Morocco Trip

[Bat21]

I thought I'd share my 2008 Morocco trip with you guys here, the writeup is not finished yet so please be patient :wink:

Wednesday 16th April
The Patrol was about as ready as it was going to be, so we headed off to Portsmouth to meet Dave and Wendy before catching the ferry to Bilbao which was due to set sail at 21:00


Once on the boat he headed off to the posh bar to escape the rather chavesque clientele that seemed to be occupying Silverstones Show Bar 2 decks below.


After consuming large amounts of alcohol, at throwing out time we headed down to Silverstones to see what delights we had been missing. A Northern lass seemed to take a liking to us and decided it was her mission to entertain us for the rest of the evening.


Thursday 17th April
We were awoken by a somewhat surreal experience, you know the feeling when you wake up after a heavy night on the sauce and the room feels like it’s spinning…… one look out of the window revealed that the ‘room’ was indeed spinning, well not so much spinning but pitching and rolling more like.


We were informed by the captain over the cabin comms system that we were indeed sailing through a storm force 9 gale in the Bay of Biscay. We managed to make breakfast but after that things went from bad to worse so we spent the day in the cabin on a diet of RedBull and Minstrels

Friday 18th April
Despite the rough crossing we arrived at Bilbao pretty much on time and once disembarked we were heading south destination San Roque. Initially the weather was very wet but eventually the cloud broke as we headed south.


It was during our 670 mile trek South that we were stopped by the Guarda Civil. Unfortunately I had forgot to pack my driving license and the rather miserable cop was not too pleased. The result was a 315 Euro (£250) on the spot fine.

Saturday 19th April
After an overnight stay in San Roque we had an early start and headed for Algeciras which was just 12km further South. It was another very wed day.

We decided to cross to cross to Tangier, although this is a longer sea crossing it was hoped that we would save time using this route as all the bureaucratic paperwork that you have to complete to get yourself and your vehicle into Morocco is done on the boat.

We bought our tickets and were told to be quick as the boat was leaving shortly. So it was a quick sprint back to the vehicles and join the queue for the boat where we waited and waited.


Eventually we realised that there was no one in the ticket booths and the whole place was in complete chaos as no one knew what was going on. We decided to drive around the ticket booths and wait at the port side.


Again there seemed to be no one who knew what was going on and after another hour we decided to scrap the crossing to Tangier and go for the tried and tested crossing to Ceuta.

Once over the water we were soon at the border control, the rain had followed us all the way.


It was a fairly trouble free procedure through the border and we were soon let loose on the Moroccan roads which always provide eye opening entertainment.




Our aim today was to get as far South as possible but the delayed crossing, a late border crossing of 3pm and torrential rain and sleet on the way down meant that by 8pm we only made it as far as Meknes,




Once the blizzard conditions had cleared it soon warmed up, the Patrol was shining like it had never done before, I guess it was the result of being pounded by the sand laden sleet.. a free T Cut ‘n’ Polish


Sunday 20th April
After finishing breakfast and stuffing Lucy’s handbag with boiled eggs (as you do) we were soon on the road heading south towards Merzouga which was some 250 miles away.

We arrived early evening and set up camp by the great Erg Chebbi sand dune







We were treated to a spectacular sunset





... to be continued

[NNMan]

Love it!!

Can I come next time, bring att aswell :wink:

[Bat21]

Originally Posted by NNMan

Love it!!

Can I come next time, bring att aswell :wink:

April 2009 I'll be going back.... if you want to join us let me know :smile:

att is not joining us next year though

[NNMan]

Hmm very tempted and this time youd be going with a hard core Nav!!

[NNMan]

There is a bum print on atts Nav, ive seen the same mark on mine before :wink:

[siweb]

Hey, well cool.. great write up.

Where off to Tunisia next may to play in the Sahara Deseret 8)

[Paul]

Was hoping to get to read about your trip! :
Looking good upto now.

Paul.

[Bat21]

Originally Posted by siweb

Hey, well cool.. great write up.

Where off to Tunisia next may to play in the Sahara Deseret 8)

Don't forget to take loads of photos and a note pad :wink:

I was thinking of trying Libya after next years trip.

[Bat21]

Monday 21st April
Today our aim was to head across towards Zagora from Merzouga. We decided to first head North to Rissani as the piste through Remlia goes through a dried up lake bed which is now 12” deep fesh fesh (powder like fine sand), the entrance to Rissani is a most welcoming sight.


Once through the town we turned South


The tarmac soon ran out and we were back to the semi desert piste




Before long we were traversing the vast barren openness that were as wide as the eye could see in places.








After approximately 80 miles we came across a very steep drop that was scattered with jagged rocks that would slice through the tyres if we were not careful how we planned our decent.






Soon after descending the rocky slope we encountered an area of very soft sand


In the searing heat of the desert it soon became obvious that the easiest solution would be to use the Patrol as an anchor and winch the stranded Navara out from its sunken pit.


Further along the piste att discovered that somewhere along the route he had picked up a puncture.


A little further along the piste we decided to set up camp for the evening and relax and reflect on the days adventures


Total distance traveled today was 115 miles with an average speed over the 9 and a half hours (including stops) of 12mph

... next stop, Zagora

[siweb]

Lost for words... 8)

[NNMan]

Oooooooooooooo second last pic, thats my old spare wheel!!!!!!

[floyd500b]

Paul - Now that you are the new El Presidente, I think it is your duty to complete this story.

I'm sure the majority of the proletariat would agree. :wink:

Can't wait to see more.

Cheers

Graham

[Deleted Member D]

Originally Posted by floyd500b

Paul - Now that you are the new El Presidente, I think it is your duty to complete this story.

I'm sure the majority of the proletariat would agree. :wink:

Can't wait to see more.

Cheers

Graham

I say here here to that.
Busy man now tho dontya tink. :

[Bat21]

Originally Posted by NNMan

Oooooooooooooo second last pic, thats my old spare wheel!!!!!!

It was indeed your spare that saved att's day :smile:

Tuesday 22nd April
As we had made good progress the day before, we only had a short run of 55 miles to Zagora today so after breakfast at a leisurely pace we headed South West along the piste


We had taken loads of PostIt note pads and pens for the kids while we were there.


You quite often see goats in trees but here we found a goat herder who had managed to climb up there.


A short distance from our destination we came across Peter from Bikers Home who was leading one of his tours, we stopped and chatted for a while before continuing.


By early afternoon we spotted our destination for the evening, SaharaSky


With it’s own bar serving ice cold beers.


After a few beers we decided to explore the nearby dunes.




The hotel was staffed by local Burbers who lived amongst the dunes




The hotel is owned by a German guy who is very interested in astronomy, so once the sun had set and dinner was eaten, we spent the evening star gazing and even managed to see Saturn and Mars.

[NNMan]

God damnit it looks fantastic and I really cant see my self afording to go this year! :cry: