Morocco October 2015

[MarkW]

So folks here it is final final version ahead of sending to George, any objections speak now or piss off

 

[Garfieldus]

From the voting I thought it was going to be...


Marocco 2015
Sand sweat and beers


What did I miss?

 

[MarkW]

chaos, confusion and randomness.........................................which seems to be setting the tone for the trip

I think it was 3 for Morocco 2015 and 3 for Raid Maroc? everyones happy with the camel, and I don't really mind if its beers or gears. imho the current version has date and location that Morocco 2015 would give us so kinda ticks most boxes?

 

[Gary Stockton]

Yup I like that one as it is

 

[GeorgeG]

I like it too! Don't really care if it's beer or gear. And I like the Michael Jackson version of the camel

 

[Charlie]

Morocco being a predominantly Muslim county you are probably better to keep beer(s) or anything alcohol related off any stickers that will be displayed on the outside of the vehicle, just my thoughts………..

 

[Garfieldus]

I think it was 3 for Morocco 2015 and 3 for Raid Maroc?

Ah right.... I saw it as 3 for Morocco 2015 and 1 for Raid Maroc.

 

[Chris]

That's the point I made Charlie.

Ctl + alt + P for me on that one or we'll never get off the ground.

I kinda fancy the camel though, is that so wrong?

 

[MarkW]

I kinda fancy the camel though, is that so wrong?

someone to remind me not to investigate any strange noises at night

 

[MarkW]

Route Update

The section between Assa and Tata that runs very close to the border and through several large military bases is not an option
I've found a couple of options that run further north to investigate, or we could head up into the Anti Atlas and loop round to Tata

 

[GeorgeG]

Route Update

... or we could head up into the Anti Atlas and loop round to Tata

offroad?Hope so!... I've watched a few youtube videos Assa-Tata and they seemed boring to me Land Rovers on asphalt...

 

[MarkW]

As much off road as possible George. The vid was probably the main road looks like we'll skirt north or this through the edge of the anti atlas


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[MarkW]

Right the planed route is pretty much done

From leaving Fort Bou Jerif we have 7 days with off road every day giving just over 1000km of desert. Some may be rocky tedious stuff at the time but its better than the tarmac alternative. Then we have an easy day from Erfoud to the start of the Todra Gorge on Tarmac (150km) before 500km across the atlas.

The atlas route is not known to me after Imichil at the top and I hope its mostly piste and there is indeed a piste there. No real trips into the Anti Atlas, Middle Atlas of Jbel Sahro, those are for another trip (2016?) but this route is pretty much the longest I can string together successive desert routes without heading into the Western Sahara.

We have 2 very long off road days with the planning so far of 250km a day. TBH planning a days travel varies depending on terrain and how the group dynamic works, my previous trips have been solo or smaller groups. Yesterday I thought I had too much desert to fit into the time we have but I've trimmed a 100km of desert off the end as we'll probably have had enough by then and it gives us more time for the Atlas.

The 2nd rest day I had pencilled in has gone due to lack of time for the route, but if we cover more km a day we can adjust the trip accordingly. If we don't have a second rest day maybe a nice desert auberge or hotel would be an idea after 7 days wild camping, if not Erfoud has a nice campsite with a pool.

At this point I'm happy we have workable route to start with barring any issue on the ground when we are there. Total of 3500km in Morocco roughly 50/50 Piste/Tarmac

75 Days

 

[Chris]

 

[MarkW]

So the plan is........................

02/10 - Meet at Portsmouth for the UK Group
03/10 - Arrive in Spain Drive to Salamanca
04/10 - Meet at 15:00 in the Lidl Car Park, Algerciras, catch ferry to Morocco, First night in Africa, Hotel
05/10 - Drive to El Jadida, motorway the whole way.............watch out for speed traps. Campsite
06/10 - Take coast road to Essaouira. Hotel
07/10 - Day in Essaouira to sight see, buy souvenirs. Nice restaurant meal on 2nd night. Hotel
08/10 - Drive to Agadir, stop at Hypermarket. Through Sous Massa national park (1st off road) to Fort Bou Jerif. Campsite
09/10 - Drive the Plage Blanch to the mouth of the Oued Draa, first Wildcamp
10/10 - Refuel, stock up in Tan Tan, drive east along the Oued Draa, Wildcamp
11/10 - head east skirting the southern edge of the Anti Atlas, stop in Assa for fuel etc around lunch. Wildcamp
12/10 - Possibly rocky day to Tata, Campsite or Wildcamp
13/10 - Head deep into the Desert south of Erg Chegagga. Wildcamp
14/10 - Erg Chegga to the Kem Kem Dinosaur Fields, Wildcamp
15/10 - Kem Kem to Erfoud, around the dark side of Erg Chebbi. Campsite
16/10 - Erfoud to the Todra Gorge, easy day on Tarmac. Campsite or Wildcamp
17/10 - Todra Gorge to Imichil passing 2800m above sea level. Wildcamp
18/10 - Imichil to Somewhere in the mountains. Wildcamp
19/10 - Descend out of the mountains. Campsite
20/10 - Long drive north to Asilah. Campsite or Hotel
21/10 - Leave Morocco, drive to Caceres.
22/10 - Caceres to Bilboa, ferry back to UK

All subject to change . Wrong tide times may change Plage Blanch, we should know before we leave Essaouira whether the tide will be low when we need it. If we find we cover more km a day than expected I can route plan on the fly for detours or extra time.

 

[mussy]

I'm in just need to figur out if I meet you at the Spanish port or in Morroco...looks great... Apart from the rock desert!

 

[MarkW]

Unfortunately I can't avoid it unless we go on tarmac , the route I had planned further south is a military piste and we'd get turned back. It may not be too bad, its not a route I've done before on this section

 

[GeorgeG]

loooooks goooood! ...Few weeks left !

 

[Garfieldus]

So the plan is........................

Superb, well done Mark. Can't wait....

 

[Gary Stockton]

Cool. When you have a chance a new .gpx file would be excellent!!