Attempting to ESCAPE AFRICA in a PANDEMIC // S04E12

Whilst driving overland from America to Australia we found ourselves trapped in North Africa during the global pandemic under a super strict state of emergency. For months our attempts to leave have been thwarted but suddenly news have come in of a last-minute rescue ferry leaving from the top of Morocco. However as you're about to see getting out of Africa in the midst of a pandemic is easier said than done. We are attempting to drive around the world you guys are invited to so subscribe and buckle up it's one heck of a ride. To travel is to live. It certainly is and we are formulating a plan to travel right now it's actually an escape plan to get us out of Morocco. Yes there's so many variables we have no idea if we're going to be allowed to get out of here and worse still we don't even know if we really should get out of here because we're headed to Europe and we don't think that we can be there and we might get might actually get trapped so we're going to bring you up to speed with what the heck is going on but this is it's going to be intense guys. I can't believe the rushed element of this after waiting around for weeks and months to get out of here. So basically there is a rescue ferry being put on by the British government to get out British nationals that's really important for us because we have a we have an American vehicle and we haven't been allowed to get on any of the other rescue ferries organized by other European embassies they've all said that we have to have a EU we have to be EU citizens and well I'm not you're not and the boomerang certainly isn't. The boomerang is registered in the US so we've had trouble we've missed ferries because of that so this is like the only ferry that they're helping us out with so we need to get this ferry the ferry isn't actually confirmed yet. What? Well yeah but people are just heading up there anyways and hoping that it is and no one's got tickets yet yet hopefully they'll get in touch with us today with tickets but and that's all happening this week literally the ferry is supposed to go this week well yeah and we have to leave days we'll leave tomorrow morning well we should be leaving today really right first step let's get our permission to get onto the highway and cross Morocco let's try okay we're currently in the south of Morocco but the boat to Europe leaves from the north of the country the problem is that intercity travel is currently banned in order to reach the ferry in Tangier Med we will need to seek special permission to be on the road after a few hours of waiting in the sun we've been allowed inside the building i think this is some kind of official i'm not sure like a town hall or something i'm not exactly sure what kind of business building this is but hopefully we can get permission to get on a ferry the only problem is they won't give us permission until we've got a ferry ticket and as yet the ferry is unconfirmed the Spanish haven't confirmed that they'll let the ferry in and Morocco hasn't confirmed that it will let the ferry out so the British embassy is still working on that the ferry is due to go in three days and it's two days for us to drive there so we have to convince these guys to give us permission to get on the road so that we can make a ferry that we might be able to book finally six hours later this piece of paper honestly it's been the whole day i don't know what took so long but we finally have permission to get out of Morocco well no that's not true we have permission to drive to the north of Morocco yes we still don't have a ferry ticket we don't know what's going to happen from here but honestly like we don't really have time to think about that we have got two days of driving and we've got two days to get there and we still got a pack to get in here so high five on stage one the rescue plan coming together there's a lot more to come though we've just pulled over to get some water and it was like we're smelling something really horrible coming from the car and just our luck of course when we're about to get driving to go to the ferry can't believe it literally five minutes down the road and we've sprung a massive oil leak like are you kidding me are you kidding me as if this situation needs any more pressure look at this i can't tell where it's coming from but somewhere in there there is oil coming out everything where we definitely cannot drive like this leah definitely not it's really funny because we were just telling people today about how good the was running and how we're going to make it up there like we can make it in two days the combi won't break down five minutes later literally five minutes later five minutes later we're leaking oil like anything that was a big leak the problem is a broken this thing here that broke these are not good quality jubilee clips hose clamps whatever you want to call them wherever these ones are much better but this one on instead problem solved although i'm kind of tempted to want to go through and change all of them now because that's not the first one we've had fail it is the first one we've had fail on a vital oil line we were when i checked the oil after we got we stopped literally five minutes after we started driving it was below the low line so it was getting to the point where engine damage could have definitely been a serious possibility so that's not good if we don't make it on that ferry in two days time that's just our luck that's just like combi life luck right there how many wives are you allowed to have in morocco just just ask him just in case like you know we end up making this our permanent home how many husbands can you have more like it i don't mind having some mates around we could we could totally start a little commune we can move to morocco so now i have time to talk about the people that we met so there's another australian girl small world they actually know a friend of mine back at home in melbourne so apparently there's only like there's only like three couples in a van from australia that need to get out of morocco so all of them have british boyfriends and all and all of them have british boyfriends yes three australian girls with three guys with british passports all trying to get out of morocco with our vans and the other guys that were there were from jersey where ben's from so it was really weird it was the first time we've met them we've been chatting on via instagram and this is the first time we've met them and we all met each other with wearing masks couldn't see what each other looked like it's really weird having a conversation like just strange times when you're hanging out with people and you can't really read their lips or really see their faces while they're talking we only have it's six o'clock now and we only have this afternoon and tonight to pack everything out of the apartment and into the combi and get the combi prepared for an early start tomorrow this is going to set us back a few hours okay good i think we're done um i'm going to change all of the the clamps for these ones in the future but let's get going we've got somewhere to be right now time to pack great news guys we are hitting the road for the first time in a long time we have packed up the combi we've moved back in and we have not enough time to make it to the top of morocco and we're not even sure if how that process is going to go whether we're going to get through the checkpoints with no problems or what but we're very excited to try and to hit the road and to see if we can get out of morocco and see how this unfolds yeah how are you doing we're doing okay yeah did you hear from the british embassy people who are interested to take this ferry they they should have they need to have a long-term visa for the eu i'm not sure if you have if you are aware of that or not no no this is the first time we've heard about this so we're not even out of agadir yet um so we're really not on the road yet and we kind of don't know whether we should get on the road because the ferry's supposedly coming on thursday we've still not had anybody like allow us to book any kind of ticket and now we're being told that leah can't get on the ferry unless she has like a residency or visa which she doesn't have so this wasn't what they told us before they said that we'd all be able to leave together which is why we've checked out of our apartment moved into the combi spent the whole day getting permission to get up there and now now what this is so unorganized like we're getting calls from the australian embassy the uk embassy no one no no they're not speaking to each other like no one knows any information i'm really scared that i'm going to have trouble going through the eu on my australian passport and trying to get somewhere like yeah i think that's exactly what's going to happen i don't want to stay here we can't stay here any longer we have to leave now if we want to make it it was definitely a huge test we've been wearing right now having sat still not doing anything for months and now we're going through probably one of the hottest places we've ever driven uh and up over a mountain range at the same time so it is extremely hot right now i don't know how hot but um it's well we've still got 40 psi of oil and the oil temperature is the highest we've ever seen it but it's 180 degrees i think it's still it's acceptable there's no right spring rain it's pulling fine fingers crossed is the moment of truth here's the big checkpoint come on baby let us through england it's so hot it is absolutely boiling here for all my days it's so hot inland this is the hottest boomerang has ever driven it like the temperature is like climbing oil pressure is dropping not good the temperature is good not overheated there's something that's not right though shit it's not a good place to break down it felt like we ran out of petrol but we didn't got half a tank it's so hot as well i'm sweating the fuel pressure is down at like 20 no 20 psi that's not good there wasn't a lot of people on the road this day but it was still surprising to see keith and bethany from jersey pull up to see if we needed help it was a bit of a surreal scene to see the relatively rare license plates from my tiny home island of jersey pulling up on a moroccan motorway i haven't actually i haven't actually done anything to fix anything but it's started and the fuel pressure is good so i think we just go and this is a bad place to be breaking down on the side of the motorway with big trucks coming past so we should just get out of here and see if we can find a better place investigate the issue further i don't know i'm not sure i have to describe i think okay no guarantees that we're gonna make it um i don't know i didn't really do anything then to fix it so i don't know whether that's like a vapor lock because it's just so damn hot i mean wouldn't be the first one actually you were there that last time yeah vapor lock the process where gasoline gets so hot that it turns from liquid to gas before it enters the engine hopefully we can pressurize the fuel pump get some fuel the guys from jersey and the couple from australia but i think they had to stop a bit earlier because the car is like getting really hot yeah use a bit of the light that's left in the day just to uh just check on the car and uh make sure everything's going to be okay for the journey tomorrow so we just stopped here it looks like a good spot actually i feel like we're in australia there's all these eucalyptus trees here nice and rest hopefully we don't get moved on from here oh yeah i never thought about that that'd be nice to do some work on the car and get ready for tomorrow yeah hopefully we'll make it so nice to be back in the combi back in the combi yeah you smell like sweat and baby wipes everything is back to normal isn't it isn't it a life you always dreamed of smelling like sweat and baby wipes morning morning salute this was a really nice camp spot i'm so glad we found this place it's quiet honestly what a like re-initiation back into van life it's so good waking up here wasn't it yeah it's really nice here but anyway let's bring these guys up to speed with what's happening yes so um yesterday