Week 11, European round up, eyes on Africa and finally got the dynamo-hub up and running.

End of the European leg of the journey, five countries, 4 pairs of shoes and nearly 4000 km on the odometer. In Malaga in the south of Spain trying to squeeze on a ferry to Mililla in the north of Morocco as Europe is snowed under and travel routes have  become congested in the region.

Reports of unrest in the disputed area of Western Sahara as Morocco invades a refugee camp, developments of a possible civil war breaking out in Ivory Coast as the current president refuses to step down after losing elections and Africa will surely pose some interesting obstacles.

Thanks to a fantastic little bike shop “Recyclo“ in Malaga and their competent team of mechanics I have finally managed to fix the dynamo-hub on the bike and after almost 4000 km of nonfunctional drag, I will now be able to harness my pedal power. Using the 5 volts to charge my phone, along with the solar panel that has been fantastic up until now and has the ability to charge my more power hungry netbook, the combination of the two plus more days of sunshine as I cross into Africa should see me staying pretty well powered up and on top of the weekly blog provided I can source internet en route.

The bike has had some work done to her and a new chain, bottom bracket, brake pads and cassette should see me through the next few thousand kilometers without too many headaches as the availability of spares will not be that great once I cross into Africa. I have managed to secure some decent maps for Morocco, thanks to Kame in France and his recommendation, I tracked down the Michelin Maps which are fantastic, none of this trip has been done on GPS navigation but rather on good old fashioned maps and I intend to keep it that way.

I should be camping solo somewhere in the Reef mountains having a fairly introspective Christmas this year as I travel through Islamic Morocco making my way towards Rabat and Casablanca to try and source visas for Mauritania and Senegal .

Thanks to all the fantastic people that helped me out in Europe and made the route just that little bit more memorable, the people you encounter on the road add as much value to the mission as the cycling itself, have a fantastic Christmas. Next blog will be published from African soil.

Apologies for the lack of imagery, I am experiencing some technical issues, one electrical problem solved another arises, such is the nature of the beast.