G’day all. Today I am continuing on from Sunday’s post that took me on my Dhaka to Dakar (mostly) Overland Journey from Nice in France to Barcelona. Today I’ll be recounting the story that took me onwards from Barcelona all the way to Tangier, Morocco in a single day.

I had met my mate Graham in Barcelona on the previous evening – for reference that was the 31^st of March 2023, and we were due to hit the rails the very next morning. I visited Barcelona back in 2019, and spent nearly a week there, it’s a great city but this time it was truly just one I was ‘passing through’. Graham had left the UK two days earlier and made it to Barcelona all the way by rail including an overnight train through France. He had transferred on a different part of the border to a Spanish trail and hadn’t encountered the strike issue I had and made it to Barcelona around midday I think or just after.

Well, the train we had left at around 1030am and so we were quickly up and took a five minute walk to the Barcelona Sants Train Station. I’ve been through this seriously busy station before, thankfully this time we were well early because you have to pass through security to get to the trains. There are also a number of places to buy snacks or things for the journey.

We had two trains and a ferry to get us all the way to Morocco, followed by a 30-40 minute taxi ride to Tangier from the port. The first ride was on the OuiGo fast train – capable of well over 200 km/h from Barcelona Sants all the way to Madrid Atocha station. Getting on board it was all a bit cluttered, the trains generally have very few if any seats free and the carriage was certainly full. It’s a double decker train and we were on the top. It was clean, it was comfy enough although it feels like a bit of a squeeze, and the toilet was super clean and spacious which actually really impressed me!

In less than three hours we were at Madrid, a distance of just on 500km. The Atocha station is another busy one and we sort had to do a walk all the way up the platform around to the side via a walkway back to the main part of the station. There were a couple of places to eat, we sat down for a while in this big cafeteria and had a sandwich, and then the was the 1 Euro washroom which was scented, with classical music pumped through it and loads of plants as well. It was honest to god the best toilets I’ve ever used. Private or public probably!

Soon it was time to take the Intercity train from Madrid down to Algeciras. From there we had booked a ferry for midnight I think it was. Train was due in at around 9pm and there were other ferries but we wanted to be safe. The other option was to spend a night in Algeciras but we were determined to make it all the way if we could in a single day.

The Intercity/Reginal train at times was just as fast almost as the first train hitting 200km/h, but the further we went and the closer we got to our destination, the slower the train went. It took around six hours to get there through some stunning countryside which turned a bit mountainous as we got into Southern Spain. We were mostly on time but the last stretch saw us slow down and we got in around 20 – 30  minutes late in the end.

The day was not done, we walked through the town of Algeciras to the ferry port. It was somewhere between ten and fifteen minutes walk. We just entered the port and went straight to the ticket office. We couldn’t quite get on the 10pm ferry, but we did manage tickets on the 1030pm.

The ferry has a passport office on it which is nice – saves a bit of time. It was another very quiet ferry ride. We had some dinner on the ferry – roast chicken from a small buffet, it wasn’t too bad. The whole crossing was in the dark so not much to see but it only took a couple of hours in total, maybe two and a half including the hour it just waited outside the port in Tangier whilst little police boats circled it.

Immigration INTO Morocco was at the terminal and was quick. We had an hour time difference so it was around midnight by the time we docked Moroccan time. Then an hour taxi drive into Tangier. We luckily had a cool Air BnB host who didn’t mind what time we rocked up. A quick phone call and he directed the driver to apartment which was spacious and well located. It was perhaps 2am by the time we could sleep. Over a thousand kilometres travelled, two trains, one ferry, one taxi. We were finally on the African continent – and the final push towards Dakar was about to begin. And there was still a LOT of adventure to go!

And so those adventures are coming up! From Tangier, to Marrakesh, to Mauritania and finally Senegal and its capital of Dakar! Stay tuned! Thanks for joining me – and May the Journey Never End!