• Michael Spies
  • Michael Spies

Eagles fly, deserts call!

"High Atlas" mountains and deepest Mauritanian Desert. Time to move again! Baca lagi
  • "Esperanto lodge", Kafountine

    24 Januari, Senegal ⋅ ☁️ 28 °C

    Friends gave us the tip to visit this lodge.
    We had the camp site to us alone wit access to the lodge.
    Eric founded the lodge in the 90ties when the roads leading here were still booby trapped with land mines.
    He discovered the site and fell in love with it, cutting it out of the jungle with Panga bush axes.
    Today it has its own lake and lies directly on an endles deserted the beach. We decided to hang off here, do long walks and read.
    And then our life changed!
    We observed a dog being attacked and bitten by three others and ran to protect him. It followed us to our car and never left us again. We asked Eric whether he could adopt it. He refused. And then the idea formed to take him back to Germany.
    We gave him the name of the lodge "Esperanto". He is now family member.
    Baca lagi

  • Our trust shatters! Cocaine in our car!

    3 Februari, Senegal ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    It happened at "Sally Portugal" south of Dakar.
    A young Senegalese, "Basil", invited us to park next to his beach restaurant directly on the beach. A dream place, with him doing everything possible to give us an incredible experience. That evening he grilled the most delicious fish and shrimps for us, placing a small table and chairs directly on the beach. It couldn't have been more romantic.
    The next morning I got up at sun rise to go jogging with Esperanto, we drank our morning coffee, and jumped into the sea Elfi went into the car to change, I stood outside. "Basil" sat directly opposite our open door on a chair and was messing around with a beer can.
    AND THEN ALL HELL BROKE LOOSE!
    Three plain clothes policemen appeared and accused me of dealing with drugs. (Senegal has draconic drug laws). I laughed ridiculously, asking them to show me their ID's, which they did, illegible plastic cards bleached in the sun. Then one of them showed me his gun, "anyone can have a gun here", I said. Then he pulled out his hand cuffs and wanted to hand cuff me, I refused, holding my hands above my head. At that moment Elfi came around the corner from inside the van, saw a white paper ball on the floor, picked it up and threw it into our dustbin, whereupon the policeman hectically screamed, "you are trying to hide evidence", jumped into the car to retrieve the ball and handed it to his colleague, who opened it. Inside was cocain.
    Now all hell broke loose.
    The man in the van started emptying all drawers and cupboards. I screamed to Elfi "watch what his hands are doing, he could plant something", while outside the car "Basil" was begging the police to leave us alone, we were his guests and were definitely not involved with drugs, he begged.
    "We are going to confiscate your car, take you to the station and present you to the judge, you will be jailed until we have the source of these drugs".
    My heart was thumping, my worst traveller Nightmare was comming true!
    They tried to pull me into their car,
    I insisted on driving my own car and that one of them sits next to me on the front seat.
    I was taken into the interrogation room and presented to a plain clothes guy with blood shot eyes while Elfi was guarded in the car. .
    "This is serious", he said, "20 years".
    I insisted that as 68 and 72 year travellers we were definitely not doing drugs, but enjoying our pension. I repeated this a million times, and nsisted that the ball had been thrown into our car by someone who saw the police comming.
    And then it dawned on me!
    The previous evening, besides the friendliness, Basil had seemed very speedy, he was on cocain!!!
    This had continued in the morning, the friendliness, the speediness, and he had been sitting in front of the open door of our van playing with a tin with holes he had made in it when they came.
    I presented this idea to the interrogator. After half an hour of further threats he suddenly said that I can go.
    I raced out to Elfi, shouting, I am leaving this country, NOW!!!!
    and so we drove to the border.
    My worst night had ended!
    Baca lagi

  • Three days to find our feet: "Teranga"

    9 Februari, Senegal ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    We fled Dakar after our horror experience and headed straight for the border to Mauritania.
    We are so wound up by what had happened that we decide to stay in a beautiful Encampment near Saint Louis, "Teranga" for several days before crossing the border. Teranga was like a breath of fresh air, located on a lagoon overlooking a sand bank. I read Elfi gave herself a massage and we do beautiful walks with Esperanto.
    Our world has stabilized again.
    Baca lagi

  • Stopover in Noukchott and on to Maroccco

    14 Februari, Maghribi ⋅ 🌬 20 °C

    We crossed over into Mauritania and raced to Noukchott the capital city and were really surprised to only find a larger version of Atar: the same poverty, the same broken buildings and in the middle huge palaces for the president, the American embassy and hundreds of banks.
    We parked off at the beach on the Atlantic.
    Our intention was to have "Sprinti's" various filters and oil changed at the only Mercedes repair station for trucks.
    I was shocked, no workshop only 3 covered spaces, no lights and hardly any tools. But they did have a spare parts stock. A few hours later "Sprinti" danced out of the workshop, his engine humming with fresh oil and fresh air filters.
    We raced up to the border with Marocco through a whopping Sand storm with visibility around 50m and just made it through the border before they closed for the night..
    What a feeling to be back in civilisation! Suddenly everything we had criticised about Marocco previously seemed to be paradise!
    Baca lagi

  • Stopover in Daklah, sand storm continues

    16 Februari, Maghribi ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    After crossing into Marocco it is 400km on to Daklah. The sand storm continues to pelt us with winds around 60kph.

