Morocco October 2015

[Gary Stockton]

Interesting. There is a little spot down near the WS border I want to get too but it seems to be more in Mauri than anywhere else. I'll look into how to get there - it looks fairly do-able but may run into military patrols who will prob at chase me off. Not too close to the berm though as I understand it.

It's a Saffa point of interest - final resting place of Pelikan-16

 

[MarkW]

Pelikan 16 is definately across the border people have visited but its risky. There are some posts on the HuBB about it.

You can get down to the WS on a shortish trip but as said it's a long drive. My last time was roughly a week after leaving the uk to get into the WS proper. Staying in Morocco gives much the same except it feels a little less remote

 

[Chris]

Wouldn't take much to get me quite interested in this. As long as I could scrape enough time together what with Romania in August. How long would you think is needed Gary including UK time, crossings etc and back home again.

 

[Gary Stockton]

A good 2.5 to 3 weeks Chris. You lose 2 days on the ferry and quite possibly 4 for travel from Santander to anywhere useful in Maroc (those are out and back numbers). I need to add another 2 days for trip from Edinburgh down to Portsmouth and back. It's a fekkin long set of commutes! Ferries are fairly expensive - I would want a cabin etc after being on the road for a full day already and facing another long trek afterwards.

That leaves 10 days / 2 weeks or so to do some interesting pistes and see the sights etc.

All in all pretty hectic except for the middle fun bit.

I've toyed with driving down through France and doing that canyon national park in NW Spain but it makes it too long and convoluted ...

 

[froggy Steve]

Always break the trip up with a night here lads! BBQ ready I will try and get something sorted for November - a trip, anywhere will do - not had a holiday proper for a few years now. Havent even got to the sea side this year cos of 'the wife's incident' Season starts again an a week or two, and that will be that till end October On the bright side, I am hoping for a nice hot summer

 

[Gary Stockton]

Yeah that's true - will be down your way-ish late June ...

 

[MarkW]

I reckon 3 weeks is minimum for an enjoyable trip.

I can get into Morocco Sunday night after leaving Friday from Portsmouth, if you drove hard you could be off road from Tuesday if you started in the Middle Atlas and headed south. I like to have the rest day before the main off road bit just to get set for the fun bit and as Essaouira is a nice place to relax I head there then down the coast before getting off road. We've been visiting Essaouira since our first trip so its nice to see a few friends.

Last year I had 13 days out of 3 weeks offroad

 

[Gary Stockton]

Yup Mark that kind of fits in with what I've read here and in Chris Scott's books

It's a real 'pole-pole' trip stuck in between 2 mad dashes

 

[Chas]

Interesting. There is a little spot down near the WS border I want to get too but it seems to be more in Mauri than anywhere else. I'll look into how to get there - it looks fairly do-able but may run into military patrols who will prob at chase me off. Not too close to the berm though as I understand it.

It's a Saffa point of interest - final resting place of Pelikan-16

She's still there Gary.

 

[Gary Stockton]

Thanks Chas - would be a bit of a pilgrimage ... A really interesting story that.

 

[froggy Steve]

if you are, then come on in

 

[Chris]

I've looked at my hols and it's workable. Christmas doesn't need many this year, I have bought an extra week and with working the odd BH here and there I could pull together 15 days to make 3 weeks. It's quite a long time to be away, but YOLO as they say. I'd need to block something out in my diary of I was going to do this. I can't really ask the business to move board meetings simply for my benefit.

I'll stick my hand up as a tentative almost certainty

 

[MarkW]

Cool

More on Pelican http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hubb/sahara-travel-forum/ws-and-north-mauri-60924

 

[Garfieldus]

Hmmmm..... six definite probables in three days!!! It could be good....

 

[Bat21]

.... ironic isn't it spain wants Gibraltor back from us but won't return Cueta & Mellila to Morocco....

Personally I think We should give back Gibraltar to Spain.... in exchange for Ceuta and Mellila of course

 

[MarkW]

I thought I'd post a little more info about how I structure my trips so people aren't under any misconceptions about how much time there is for offroad sections and get a feel for the trip

My strategy is to travel hard once in Spain and get to Essaouira asap. Last year it was Monday night but that was 2 very long days which might be too much for a group. The first few days I posted on the 1st page make the hard, get the miles done section fairly civilised imho.

Getting from the UK to Essaouira

Friday - Brim fuel tank and catch the 17:00 Portsmouth to Santander Ferry, neck a couple of seasickness tablets, have a few beers and enjoy the cabaret

Saturday - Arrive in Santander 17:30 drive to Salamanca area, 360km and 3.5 hours drive. Try to get further south if everyones fit for more driving - every KM makes Sunday easier. Overnight stay in motel or similar roughly 30euros

Sunday - 7am Start - Drive Salamanca to Algerciras 650km and 6 hours straight driving. Hopefully arriving for around 15:00, pick up tickets for the Morocco Ferry from Carlos and his lovely daughters. Get into Morocco on the 18:00 ferry. Being Spanish/Moroccan timetables are vague at best. Clear Moroccan customs for 20:00ish. Buy insurance (if the booth is open) Drive to Asilah. If the booth is closed drive to Fndiq and stay the night (note lack of insurance at this point! be careful).. Hotel for the night or camping £15

Monday - If insurance is needed back to the Port for 9am and insurance then hit the motorway south to El Jadida 5hours 470km drive. Moroccan motorways are toll roads but cheap, if your on your own by the end of the day you'll be pissed off being in a rhd truck. Hotel for the night may be an old palace - bit basic but stunning taste of old morocco £15

Tuesday - Drive along the atlantic coast to Safi and then down to Essaouira, beautiful coastal drive on quieter back roads than the day before. 4 hours 260km. Stay in a nice hotel in Essaouira £25 or camp there is plenty of choice

Wednesday - Enjoy Essaouira and acclimatise to Morocco a little. Have a walk on the ramparts or visit Jimi Hendrix's house. Stock up on fresh fruit and veg etc for the next few days.

The key is to keep covering the miles, it is possible to do Tanger Med Port to Essaouira in one day but its a 12 hour day easily. The itinary above means Monday and Tuesday are fairly easy days. At any point we think we can carry on driving we do to get this block out of the way.

From here we'll again continue down the Atlantic coast, first day well stop at the hypermarket in Agadir for supplies before heading towards Sidi Ifni and Fort Bou Jerif (http://www.boujerif.com/). Possibly some off road in the Sous Massa National Park.

Frome here on in we get into offroad mode. I find getting up early and off early means the whole day is more relaxed. We normally aim tobe on the road for 8am but rarely manage it and then drive all day until about 17:30 when we start to look for a campsite if wild camping and have enough time to get set up before sunset. The day is broken up with several stops for coffee and lunch and pretty much any time theres a good photo (about every 10 minutes some times). Obviously with type of trip the unexpected can and does happen, axles breaking, pistes washed away, army stopping you et all can disrupt plans, so again that earlyish start gives plenty of time for fightin these fires with the day becoming a rush.

 

[Chris]

Can we go tomorrow?

Sounds good, but as you say some fairly hard charging. Not too sure about all the hotel stuff. Be more happy in my RTT, but if there isn't anywhere then hotel it has to be. Obviously I have to get to Portsmouth which isn't just round the corner. I have discussed it with the current wife and told her she won't be coming. I didn't hear her reply.

I have to be home for the 25th though.

 

[MarkW]

I try to camp wherever possible but Spain tends to be motel wherever we get to although last year I almost slept in the truck. I'm very good with Spain options, they must have campsites along the route somewhere. Likewise there doesn't seem to be a campsite near Tanger Med so if the insurance booth is closed when we get in there isn't a lot of options other than the hotel.

Everywhere else theres a choice if we're in a town, but wild camping will take precedent once we get offroad properly

 

[Garfieldus]

Yes, I tend to get France and Spain out of the way as quick as I can. I know you won't be doing France but coming from Ireland the only other option is to go to north or south Wales and then a ferry to Spain from the south of England. I've done both and over the years found Rosslare to Cherbourg to be the best option for me.

I sleep in the rrt in services. I have everything with me for feed and rest and just go for it. I sometimes stay in a campsite on the evening before crossing to Morocco.

I don't like getting into Morocco in the evening and always get an early morning ferry. I suspect therefore I'll be a day ahead and meet up at the first stop in Morocco.

 

[AndyCook]

Definitely need 3 weeks for Morocco. Myself, I arrived in Spain on a Saturday evening at Santander, then and drive for 2 hrs before stopping to camp. Then 2 days drive down to tarifa, before crossing to Morocco on the Atlas overland trip on Tuesday morning. I prefer to make the journey part of holiday rather than long hours on motorways to reach destination. But if you are short of time this can be difficult,


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