on the way here we got a phone call while driving to book our tickets he did um it was the spanish ferry company and they did ask me whether i had an eu visa and i said no but i have permission so hopefully um it's going to be okay for me once i get into spain so we did book the tickets that's good news but we didn't get our tickets we didn't actually get a confirmation email all the tickets yet so we're still waiting on that so hopefully that will come through today four hours to go one day to get there should be easy let's hit the road we're at the last we're at the last toll booth to get to the ferry and it was like 150 dirhams and uh we didn't have enough money we used up all our money and we made sure that we kept all our money to get here but we didn't realize it was going to be so much in tolls and it's hard to find out so uh we're stuck in the toll booth now on the way to the ferry that's embarrassing isn't it i always wonder what would happen if you're at a toll booth and you didn't have any money uh with only a couple of hours until the ferry leaves this was the last thing that we needed we did do research on how much cash we'd need for the tolls but somehow it wasn't enough and they don't accept mastercard he's moved to me like no sorry cash only how do you say we've got a ferry and they're going to leave without us it's enough you must continue with the money i have to pay more 14 dirhams yes okay after sitting still for months it had been a mad dash and a flipping long drive to the north of morocco despite the bureaucracy the oil leaks the checkpoints the fuel starvation the extreme uncertainty of there even being a boat not having money for the last toll booth and the thorn in the tire oh yeah we forgot to mention that puncture hopefully this doesn't cause us any problems finally made it to the port of tangier med made it to the port just about looks like there's a lot of people waiting around this is going to be a long process i cannot believe how many camper vans are trying to get onto this one boat ah it feels good to be closest to freedom but we're not done jumping through hoops just yet we've still got to get all four of us actually onto the rescue ferry even without the necessary social distancing this was a long queue by anyone's standards but with many of these vanlifers having been locked down in their tiny homes for months nobody was complaining about the queue to get back to their home country this is not a normal time and this is not a normal boat service the british embassy has done a fantastic job in organizing this rescue ferry I have been treated well, no reproach, I am happy to leave, because they have been here for a long time in Morocco. I hope there will be other trips, because there were thousands of tourists, especially people with caravans, who were in Morocco, including the south. I feel like we have been in the pandemic together with the Moroccans. I feel like we are jumping ship a little bit, like abandoning them. Thank you Morocco for looking after us during the pandemic. I think we owe them that, don't we? It has been awesome. We love you Morocco, we will be back for sure. Thank you. Hello. Which one? They didn't give us this one. When you're overlanding and crossing international borders with your vehicle, there are always many hoops to jump through. But right now, in this global pandemic, there are more hoops, and they are a lot more complicated. When we come, the insurance lady, she keeps it. Typically, countries like Morocco allow foreign vehicles to enter with a temporary import permit, which is issued upon arrival. It's vital that you don't lose this document. Despite having misplaced the essential paperwork for boomerang, the Moroccan authorities kindly let us continue without further headaches. Thanks guys. So this is it, we're leaving Morocco. It's a bit of a sad and exciting moment, because we really wanted to see more of Morocco, and the people here have been absolutely lovely, and we love it here, so hopefully we can come back here one day. Yeah, definitely still lots to see. Yeah, so it's really sad to leave, but it is exciting to get on the move. This has been the longest lines that we've experienced ever crossing a border, I think. First international border of the pandemic, and hopefully more to come. But that is completely uncertain at this moment, so we'll just take things one crossing at a time. Next stop, Europe. Hello. Bonjour. Bon voyage. Merci, bonne journée. So I just got a message from the Australian embassy, and the lady has been working so hard to get permission for me to go to Spain. So now I've got a letter from the Australian embassy in Spain that allows me to be there, and cross over into the UK, so that's good news. At least I know that I'm not going to get hassled now. No, no, it's good of them to sort us out with the onward travel. It's definitely worth a shout-out and a high-five to all of the people here, and in every country, who are working on the front line to keep the world moving during this global pandemic. Thank you for your service. Gracias. No coronavirus, free. Hello, ma'am. Are you going the right way here? Ferry time! We're on the boat. We're on the boat. I've never been so excited to be on a boat in my life. We first came to Morocco with zero expectations. Certainly, we weren't expecting to experience this country in a time of crisis. When we first realised that we'd be trapped here, honestly, we were a little anxious about how events would unfold. But we have to say, it was heartening to see the Moroccans unite together to face this immense challenge. And we were honoured to be alongside them and eternally grateful for their kindness, hospitality and support. The uncertainty of what will happen next on this long drive around the world both thrills us and unnerves us at the same time. What will it be like to be on the road through Europe? As entire nations emerge from lockdown, will travel in 2020 even be possible? And will the pandemic's second wave stop us in our tracks? Subscribe and join us to find out, because that is a story for next time. Thank you.