Having said our goodbyes to Chris and Penny, who were spending a fews days in Tarifa before heading up the east coast to relieve Penny’s youth, and to Tony and Margot who were joining Ray’s Andalucian tour, on the ferry and refreshed from the night on the campsite we began the long slog north on our own (oh to be … Read more
Month: May 2013
Leaving Morocco
After an extra day’s well needed rest, on Monday 27th May the final three vans carrying Penny and Chris, Tony and Margot and ourselves left the Cascades with the intention of getting as far north as possible for a ferry crossing the following day. Our aim was Asilah which was 508km away which on normal roads would be perfectly doable. … Read more
Saving the best to last
Friday 24th May and with all the shopping complete we leave the heat and chaos of Marrakech to move on to the final destination of the tour – the Cascades D’Ouzoud some 150km to the north east.
On the way we stop near Demnate, a town which we can safely say beat all other places hands down with the insanity … Read more
Marrakech via Tizi n Test
You need to zoom right in to see how the road meanders. Brilliant road.
Wed 22nd and today’s destination is Marrakech via the Tizi n Test pass through the High Atlas. The road through the mountains runs for around 150km or so and climbs to a height of 2092m through almost continuous hairpin bends. It is barely one car wide … Read more
Last wild camp
Today, Tues 21st May, will be our longest driving day of 320km/200 miles for tonight’s wild camp just north of Aoulouz at the foot of the High Atlas. The route is back along the Draa Valley where we stopped to buy a box of dates from a roadside seller (a good recommendation from the guide book) and then along the … Read more
Zagora – our southernmost stop
Sun 19th May and we head to Zagora for a two night stay. For a change we do take the direct route as it’s the only one and it takes us through the Draa Valley with its kasbahs and palmeries. The town of Zagora is like may others with one main street and the buildings are all modern as it … Read more
Starting to get hot
Sat 18th May and today we travel through the stunning Todra Gorge on our way to Tazzarine. The Gorge runs through 300m high sheer cliffs of red sandstone and at points narrows to just the road and the river wide. Having been before we didn’t stop this time although I probably still took hundreds of photos!
Camping Bougarfer (don’t quote … Read more
One bump in the road too many…..
Friday 17th and tonight’s destination is Tamtattouche at the northern end of Todra Gorge. But first we have to get out of the campsite…..
The campsite at Meski lies in an oasis at the bottom of a steep, slick, crazy-paved, twisting driveway and the only way to get out is put your foot down and go for it. One by … Read more
Meeting up with old friends
Thurs 16th May. Our stop tonight is Source bleue de Meski – one of our favourite places from the last trip but as with most of this trip, we do not take the direct route! First stop is Gourrama for a sneaky nus nus, well it wouldn’t be right to pass a coffee shop and not stop, and it’s then … Read more
The High Life
Wed 15th May. We were waved off from Fatima’s by the children and left feeling suitably humbled. We continued to head up into the Mid-Atlas with the High Atlas to our south and over Legionnaire’s Pass where there is a monument to those who lost their lives in the construction of the road through the mountains. Since coming into the … Read more
Fatima’s Farm
On the road to Imichil we found our next overnight site – a layby adjacent to Fatima’s Farm. This was not a formal campsite rather a spot of land next door to a farm owned by a lady called Fatima and so a second night of wild camping.
On pulling into the layby we were immediately surrounded by the children … Read more
The road to nowhere….
Tues 14th – our 2nd wedding anniversary and what a way to spend it! Today we are continuing our journey through the Middle Atlas but heading south towards the High Atlas. It’s a long driving day today of 245km which doesn’t sound a lot but on these roads it’s a full day.
After an earlyish start it’s off to Zeida … Read more
Into the wilderness
Mon 13th and a relatively short drive today heading into the Middle Atlas and the Cedar Forest.We left Fes heading towards Azrou with a short stop at Immouzer for a breakfast of pancakes and coffee (nus nus for me – something like a latte but half milk and half coffee) and a little shoppping in the markeyto top up … Read more
City Life
SAt 11th and we leave the lake for our first major city – Fes, the former capital of Morocco. But first we had
to get through the market at Ourtzarh where it seems everyone had come to sell their wares and at one point it
looked like someone was trying to load cows into the back of a transit! Having … Read more
The long and winding road
The following morning we went for a walk up along the track which ran behind the campsite and up the mountain where we had spectacular views of the valley in which Chefchaouen is nestled. The afternoon was spent trying, unsuccessfully, to avoid the heat as it is apparently unusually hot for this time of year – temperatures are around the … Read more
From the coast to the mountains
We left the madness of the border and headed to Martil and Camping Al Boustame – no real change to the campsite since the last time (no shower heads and only one proper loo with a bucket of water instead of a chain) but the town itself has had millions spent on it; the promenade along the front could be … Read more
The journey down – UK to Martil
So here we are four years on from when first thought about coming back to Morocco (that was actually half way through our last trip in 2009 with www.desertdetours.com). Due to work we leave the UK on the evening of Friday 3rd May and have to be at the meeting point near San Roque in southern Spain by lunchtime … Read more
At last….
…. the day has arrived. We have both been like 8 year olds in the way we have been looking forward to this trip. I can’t recall being like this for the 2009 trip to Morocco, but maybe we were.
Stopped at a garage to top up the gas system and tyres. While there I was approached by 2 separate … Read more