55mph - This is Africa ! Chapter 03

We head to our next destination, the city of Fes, Morocco's oldest royal capital with a history of more than 1,000 years. Medina (The old city) has a towering high wall, with winding, narrow alleyways. This is why it is known as the world's number one “labyrinth city.” Wandering around this city, that is between 13-14 centuries old, was like being in some sort of “time slip.”

But.. at the same time, I was just experiencing another type of “time slip” of my own. I knew a little about the city of Fes, because I had once read about it in a travel piece on Morocco in 55 mph. This was in Vol.7 with the Italian rider, Franco Pico pictured on the cover. I remember at the time being in total awe as a young man just starting out on my life of motorcycle riding. “Wow! you can go to these places on a bike!!” Now, decades later, here I am coming to the city of Fes on a bike myself. It seems like a miracle.

After leaving Fes, we headed back to Tangier, the port city, via Rabat, the current capital of Morocco. On the way, the sun began to set as we rode along the highway. Behind us, the west sky was dyed red from the setting sun, and the east sky in front of us was full of stars in its immense dark blue.
It really feels like we are now burning a trail across the African continent.
This feeling was exemplified by watching the red taillights of Rowly’s Ténéré as he led the way.

Leaving Morocco, again, I couldn't help but feel that one of the main reasons the trip between Europe and Africa was proceeding with hardly any hiccups was in no small part because of Luis being there. Luis, as one of the staff at Yamaha Motor Europe in Lisbon, had provided us with the Ténéré 700's. He had also accompanied us as a tour guide on our journey. Luis is a big bearded Portuguese man, but he has a friendly smile and a gentle personality. He easily straddled the 1200cc - Super Ténéré - and was a reliable navigator not only in Portugal and Spain, where he rides on a regular basis, but also in Morocco, where he too was traveling for the first time.

Actually, there was something that happened on this part of the journey. On the second day in Morocco, we left the inn early in the morning, and on the way to Chefchaouen, we came across a gate on a narrow mountain road, where several rather large men were standing. They were there apparently, demanding that we “pay if you want to pass though here.” I couldn't understand their language, but I still knew it was a pretty tense situation.
But then Luis stepped in again and began to negotiate with the men. After what seemed to be like well over a 10-15-minute discussion with the occasional threatening tone thrown in here and there, they finally relented, opened up the gates, and showed with their body language, something like “Get out of here!” Of course, I was relieved, but I also felt that I had just got firsthand experience of a situation that you actually don’t know what could happen. - This is Africa. This is where I really found a great respect for Luis and his ability to stand up for us.

After constant riding from morning till into the early afternoon, Luis took us to a restaurant in a small town called Aracena. The city, which has cold and dry winds all year round with little difference in temperature, is known as a great producer of Iberian pig ham. And the “Jose Vicente” was a well-known restaurant that was once described as the most “delicious Iberian pork restaurant in the world” in the Japanese manga comic book “OISHINBO: Japanese Cuisine.”

From the appetizer to the main course, owner Jose had us smacking our lips as he served each delicious Iberico pork-based dish. Sweet fat that literally melted in our mouths only reinforced the fact that this was the “best in the world”... And it wasn't expensive!

The distance from Evora to Lisbon is about 130km. The rain, which had started from the morning, repeatedly got stronger and weaker until stopping just before noon. The sun was now shining as we continued on our way, and the bright sky was covered by a rainbow as if to celebrate the end of our epic journey.

We moved on into Lisbon city crossing over the “Ponte 25 de Abril” (25 de Abril Bridge), an iron suspension bridge above the Tagus River. Finally, after six days Grand Touring for Rowly and me, it was over. When I parked my bike in the garage back at Yamaha Motor Europe, the trip meter had just rolled over to 2200km.

Rowly, Luis and me... We thanked and complemented each other for successfully completing the journey. And, of course, a special thanks to the Ténéré 700, my buddy, who ran well on the highway, the winding and dirt roads, all the way with the greatest of ease.
The motorcycle - always taking us to “new places.” And now, as a couple of riders in our 50s, we found that inspiration once more on this trip. And it is my hope that this travel journal will lead each and every one who reads it onto a new journey of their own. Just like we did from once reading 55mph and embracing a dream that eventually turned into a reality.