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We can do that guys! At least till Cape Verd you are on board!”. With these words two Italian capitains welcomed us on their sailing boat “Fetse”, to start the biggest and most fascinating journey so far of The Locomotive of Freedom! After about one month spent researching a boat in Las Palmas, we are on move again! Our joy explode after those words, aware that the two captains will later on go direction Brasil and there are big possibilities that we can stay on board and follow them in the crossing of the Atalantic Ocean! Francesco and Marco their names, we have found them exactly when they were looking for a crew! They give us 10 day before the next departure, meaning we can goodbye Canary Islands and all the beautiful people we met in here… We come back to the Tomatera, the squat that hosted us during our research and we communicate to everybody our fantastic news. Everybody is happy, on the wings of enthusiasm we organize together the first night of a series of Documentaries which will be broadcasted weekly in the space “El Taller”, opened by the friends of Tomatera and available for the neighboporhood of Guanarteme. We recycle food for the event, in order to show everybody how many good food supermarket throw everyday in the garbages. The idea of offering recycled food come together with the documentary we show to the people “We feed the world”, that talks about the mass production of food and the consequences of this craziness of our epoque.  The documentary night goes along very well and many people participate and interact over the topic presented.

In the days after we start discovering “our” Fetse and learning the basis about navigation…We can´t wait to find ourselves on the ocean…To thank the hospitality of the people we make a short documentary as a gift for everybody who hosted us so kindly in that squat that we can never forget. “keep you doors open” is the story of the house, of the dream of a group of people that “the casuality of life brought together”, to quote Indiana, one of the inhabitants of the house…

We leave the house to embark in our new journey full of emotions and charged of the energy that those beautiful human beings gave us during this day of fantastic sharing! The first Sunday of May, we jump on the Fetse and we sail out of Las Palmas direction Cape Verd. New emotions take us over: in the second day of navigation we find ourselves already on the immensity of the ocean…no visible land sorrounding us… Six days of deep discovering of the sea while learning always more about sailing and about our capitains. We stop in Mindelo, Island of S.Vicente and then we move to Ilha Brava. The latter amaze us with its beauty, its stunning nature and the peaceful people who live in it. Cape Verd is a real fascinating country. Everything is absolutely peaceful and relaxed. The culture is a mingle between the African and the Brazilian one, as the language is…We enjoy three days and we discover that we can follow the capitains till Brazil! We are so happy for this good news, which was anyway living in the air since we left Las Palmas. We leave than all together the island, direction Brazil and there the real adventure in the ocean begin…Living in a sailing boat change rtadically the perception of life. Time is a flow that follow the wave´s rythm and make us dig deeper on our thoughts. Everyone live the immensity of the ocean in his own way, everyone live its immensity of life in those moments, in which only the sea sorround us. That´s not distraction in the ocean, you are what you think, all that arises from your thoughts. The experience alone deserves a whole article in order to be worthly explained.

