Calais 2 Casablanca photos

A little late, here is a selection of photos from the Calais 2 Casablanca car rally that I did with my brother a month ago.




A little background; our mother's car (1991 J-registration Ford Sierra Chasseur Estate) was overdue to be retired, junked, scrapped, sold, but we could never agree what to do with it. Separately, my brother and I had vowed to take a trip together before I returned to the USA. He mentioned a banger car rally [banger (UK) = junker (USA)] he'd heard about in April, driving old beat-up cars (value of car = no more than £100, or $200) from Calais in France to Casablanca in Morocco. It was an idle thought but the idea stuck, and a plan formed.




A few months later we were standing in a cold open car park in the wet and very cold port of Calais with about 30 other cars and 70 other people, mostly guys wondering if their cars would make it, pieced together with spit and tape and a lot of crossed fingers.




Our car, to be fair, approached the 'classic' tag, having been very well preserved over the years due to the care my brother took to make sure it was regularly serviced. It was the least tricked out, painted, damaged, modified and generally less pieced-together than the others there.




The uniforms.. well we called our team Jon & Ponch, a nod to our love of 80s TV shows (CHiPs in this case, if you didn't get that), and to two men using mechanised transport to.. fight crime.. or get from point A to point B! I then had the clever idea (as I was going to be in California briefly before doing the rally) that it might be a good idea to find us appropriate outfits. I was very lucky and found this place - Quartermaster - official supplier of uniforms and accessories to law enforcement professionals, including the California Highway Patrol. Hey presto.




We made our way through France in a day, Calais to Millau.






The next morning, day 2, we all gathered again in front of the rather nice Millau village, where we'd had a blow-out gourmet meal the night before.




We called these blokes Bert and Ernie, starting a trend of affixing names to other teams and people, as we barely had time to know each others' names. Other names included The Oasis Boys, Squadron Leader, The Cinquecento Boys, The Priests, and so on.




Millau is famous for an incredible viaduct, the tallest in the world




The days became marked by a certain hunkering-down mentality, lots of hours on the road in each others' company, playing music and telling stories.




Breaking up the monotony were various challenges the rally organisers gave us to do, revolving around taking photos of various things




This day one of the photos we had to take was of a team member holding the spare wheel.. in the Mediterranean.




A lot of the highlights of the day were when we would bump into each other along the road. Not literally, but you did hear stories about people deliberately bashing each other around.. couldn't get any more dented in some cases!




Like this time in a barely-there windy road through Andalucia in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, we formed a little convoy with these cars (the van is the organiser's car)




This felt like a real 'rally' day




Eventually we were done with France and Spain, and we hopped on ferrys across the Straits of Gilbraltar, crossing into the African continent.






Having passed the border in Morocco, a disorganised but not difficult process, we drove towards Tangiers. Once there we found ourselves in a maze of streets, passing through the central square at sunset and prayer time.




I had to snap these guys. No potholes please!




In the town of Larache




Weathering the trip




Goats on a rubbish pile eating.. um.. rubbish




Once in Casablanca, from our hotel room I could peer directly down onto the rooftops of local residents



The weather was finally clear and fine, but just enough clouds to break it up and the light was gorgeous




Overlaid organisational systems. You can see how various people over the years have tried to impose some structure to Casablanca, and each one was probably ok, but they never bothered to clean up the old signs when the new ones went up.




From inside the cafe




Outside the Hassan II Mosque




Steps on the inside of the Hasan II Mosque




As we were driving out of the city, I took photos out of the passenger side window. This was a minor altercation between the cop and the driver of the truck. They were yelling and gesturing to each other. The third man was trying to keep the cop calm and defuse the situation. Hard to imagine anyone trying to defuse a situation between a cop in the UK or the USA and someone else by getting between them




Further afield from Casablanca, on the edge of the coast, slums stretch for miles.




Looking out the window



Diego on the ferry back to Spain.