The Starting Line Draws Nearer!

After about 18 hours of travel (of which only five were in the air), I finally made it from Paris to Quarzazate, which is affectionately known by its three letter airline code: OZZ. 

The first stop was in Madrid.  It is a very nice, large and underutilized airport. I saw most of it as I had several hours to kill during my layover.  From Madrid we flew to Casablanca, which was surrounded by beautiful vast green fields.  It was really a nice sight on the approach.  The most painful part of the trip was listening to the safety briefing in three languages!

My only hassle on the flight was having to retrieve and recheck my bag in Casablanca.  Security didn’t much care for my bag full of freeze-dried food, and it took several minutes to explain what it was for and where I was going.  In the end Morocco’s finest chalked it up to a crazy guy and let me pass.

The flight from Casablanca to OZZ was about 90% MDS’ers, and the winner from last year was seated directly behind me.  At least I can say I beat him off the plane!  When we landed, the transfer to the hotel went smoothly; but it was rather obvious that this wasn’t the full-service Marriott in Paris, but very much the other end of the spectrum.  

Oh well, in two days there will be even less luxuries!