A special sail called MPS (multi pourpose sailing) make us flying over the sea at a speed of 7,5 knots on awerage, in the first 4 days we easily and gladly ride almost the half of the distance. In the evening of the fourth day though, an exepeted rain surprise us, generating a violent wind that scramble that magic sail and make our boat go crazy. The MPS break in two side. Francesco, the captain, is hurled on the edge of the boat and have to firmly withstand to do not get swallowed by the water and its crazy waves. Fortunately, after a couple of mad minutes, everything turn quite again, and once we remnove what is left of the MPS, the Fetse is quite steady again and our journey can continue. The experience is strong for all of us and the night after this adventure everyone has a lot to think over the happening. Our speed got reduced after the loss of the sail but the moral of the crew is still high and we progressively approch the equatorial line. A new wind coming from North-East cross our way and prompt us always faster direction Brazil. Astonishingly, in 8 days we are already at the doors of South America, in front of the natural paradise of the island of Fernando de Noronha. Land! We decide to make a break in the island and to travel around one of the most beautiful place that the planet Earth offers. The island is a fantastic tropical garden in the middle of the Atlantic where all sorts of animals live together with a dinasty of human beings, in perfect harmony. We go everywhere in the island the first day and only the second days of permanence we figure out that in the island exists a “tax of preservation” which is compulsory to pay for every tourist who pass by Fernando de Noronha. That´s the way why the authorities intend to protect the island from investors, dealers, over-population and any sort of trouble, protecting the natural balance. Traveling no money, we are thus obliged to stand on the boat till our capitains want to leave the island. We spent two days in the boat in front of a fantastic beach, esteeming deeply the beauty of the location, before sailing again direction North East of Brasil.In one day of sailing we are already in Natal, with the feet in the new continent! Being Natal lacking a marina to stand, after one day of mooring we move to Recife and there we anchor and we clean up the boat completely, before offering our most sincere thanks to the two captains that made this dream becoming possible. We are now in Recife, discovering Brasil, trying to fix the screeen of our laptop that got broken during the crossing and deeply inside a new process of learning of a new culture, a new way of leaving and a new language: portogues, that fascinate the three of us and motivate our brains towards new learnings. We are now in a new dimension, bringing our dimensions, sharing with people the philosophy we are developing during this journey and confronting ourselves always more…confronting our ideas, our learnings, and the teaching life is daily giving us. Three open minds that are growing day after day, thanks to the immensity of life and the magic of a certain thing called People.

Some places on this planet offer undiscovered mysteries…from the first day on the island of Fuerteventura, the natives warned us, the Canaries islands have a special power of attraction…coming from the high mountains, it is a strange magnetic vibrations that bewitch whoever put his feet on the island. Everyone who went for even just one day on these islands will never be able to forget them…and somehow will be always attracted by this unique force…heritage of the Atlantes civilization. Mystic energies or simple marvel of the nature…the Canaries Islands are without any doubt a special place with old and mysterious cultures, wonderful landscape with luxurious jungle, arid desert and volcanic beaches. 

The Locomotive arrived on the island of Fuerteventura full of positive energy and ready to take the first boat for the other side of the Ocean. However, Nicola, Raphael and Benjamin are not immune to the spells of the island. Therefore, without even realizing it, days pass and weeks…they enjoy the great beaches, the relaxed atmosphere, and the desert, fertile place for the thoughts…every single person they met offer them a smile, some bread or a complete and delicious meal. The generosity they had encounter in Morocco followed them until here. Spanish, Canarios, Moroccans, Brazilians, Cubans, Belgians…not one refuse to give them a hand. To cross, the trio first had to reach Gran Canaria and the harbour of Las Palmas, meeting point of all sailors of the world who dream to get to the other side of the Ocean. Sort of confirmation that the Belgians are the best sailors of the world, Wim offered to the locomotive to take them to Gran Canaria…giving them a little push toward the right direction. Wim is the founder of the Clean Ocean Project, an organisation who aims to sensibilize the people to the respect of our mother earth with for instance the planning of beach cleanings. With his majestic 9 meter, he brings the locomotive until the harbour of Las Palmas, one of the biggest harbour of this part of the Atlantic.