    Our hell is paradise for the pro kite surfers who are racing and jumping all along the lagoon.
    The next day wind is less but the dust remains in the air and you can hardly see the sun. We change to the Atlantic side and park on the promenade to watch wave surfers and hydro foils in the waves as the sun goes down.
    Baca lagi

  • 1050kms to Sidi Ifni

    19 Februari, Maghribi ⋅ 🌬 19 °C

    And then it's 1050 Kms on to "Sidi Ifni". The "West Sahara" is, and remains, an incredible "Schlepp"!
    We Pass villages being eaten up by sand and all along the way drive through huge swarms of locusts that make a total mess of our car and darken the sky.
    As we cross over from the inland to the coast, we are flabbergasted! Everything is green, in stark contrast to the dryness when we drove down. This winter Marocco has had record rains.
    After "Sidi-Ifni" we stop-off on some incredible cliffs with the thundering Atlantic below, to spend a few beautiful days with Esperanto who is becoming more and more relaxed with us. We let him run free on the beach and play with our neighbour's dog. It is such a pleasure to watch him in his joy. He is, and will remain a beach dog♥️
    Life is beautiful, and the event in Senegal is slowly disappearing in the distance of our memories.
    Baca lagi

  • Old friends in Mirleft

    24 Februari, Maghribi ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    In 2022/23 Andy and Elke accompanied me across the Arabian Peninsula. When I heard they were in Marocco and on our route, we set up a meeting in Mirleft.
    What a joy after three years.
    For two days, we stayed on cliffs outside town, talking, eating and being together, and then our roads parted again. We headed on to Agadir to finally have Esperanto's blood taken to test for the Rabies Titer. Results take two weeks. Without this we cannot enter Europe.
    In the mean time we continue up the coast toward Tanger, passing Essaouira, Safi (famous for the longest surfer wave), then to Oualidia where we spend two days playing with Esperanto on the beach.
    Baca lagi

  • El Jadida, Cassablanca, Rabat

    28 Februari, Maghribi ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    On to ElJadida with it's intact Portuguese fort, then Casablanca with it's gigantic Moschee costing many millions and built with Voluntary "Donations" from the whole country (even non-moslems were "allowed" to donate) all with help from the tax office that knocked on each door😅
    Of course when you say Casablanca you mean the film, so we watched the film and then visited the reconstructed bar with Humphrey Bogart hanging on the walls.
    Rabat, the capital, seems the cleanest city in Marocco😅 maybe that's got to do with the king having his palace here🤣
    (I heard he was asking why the world always smells of "fresh paint" when he comes to a new place).
    What a challenge for a King to really understand the country he is governing. While 3/4 of the country is battling with "everyday" survival, Casablanca is building the largest football stadium in the world and Rabat has built a multi billion opera house designed by "Dame Zaha Hadid" It's been completed for 5 years now, but with exception of a dinner for Emmanuel Macron, still has not been opened up to the public. When we drove past by, security chased us away saying it could only be photographed after having officially been opened!
    Baca lagi

  • Adieu, Marocco, Hello Spain

    13 Mac, Maghribi ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C

    Our last night in Marocco. Fried eggs and orange juice in Sprinti for breakfast on the last morning.
    Then the ferry takes us to Algeciras near Gibraltar.
    Adieu 6 months of Africa filled with Impressions we will keep for life.
    Adieu Marocco!

    Suddenly a feeling of urgency meets me, I need to absorb and process all we have experienced and I want to get home quickly, while Elfi would prefer it a bit slower, maybe a little bit here, maybe a little bit there. Let's extend this trip a bit.
    We find a compromise.

    We head off through Spain; to Málaga, Granada, Barcelona and Cadaques where Salvador Dali lived with Gala, his muse for life and visit his house.
    Everywhere we experience "on-line booking" with waiting lists up to three weeks ahead and so Dali's house is our only visit.
    In this time and age of "influencers", everyone seems to have to visit "everything", even if it does not interest them, all that counts is the tick on your list. What a change since I travelled through this country 10years ago, änd simply walked into the "Sagrada Familia". Today there are hundreds of people (with tickets in hand) waiting to get in.
    We decide to skip all attractions that we cannot enter spontaneously and focus on the beautiful Nature around. There, we are alone!
    Baca lagi

  • Figueras, Cadaques; Footsteps of Dali

    22 Mac, Sepanyol ⋅ 🌧 13 °C

    A Friend of mine is in Cadaques and so we decide to join her there and end up on a journey to Salvador Dali. First in Figueras, in the bombed-out theater he restored, where he is also buried. A crazy building reflecting all phases of his life, and then in his house in port Ligat, where he lived with "Gala", his muse, for 50 years. First he buys a fisherman's house of 10 m2, then piece by piece buys the neighbouring houses. It moves me to see in what modesty this huge billionaire painter lived. In every small detail you feel the love between Gala and him.Baca lagi

  • We visit Sarah in Marcilhac sur Cele

    24 Mac, Perancis ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C

    On to France! Rght in the center!
    We visit Sarah in Marcilhac Sur Cele, a magical region of cliffs, caves, rivers and stone houses from the 10th century.
    The sun is shining and we race around in her Susuki "Jimmy" visiting Sauliac, Cabarets, Cahors and Saint Cirq Lapopie where we eat the most unbelievable lunch.
    And then the cold comes, rain, wind and snow!
    Oh my god! We are back in Europe😱😰
    Baca lagi

  • Tamat perjalanan
    29 Mac 2026