Here is my little write-up on our recent Trip to Morocco.
Trailmaster is about £600 odd each, but worth it.
My name is Michael, with my wife Hazel and our 10 year old son George we recently took our 4x4 to Morocco and the Sahara with Trailmasters on the “High Summer Special”. This was our first adventure of this type. Having become more accustomed to the predictable 5-star with matching beach type of holiday this was always going to push a different set of buttons. Hazel has been a reluctant camper in the past, although to her credit she never showed it, I just knew. I on the other hand have always been drawn to the great outdoors by the odd wild camping weekend with my son, every now and then. You know the sort of thing. Wales, drive the 4x4 onto an accommodating farm, set camp by a stream, build dams, make a fire and eat beans. Great and very bonding. Morocco, on the other hand, was something else. With the amount of driving ahead of us I decided to opt for the ferry to Spain route so Hazel selected a few suitable hotels for the there and back few days.
We met up with our fellow adventurers and our drive leader/operator (Sheriff John from Trailmasters) just outside Malaga. The next day we were being ushered through the Moroccan boarder control with all the speed we had been warned about. A few hours and lots of documents later we were in Africa. This is the part where I could take pages and pages to describe how amazing the next 2 weeks were. Sure, there were parts and times that had to be endured but isn't that why these trips are called adventures. We soon became accustomed to the facilities, the people and the culture. We spent our 2 weeks learning about and accepting the cultural differences between our country's social patterns and how happy people can be without a giant plasma TV in the corner. We were off the normal tourist route for 85% of the time so we met the real Morocco. The isolated way of life, the poverty and yet the wonderfully huge openhearted people that welcomed us everywhere. We drove up and down mountains, camped alongside a huge lake 9,000 feet above sea level, in and out of the odd forest and of course the Sahara Desert. Camping by an oasis with a cold beer or cool glass of wine (we had to take some necessities with us) beats any 5-star hotel. As for the matching beach, I can assure you taking a camel ride into the Sahara dunes to watch the sunrise is just breathtaking. The driving was a mixture of roads(ish), dusty mountain and forest tracks, sand tracks and massively wide-open plains.
Our 4x4 is a 6-year old Nissan D22 Navara double cab. Over the years it has grown in ability with improved suspension, second battery system, extra wheel carrier etc. The very best thing we added was the fridge in the covered load bay and I made a set of drawers for ease of storage, and of course our roof tent. Although our 4x4 was slightly modified, all anyone really needs on a 4x4 is a set of All-Terrain tyres and to have the suspension checked. We took a roof tent, which made life easier, but ground tents are fine. If, like Hazel, you’re worried about all things that creep, crawl and slither, then don’t. My wife said the only bug that troubled her, was me. Not sure what she meant. Seriously, you just don’t see any at all.
For us, this was just the best time and we can't wait for our next adventure. If you are considering a similar trip (and if you're reading this you're halfway there) and wanted some advise, then simply it would be "GET OUT THERE". Morocco is a wonderful country, the people are very friendly and the scenery, well, it's just awesome.
Here is a link to a larger set of pics
http://www.gallery.me.com/mikeyn58/100008