Nicola, Raphael and Benjamin discover a complete different world, a capitalistic refuge that contrast with the pacific atmosphere of the island…as if Europe wanted to prevent the Canaries Islands to become a paradise of peace and harmony. The water remains transparent and the mountains wonderful, but huge gray and monotone buildings grow everywhere, streets are full of stressed people and the car traffic never stops…In front of this society too modern, the Locomotive runs into in a squat, “la Tomatera”, small alternative world growing in a house abandoned by the housing speculators…the whole neighborhood had been bought by a investment company, and they left everything with the crisis. Thanks to a couple of youngsters, the place is now open to everyone, cultures from all over the world come to live or to stay some days to share good moments. Italians, Spanish, Argentines, American and Croatians live there giving space for the development of a unique creativity. The walls are all painted and all furniture are recycled, they recollect the water they use to wash dishes for the toilet, recycle the food and they organise workshop where people can learn handcraft or watch cultural movies. It is like an oasis of good vibrations offered by Pietro, Marcela, Indiana, Pascuale, José, Tena and Gogi in the middle of a materialistic desert.Las Palmas is one of the biggest harbour of the East Atlantic, a place of transit where most of the boats stop to repare their boats, get some food and relax. Thus, “el puerto de la luz” is the perfect place to start a journey to America of the Cap Vert. More than 600 sailing boats leave this harbour every year for the Caribbeans, the majority between October and February to spend the winter there and come back to Europe for the summer. Outside of this period, just a few boats are leaving, the “late” ones… giving hope for everyone to cross until July when the hurricane season starts. Nicola, Raphael and Benjamin are therefore not in the best time to find a boat. The searching is harder but there are boats, opportunities to cross, most of the time they don’t need extra crew but confirm that people are sailing even at that time and that everything remain possible. 

After one week waiting at the harbour, the Locomotive decides to keep on traveling a little bit to go in the south of the Island to check the harbours of Puerto Rico and Mogan and discover a bit the Island. They found themselves on the road again,meet new nice drivers who take them quickly to the south, a true paradise where tourist that can choose between hundreds of Hotels. Tourists mean abundance of food, they recycle in the restaurants and enjoy the generosity of many…especially the Italians who don’t hesitate to prepare good vegetarian pizzas for the three adventurers. In each harbour, the same refrain :”it not the season for crossing”, Nicola, Raphael and Benjamin are aware of that…no problems…after more than 7000 kilometers nothing can discourage them. They keep on going, discovering the in lands until San Nicolas, small town in the mountains where the explorers can learn more about the Canarian culture. They meet Ivan, a proud Canarian who show them the jump of “el pastor”, he offer them to sleep in a traditional house and wake them up with the Gofio, toasted flour base of the Canarian nutritional pyramid. 

The locomotive is charmed by this culture, heritage of the Berberes who were living in those mountains a long time ago. A certain kind of magic is coming out of this place, and even the more adventurous cannot resist it… However, Nicola, Raphael and Benjamin don’t loose their objectives they…after some days in the island they come back to Las Palmas…it is possible to  cross, they know it…it is just a question of time…

The Locomotive of Freedom on TVE, national spanish television!! Interview in the harbour of Corralejo, Fuerteventura.

“I will drive you guys to Canary Island, if you want, in about 10 days”. With these words, a belgium guy called Robin, introduced himself to us while we were reaching the harbour of Agadir in order to find a boat to boathike in. The solution came to us even before we started looking for it that morning. “I am going to Essaouira now, I ‘ll write you an e-mail some days before coming back here”…in front of our eyes the solution to leave Morocco and continue our journey of freedom through Canaries islands. An explosion of joy united us in an unforgettable hug of friendship. Boathiking is possible and the Canaries are waiting for us.

10 days more to enjoy Morocco before our departure. Enthusiast to have the chance to discover more of this country, we go down the street, hitchhiking this time with no clear destinations… hitchhiking to meet new people, to listen to new stories, to see new lands… to let destiny drive us. First stop is Taghazout, a town well known for its incredible waves that attract surfers from all over the world. The moroccans culture is here mixed with surfing. Interesting people cross our way, many of them are open minded persons who just attented one of the “Rainbow gatherings” that took place close to Taghazout. These gatherings are interesting occasions to meet people that come from everywhere in order to share their knowledges, wisdom and philosophies. We also met a 48 years old english lady who taught us about vegan kitchen and surprised us with her no-time beauty which is the result of a healty and meditative life.

