Afrique

Afrique !

I’ve been asked to write a little more about my 'escape' from the British Isles, that took place many years ago. As I previously mentioned, I was a 17 year old who needed to get away from the 'woes' of my life.

I had decided to embark on a backpacking and hitchhiking trip, across Europe and into North Africa. Now remember, this was in the days before mass tourism, and we were going to a place that was having trouble of its own. North Africa, namely, Morocco, and Algeria were in the throes of Civil wars, that we knew little about....but more on that in another blog.

My friend and I (he is also a Rick Steves guide now) had agreed to meet on the outskirts of Bath, our hometown. It was a wet and very windy evening. It was also dark. We laughed at each other as we stood there with our military style backpacks and gear, our wind cheaters on and a bedraggled piece of cardboard in my hands. That piece of cardboard was our secret weapon !

On it was written the one word, Afrique!

This was going to be our 'thumb' as we stood on many roadsides throughout Europe, awaiting the generosity of a passing motorist.

The cardboard was damp, so we slid it into a clear plastic bag.. proud that we had thought of this, and happy that it indicated a small level of initiative, I held it up and waved it at a passing truck....or lorry as we in the UK call them. Lo and Behold, the lorry stopped. steam rising off its breaks the driver wound down his window and indicated that we should hurry up, as he was blocking a main road (we hadn't thought through that part of our strategy, but we had just learnt a valuable lesson, and we would make sure that motorists could stop safely to pick us up in future).

We climbed into the cab and he laughed and said that this was to be our lucky night, as he was going all the way to Portsmouth and was going to make a ferry crossing into France from there. We couldn't believe our luck.... we were already heading to France...with one lift.!

Through the rain we went, chatting happily to our new friend, the driver. He couldn't believe that we were embarking on such a trip and wished us well. 

Arriving in Portsmouth he dropped us off at the ferry port gates, and we thanked him 'mutely' Standing in the rain, once again, we chatted about how we were going to cross the English Channel..... obviously we were prepared for everything (NOT).

The port was a restricted area and the only plan we came up with was to hike over to the passenger terminal and buy tickets....   hah, you say, they're showing some of that naive initiative again....    Untrue, we had to cross and there was no other way, even though the crossing would make a big dent in our £50 emergency money.

Lifting our packs onto each others backs (both emblazoned with a Union Flag), we started to trudge through the rain. It was very late and we were both tired. 

A horn blew, and our heads jackknifed around to see its source... headlights flashed at us and not one but two lorries pulled up alongside us !

Our new friend the driver and a mate of his had come looking for us. They thought it would be a hoot to declare each of us as assistant drivers... this meant that they were going to take over the channel !!!!     This trip was already becoming a wonderful adventure. We were hitchhiking across the English Channel... Free, and all because of a simple word on a piece of cardboard !

(another instalment of this trip will be posted in a few days. Please feel free to subscribe to this blog, in order to receive more updates and info. You may also enjoy being a part of my future travel experiences or wish to share your own on my Facebook Page 🤗)