Is it ok if we talk about beds for a little while? Honestly I cannot describe the transformative power of a better nights sleep on a soft mattress with fluffy pillows and cottony sheets and everything!! Plus all of that was in a room with walls and a ceiling and proper floor…do you know we even have not one but TWO chairs in our room!!! It feels so so good to be here!!

Last night we wandered around the town a little had a delicious meal and of course continued our celebrations….not too much you understand…although that will surely come.

Fully refreshed we pack our panniers for the very last time ( we decide not to take the tin of beans that Marc found in his pack and which he now realises he has carried all the way here from our first day in France…haha!) we dowse ourselves in Lynx Africa (of course!!) and then head for the ferry.

There seems to be a lot of paperwork, checks, signatures, searches and stamps needed but we do eventually board and set off on our final leg. It is still incredibly windy but the ferry clearly has some kind of “magic carpet” gizmo because the trip across the Strait of Gibraltar is unexpectedly very very smooth. On the way we get chatting to a really friendly Swiss couple, also on bikes with panniers, who it turns out have cycled here from Basel in Switzerland…..that’s one hell of a trip too let me tell you!

As we approach Tangier we can literally almost touch our final goal….Africa!!

We roll off the ferry and that’s it….we have finally arrive at our destination ….TMAAT are in Africa!

The customs checks this side are even more rigorous and somewhat intimidating. Through the medium of mime the Customs control guy asks to search our panniers…he provocatively puts his latex gloves on and then pointedly says “Gun?” I thinks it’s almost certainly a question based on how he says it but fleetingly I do consider that he might be suggesting I need a gun in Tangier and what was I thinking arriving without one, or perhaps he is even trying to sell me one…..surely if it’s the latter and I say “yes please” he will immediately shout “ahha….you fell into my cunning custom control trap (BTW..Marcs friend Michelle asked if he was taking a gun when he told her he was cycling to Tangier and even went to the trouble of buying him a lookalike spud gun….needless to say he didn’t bring it!)

Anyway, instead none of that happens and I just say “No” to the customs guy.  A number of other items are then quickly listed which may or may not have included “drone, camera, knife, Lego Star Wars, cauliflower and goat”  all of which are also thankfully a “no” from me!

We then slowly roll out of the port and into Morocco….into Africa (let’s just run that again….into AFRICA!) my very first time ever out of Europe! It’s an absolutely huge moment and hard to describe. Its one that has taken two and half weeks of toil, suffering, pain, stress, challenge and uncertainty but we have done it…..I wouldn’t often admit to this but TMAAT really are absolutely amazing!!! Somewhat surprisingly I don’t actually blub today (sleeping in a bed has almost certainly helped me to get a grip or maybe I am just all dried up) but I am really overwhelmed with a huge sense of pride…there, I have said it….I really am so proud of how hard we have pushed ourselves, what we have overcome and what we have achieved. ….Marc, ickledan and I have prevailed and overcome everything that was thrown at us….everything!

The more astute and inquisitive readers amongst you will probably now be thinking “hold on a minute….who is holding the camera?”….well, let me tell you!

As if this wasn’t a momentous enough moment, through the unbelievable kindness of others we are greeted, actually I am going to say “feted like heroes” by a welcoming party of Khadjia, Hamid, Sarah and Sami…..complete strangers until today but who through mutual friends (Nawal and Nigel thank you so much x) are our new best friends.

Told about our adventure they made it their business to come and greet us, celebrate our achievement with us and then even took us out for lunch, refusing to let us pay .Their kindness genuinely made our short Moroccan experience even more absolutely amazing and we are both so so grateful….we could not have imagined a more fitting end to our adventure and we are so glad we got to share it with you…..thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

That then I am afraid is pretty much it, there are no more miles to be pedalled, no more mountains to climb, no more sleeping in a tent, no more foraging for food….our adventure is at end.

All three of us want to say a huge huge thank you to everyone who has stuck with us on our journey….your support, your kind words and encouragement and of course your donations really have kept us pushing forward when it would have been much easier to not.

A big thank you also goes to everyone we met on the way who either helped us, looked after us or just took interest …I will definitely forget someone now but thank you to Team Santander, Signor Bike Fix, Signor Campsite, Signora Los Chicos, the GSL Senoritas, the Swiss cyclists, Jose Louis at Hotel Convento and his team (all of whom have been so super super helpful) our new Moroccan friends and everyone else I have missed …thank you.

A special thank you to Kevin Hastie for being the inspiration for our challenge and for allowing us to share his story with you. We are so pleased to know you are now through the worst of it Kevin and we hope our efforts and your story help raise awareness, prompt others to get themselves checked and fund research.

Thank you of course to all our friends and family whose love and support has been felt throughout even though we were so far away and of course a very very special thanks to my amazing wife Jo (if I ever suggest doing anything like this again please, please, please say No!!!) and to Gerry for giving us the time and space to even consider such a crazy adventure let alone do it and of course to Kate who has to put up with Dan.

TMAAT went to Africa…..The End