Day 212
3 hrs, 10 kms

Up around a bend I get a great view of Mount Mussa (Moses Mountain) . This is the "other pillar" of Hercules, the twin of Gibraltar. It would be a lot of fun--and of symbolic significance--to climb it. But I'm on a deadline right now--I've got to reach M'diq tomorrow and connect my trail of footprints from Chefchaouan to Tanger. Someday I could come back and add another day hike here--along with the cozy village of Ben Younech, my favorite Moroccan beach town right at its base...

Right now I just need to worry about getting to Fnideq. And around another bend, I hit another obstacle. Gendarme police are stopping the vehicles, and one of them asks me where I'm going.

"To Fnideq"

"Oh, that's very far away... wait and I'll stop someone and have him take you there"

He doesn't seem to grasp the concept that, no, I want to walk there. It's not until I explain that I've already walked some 50 kilometers from Tanger that he finally accepts and lets me go .

Whew. That was a close one. Now that I think of it, there are plenty of reasons why the police might not want to allow me to walk this stretch. It's very close to the border with the Spanish enclave of Ceuta with a lot of drugs and contraband going back and forth--not a place you want a foreigner snooping around. There's military activity going on... and they might have legitimate concerns for my safety, with illegal Subsaharan immigrants living in the forests waiting for a chance to cross to Spain. Luckily (?) this policeman didn't think of any of these things, and I'm allowed to continue my quest.

When I come across I military operation further down the road, rounding up a camp of Subsaharan Africans, I walk on and pretend I don't see anything. But it does cut at my heart seeing those fellows (one of them barely able to walk) who have suffered so much to go seek for a better life, and have it all end so bitterly.

The road winds high up along a ridge with almost untouched forest on both sides . I feel safer now, knowing that there are police and military around. To my right I can see beautiful Tamuda Bay... in front I get my first glimpse of Ceuta... and behind me, one last glimpse of Gibraltar fading off into the distance...

A place where you feel connected to everywhere... and yet so alone...

Post-visit: Fnideq (0334) Back to the Border Town
May 2, 2013, Day 212
6 hrs, 4.6 kms
Day totals: 16 hrs, 32.6 kms

Finally, can see a high fence around Spanish Ceuta a stones throw away. Funny, I don't remember there being big fence around it before. And then I reach the outskirts of Fnideq, my stopping point for the day. The finish line of my Great Tanger Superhike is almost completely. Just an easy 22 kilometers to M'diq and I'll be done.

Now I can just take some time to just relax, stroll around... play some music on the boardwalk. It's here where I meet three middle aged fellows and we have the discussion about the history of the Moriscos (see my Ksar Sghir post-visit entry), and we take turns playing some Spanish music . They also talk about how times have changed here in Fnideq.

"Things used to be very different here. Women stayed at home. Nobody went out in the evenings--just stayed in the house with the family. Now the government built this boardwalk and you see women out and about at night... Outsiders (Moroccans from other regions) coming to spend their vacation here with different values. Some people have a hard time adjusting to change... Who know what will happen here in the future."

And with that, I wander a bit more to find a decent supper... head back to my hotel room... and call it a night.