. This included car driver and guide for about 3 hours. However the tour included visits to a traditional Moroccan medicine place and a coop leather tannery. This is somewhat like China where you see the product process and then are induced to buy. I avoided the rugs and leather goods, but seeing the traditional tannery was very interesting.
The boys then took me to the bus station so I could get tomorrows bus ticket to Agidir. Marrakesh is a great city with lots of greenery-quite different from Tangiers. The hotel (Marrakesh Farah) is spectacular. For dinner I was dropped off at the Arket Restaurant which had a third story rooftop facility which served alcohol with the meal. The first two floors provide food service without alcohol.
After dinner I had about a 700 meter walk back to the hotel. I was able to navigate back to the hotel in the dark with google maps on the phone-This allowed me to avoid having to get a taxi.
As we go the south the temperature is going up. At bedtime it was still +30C
A lot of people
Waiting for handout
Not a good idea to get too close here speak french as Morocco was a former colony. France is quite unpopular with Moroccans now but french visitors still seem to come here. The current train sets are from France but there are plans to convert to a high speed Chinese model in future. Morocco apparently also sells a lot of fruits and vegetables to Russia.
The next day my guide picked me up with the plan being to go to a Hammams bath place for a traditional cleansing and massage-about 1 1/2 hours of punishment but quite relaxing.
Then it was on to a full bus for the trip to Agidir. The train tracks currently end at Marrakesh which will change in future. There are very frequent luxury buses for now and the highway is spectacular. Our bus arrived at Agidir a few minutes late and I got a quick taxi transfer to the Studiotel Hotel. There is a beer store next door.
On Friday October 28th (the next day) i was being picked up at 8.00 to head out Moussa National Park to meet my guide Mohammed Bargache for a birding day. The forecast indicates high temperatures for
the day...
The taxi was right on time and it took about an hour to get to the pickup point where we met Mohammed. The total cost for the guide and all day transport was 1500 MAD or $185 CAD.
The Moussa River channel is a key feature of the park and due to the dry conditions it is not connected to the ocean at present. However there is a fair amount of water in the channel and lots of bird life. We walked on a trail with the channel on our left and desert like sand hills on our right. The first part of the tour was through the sand hills concentrating on dry land species such as the crested lark, and the sardinian warbler, We then moved off the hill and did the last part on a trail closer to the water-lots of different birds in and along the water, including flamingos and spoonbills.
By the time we got to trails end and the taxi pickup spot we had seen 42 different species. By then the temperature was 37C... We drove to several more spots but I had experienced enough heat so we
Traditional meal including mushy peas
Not even an attempt at portion control called it a day at about 2.00 and returned to the hotel. ( 15,000 steps in that heat was quite a workout) However it was a very worthwhile day and I would highly recommend Mohammed Bargache as a guide. We were able to see several important rare birds (bald ibis, black crowned tchagra, moussiers redstart, brown throated sand martin, barbary partridge, audouins gull)
This was going to be my last night in Morocco and after returning to the hotel, I took a taxi to the Medina Souk Al had (big Arab market) It had all the usual sights, sounds and smells of a middle east market and is a must see destination in Agidir,
The next day my Ryanair flight to Porto was scheduled for 325 PM with a scheduled arrival of 525. Ryanair is a quite a different airline. I signed up for the ticket at a stated price of about $20 CAD, but after the seat and luggage charges etc, it cost about $100. (food and drink is also extra) This is quite reasonable given that it was a 2 hour flight. The service was excellent and we were pretty close to on time
Horatio Nelson
Statue on the way up the mountain near the Anglican Church ( and my checked bag arrived) It would be good if Ryanair could do domestic flights in Canada to replace the Russian quality service we currently get.
I had booked a boutique hotel in Porto ( Hotel Borsalino) and the door was locked when I arrived. A phone call hooked me up with a grumpy owner who informed me the hotel was closed for the winter which seemed a bit strange given the guaranteed booking. A check of the call number revealed that I had actually contacted the Hotel Borsalini which is located on an island out in the Atlantic...A bit more exploration revealed an open side door behind which lurked the checkin clerk who assisted me to the room.
The next day was "meet the team day" but first it required a 2 kilometre walk to the Moov Centro Hotel. This hotel which is a converted movie theatre is the Porto HQ for Fuller teams. I attempted to leave my luggage there until the bus to Braga left with our team but the clerical staff were not receptive to non-guest luggage storage. I subsequently met up with Perry and Gary, co leaders for
our build who successfully intervened on the luggage issue.
The Moov Centre is at the intersection of a pedestrian only street mall and a large and ancient church-signs of things to come....
Our exit from Porto took place at 430 with all 13 team members on board-2 Canadians and 11 Americans. We arrived at the Domus guest house in Braga in about an hour and got our room assignments. My room mate is from New Jersey and is here with his two nieces who lowered the average age quite a bit-I am the oldest at 76. We had an excellent cooked meal and there is beer and wine available at a modest fee.
The next morning was day one of the build and all of us are looking forward to getting to work. After the usual orientation at Domus we were bused to the site for a quick safety talk. On this build hard hats are required but not safety shoes. Everyone is wearing gloves because of the cement and ear plugs are a good idea as we have several machines in operation.