After one day in Taghazout we hitchike further in the direction of Essaouira and at one point, while we are just going out of one car who gave us a ride, we meet a funny guy, Mohammed. He invite us for a tea and we become friend instantly. We also met all the people inside the bar we go and they get particularly exited and interested in discovering our bottle that can filter the tap water. We have a lot of fun with them while they filter and taste the water that come out from the filter.
Mohammed tell us that he works at night, up to a mountain, observing and checking some old machine to prevent them to get stolen. He inspire us talking about these mountains and we decide to follow him to spend a night in the middle of the Nature. That night become at the end two wonderful days in which we take our time to breath, reflect, meditate and enjoying the beauty of Nature and the richness of biodiversity. We feel good far from the road, cars and people. We make fires to drink tea and we cook some local vegetables. We wash our clothes in the river, we produce shoes with recycle materials…

We come back on the road absolutely relaxed and we point our thumbs towards Essaouira. A ride come after only 2 minutes, directly to our destination. The landscape is wonderful. We arrive in Essaouira in a windy evening, but we feel connected to the city since our first steps. We walk through the Medina, rainbow of colors everywhere. Everything is calm. We feel that something is happening when we meet some french jugglers, coming with a group of friend from Mohammedia. We discover that the following day a gathering of jugglers is scheduled. Minutes after minutes, new wonderful people appears, nobody know each others but we are all friends and everybody want to celebrate together. We find ourselves inside a positive wave of positive people and we can swim on it in the most natural way. Everybody has a smile still in his face, everybody has something to say, something to teach, something to show. We met a musician from Essaouira and he invite us to sleep… he just say “Peace brothers, come to my place!”. The day after we make a big parade across the streets of Essaouira, with plenty of people, music, jugglers and everybody who want to join… and actually many people join this fantastic way and we become a group of happy people who celebrate happiness and freedom together.

In the streets of Essaouira we also find again Robin, the captain of the boat, “Robin des mers” that will bring us to the Canaries Island. Full of energy we come back to Agadir and we prepare ourselves for the journey, that will take about 48 hours. We decide then to recycle food for the trip and between 23:00 and 00:00 of our last night in Morocco, we go asking to all the restaurants that we encounter, to share with us the wastes of their kitchens, everything they would throw away. What happen is incredible: to every place we go, something is given to us. Nobody refuse, not one. Like a positive energy that can’t stop once started, everybody give us something till our hands are filled with bread, vegetables, potatoes and so on… We spend our two latest night in the corridor of a building and in the morning, we find the breakfast laying at our feet… We love Morocco, we are highly emotioned to leave this country that gave us so much and even in the last moment Morocco is caring at us like a mum to her children. We will never forget all the emotions that this wonderful place gave us and we will bring anywhere all these experiences who have made us, different and better persons.

We are ready to sail with the “Robin des Mers”, enthusiast to continue this enriching journey of freedom… we leave the harbour of Agadir and soon we find ourselves on the deep sea. The waves are particularly agitated and our joy don’t last too much. In about 15 minutes all of us three are sick and we try to close our eyes and relax while the waves are hitting the boat intensively. We give all of our trust to our captain, who easily conduce the boat till Fuerteventura, while we try to get a little bit more use to the waves. Despite the craziness of this trip, we get completely fascinating by the sea, majestuous and beautiful and we are hungry to discover more. When we land in Fuerteventura, the land seems to move like the sea before, and we soon discover that it is the energy of the island that make the land trembling! In Corralejo, north of Fuerteventura, everything happened: we meet a bunch of nice people, especially some kind italians who get really fascinated by our story. Together with them we realize therefore a photo exhibition of our journey and we exhibit them at the “Ctrl C@fe’”, in the city center. Our story begins to pass from mouth to mouth and we get invited to tell our story to two radio programs, we get interviewed by the local magazine “Macronesia” and finally from the spanish television TVE, who made us a 2 minutes video that is in these days broadcasted in Telecanarias and in the news of the National Channel, TVE1. For the first time we receive such a mediatic attention and everyday we understand more how our message is powerful and how the life we are doing is inspiring the people who cross our path, especially young people of our generation who are looking for happiness but still are not able to free themselves from the society…freedom and happiness lie right in front of our eyes..we just need to open them…