61 days in

Trapped in Tarifa

Four buses got us to the seaside town of Tarifa in the early evening yesterday. After the cold dry of Granadan foothills the day was lost to rain, so it was a good thing we got bus after bus with little more than a 15 minute wait between each. With barely time to spare for lunch we grabbed dirty looking, great tasting kebabs in the Malaga bus station and scoffed them faster than they took for the guy to make.

When we got to Tarifa, to the welcome of warm winds and cold rain, we learned of the weather forcing cancellations of boats destined for Morocco, boats we need to get on in two days. And the weather doesn’t look likely to improve any time soon.

Tarifa is a tiny place made famous for its wind. Before kitesurfing and windsurfing became the town’s lucrative meal ticket it was some backwater boot heal place. Behind the lines of surf shops adorned with neon bright posters and jagged, adventurous sounding text the impression of a fishing industry backwater is still tangible.

But I couldn’t care less either way to be honest. I’m tired of Spain. I’m tired of having everything handed to me on a plate, for an inflated price. I want to struggle and achieve each destination, dirt cheap and with all the frustration and grime that comes with the third world. Hopefully Morocco will start to feed my hunger for self-flagellating travel, but that place too is pretty well catered for these days. At least it won’t feel like Australia with Spanish accent.

I think my melancholy has something to do with Mauritania being off now. Before that, Mauri was the Wild West for me. Now that the Wild West has gotten too wild for us westerners, I’m again faced with watered-down versions of travel adventure. It all feels rather fucked.

Mali I’m certain will be challenging. But without going through Mauri Mali is hard to get to. A boat to Senegal may be the answer, but god only knows what that might entail. It could mess with going through the Western Sahara.

Things aren’t going according to plan. Maybe they shouldn't?