The work day started off
with a list of jobs and staffing needs being provided by the on-site engineer. Then people were then asked to volunteer- Roger (my room mate) and I chose the jack hammers. We were taken to the second floor to break up a beam in the floor- the concrete pieces and dust fall through the floor hole for later disposal. We were able to complete the demolition by noon. Our reward was to spend the afternoon gathering up all the debris and moving it by wheelbarrow to be used as floor fill in another part of the building...
The biggest crew was on cement duty and there is a power mixer. The concrete materials are on the main floor ( sand, gravel, cement powder and water) and the ratio is 6 pails of sand,4 pails of gravel, 2 pails of powder and about 2 pails of water. The mixed concrete is then poured into pails and boosted up to the second floor by a pulley and rope to the spreading crew. Perry and Gary set a great example leading the cement crew. Other people worked on concrete forms.
The return to Domus at 430 was
Arkett Restaurant
This is the alcohol floor welcomed by all with showers and rehydration on everyone's agenda. Dinner was at a pretty upscale restaurant (Alexandra's) where we had fairly massive quantities of food and drink - home at 9.00 and most people had early to bed agendas. The next day is a national holiday (Dia De Los Muertos) in Portugal so we had the day off...
In Habitat terms a midweek day off would be called R and R and my approach on my past GV trips was to try and organize things like hiking, wildlife viewing, visits to a wineries etc. Our Fuller Foundation build approach in this case was heavily oriented to visiting religious theme parks (old churches) wrapped up by a visit to a costume museum. I may have a character defect but this day was not the most exciting thing I have ever done. I was particularly underwhelmed by the museum.
After our day of rest it was back to work on Wednesday- After a brief stint on rebar detail I turned myself in to the cement crew hiring centre, where i took over the mixing machine. This was real work and I spent the entire day
Vats of dyes
Workers get to mix these compounds in bare feet...Some vats contain pigeon dung on this one task. With a little bit of adjustment and some more pails , we managed to improve production speed and output-very good day...
Tonights agenda included yet more churches and a tour of medieval Braga. We then went to the Retro Cafe for an excellent dinner which was definitely the high point of the evening. (Pro-tip Key Lime pie and Sangria)
Day three of the work week involved more concrete and our crew did 4 cubic yards by lunch time. We also unloaded a pallet of cement, huge quantities of rebar and a truckload of sand. After lunch I turned over the concrete assignment to Bill who is another Century Club aficionado. He is a retired State Department employee who did not work for the CIA. My new job was shovelling sand from the outside pile to the inside bin-a typical build task...
Day 4 being Friday, we came to the end of one concrete task so I switched back to rebar cutting and bending. We usually start work at 9.00 or so then take a snack break at 11.00. Work then continues until 1.00 PM and then we
Marakech
A must do-Hamamms bath and massage are bussed to a nearby restaurant for a pre-ordered lunch. We always start with soup and bread, then the main course which today was stew. For desert it is sometimes jello and sometimes chocolate pudding- all good...
In the afternoon we work until 4.15 and then head back to Domus for beer and showers.
Saturday (last day of work) and a number of us have colds. I woke up at 6.00 with a sinus headache and went for a brisk walk to clear my head.Our team is starting to reduce as Jamillah left us to return to the USA. A mainstay of our cement team ,she is setting up a business in Marrakech to do cultural tourism tours.
We got back on to concrete today and did 24 batches- I think about 8 cubic yards. Two refugee families were on site today and they seem excited to see the progress on their homes. This building is a former wood working shop which is being renovated into 6 modest apartments.
We got our certificates today for participating in the build.
Back at the Domus it was time to
Mohammed Bargache
My very capable guide clean up, discard unwanted work clothes and get packed for tomorrow. The bus leaves at 830 in the morning and I am getting dropped at the train station so I can train it into Porto.
I ended up on a milk run commuter train which took quite a while to make it to Porto. I then had a 1.5 mile walk to the hotel. My train fetish doesn't always result in a positive outcome.
I spent most of the rest of the day nursing my cold and repacking my luggage. The flight leaves at 0605 requiring us to be at the airport at 3.00 or so - I went by taxi with Ray and Ritha who were on the same Luftansa flight into Frankfurt.
I had left home with the intention of doing carry on (along with everyone else on the flight) This makes it a nightmare trying to find bin space especially if you board in the last group.What the airlines are now doing is basically begging people to check their carry on bags at the gate for free- however everyone is spooked by the tales of lost luggage so
portugal build team
final day-working with the families business was slow. I turned over my luggage on this flight and the incoming flights and had no issues. I hate the carryon bag program and would much rather check my bag.
After Frankfurt I was back in the loving arms of Air Canada.- late departure , late arrival, uncertain connection and even later second flight which meant I missed the ferry home.
Great to be home except for THE COLD (tested negative for Covid) It took a few days to get over jet lag and the cold...
I am thinking I would like to get back into trip leading and hopefully with Habitat - Fuller Build team and the leadership group was great but I am not that comfortable with the religious focus... However this was a great team which was superbly led...
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