Morocco October 2016

[MarkW]

Heard back from the chaps over on the HuBB, no track log but they used Gandini's routes (which I suspected).

From Smara to Dakhla took them 3 days roughly (2 nights wild camping). For those who came last year Smara is a day south of Tantan by tarmac or 2 days on piste with a fantastic dry lake bed (much much more fun than Lac Iriki we crossed on the way to Erg Cheggaga)

So with that information I can look into the logistics of a Western Sahara route, From leaving Essaouira we could take the quick route. That would be tarmac to Smara stopping at Tantan or Guelmim on the way south. This would put arrival in Dakhla 5 days later, 3 off road.

Alternatively, a day to Tantan on tarmac then 4.5 days off road to get to Dakhla.

I'm still flexible on routes, I'll happily do the Western Sahara if people are interested (and prepared mentally and physically) or if people didn't want the extreme of the remote nature and long mileage I'm happy to stick to the mountains of the High and Anti Atlas ranges.

 

[MarkW]

Ferry's all booked, leaving on the 7th October on the Plymouth to Santander Ferry and return on the 29th on the Santander to Portsmouth Ferry.

There is a very good chance this year that I may be free to extend the trip for longer. This is good but the reason behind it not so good long term. Any excuse to stay until snow falls in the mountains is fine with me

Still up for a Western Sahara route if other vehicles and drivers are prepared for the 1000km off road too Dakhla. Also happy enough just to do a load of mountain routes. We have unfinished business from last years trip in the High Atlas and a load of waypoints for interesting looking pistes to explore in the Anti Atlas and Jebel Sahro

 

[Mblinko]

Mark, have dates been finalised yet ?

ignore please,missed the above post somehow

 

[Mblinko]

Mark, is there still space, if so, put me down as a definite please.

 

[MarkW]

Plenty of space Mark, you're the first official definite

 

[Mblinko]

Plenty of space Mark, you're the first official definite

Excellent. As I am already in Europe, I will meet you at Santander.

 

[MarkW]

Great, ferry arrives at 17:30 Local Time and then we drive south for a few hours . Last year we camped at a truck stop just south of Salamanca for about 23:00

 

[GeorgeG]

When will you be in Alheciras on the way down Mark? Most likely I won't make it this year but who knows....hope dies last

 

[MarkW]

Algerciras on the 9th October on the way out George. Be really good to have you along again if you can.

Theres a possibility that I may stay out until the end of November this year if anyone wanted to come out on different dates

 

[Mblinko]

Mark, I'll assume the WS it is, so I'll carry the extra fuel cans as I have a std tank. Looking forward to it. Personally, desert is what I prefer. How many in the group this year ?

 

[MarkW]

Hi Mark,

Just the 2 of us confirmed so far. I'm fairly flexible on where we go but do want to do the WS to Dakhla if people are up for it. The route will take us 2 days further south than I've been before so I'm not sure what we'll see terrain wise. The bit I've been too was flat smooth fine gravel which made progress easy and the km pass quickly. It is very very remote and the isolation is stunning. It will be a long slog on tarmac back north though.

Things have changed for me with work from the end of the month, so its looking like I may be staying out for a few weeks longer than the planned 3 weeks.

Do you know when you need to be out of Morocco on the way home? It would help me rough out the plans.

Currently I have rough route planned out and will refine that when I have a bit more free time next month. First priority is a rusty body mount on my truck!

 

[Mblinko]

Sounds good Mark. I don't really have a date I have to be out of Morocco by but I would like to think I can start getting on with jobs at home by the end of October. So as not to mess with the plans, I could always peel off early with anyone else who needs to leave.

I've only been to Morocco with Waypoint so I have no idea about buying food there, so there will be blank looks and lots of questions from me come the time.

Current job on the car is the shed some weight. My interior set up is good, but heavy, so I need to re-think it.

 

[MarkW]

Well I can't promise Barries quality of catering thats for sure

We'll have a day in Essaouira to prepare and relax before heading down south and there's a nice shiny new Hypermarket on the outskirts of town where we can stock on supplies for the next section down to Dakhla.

Depending on which route we take south of Agadir there's plenty of small towns for food along the way with out last stop being Smara in the WS before we head out into the desert for 3 days. Water and Food supplies for this section should probably include a couple of days worth of emergency supplies per person.

 

[Mblinko]

LOL. Hyper market sounds good.

 

[MarkW]

Its handy, we have a day in Essaouira after the trek down so being able to stock up at a leisurely pace is better than doing it en-route.

The further south we get the more basic the supplies and also more limited in selection.

On a serious note Foreign Office Advice on the WS
https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/western-sahara

2 Major issues, terrorism and landmines.

Well last time we went in 2013 there was also a high risk of kidnap and we were fine. It is a disputed territory with a UN presence. During the fighting after the Moroccan take over a lot of mines were placed. A lot of these have been cleared since and commercial tourism is on the increase. Barrie (Waypoint Tours) does trips along with others. They are a sight risk imho but no more so than getting hit by a truck crossing the road.

The Moroccan have built a sand wall the full length and we'll be on the Moroccan side. The wall is heavily patrolled. On their side things are about as safe as anywhere. Some of the FO advice is on the other side or very
generic.

We may well encounter the Moroccan army and I know a few overlanders who have been detained and escorted back to tarmac, but in these situations they were very close to the wall (we should be further west)

AFAIK we won't see any sand sea desert, maybe some dune fields (definite on the way north) but I've not been that far south yet. The scenery could be quite featureless, just desert, horizon and sky. Some people find it a little boring. The emptiness is stunning in many ways though

Just want to be clear before we get there

 

[KriPa]

If you stay another couple of weeks I'll be there end of december.

Have fun. And post lots of pictures.

KriPa

 

[Mblinko]

Yes, I have been watching that advice for quite a long time now.

It all sounds very good. Whilst the 80 is almost bomb proof, I wouldn't want to test it, plus I can only carry so much loo paper .

 

[MarkW]

Well I'm now t a bit of a lose end having been made redundant last week . But I know have plenty of time to sort the truck out and get on with the route planning

From Essaouira we have a couple of choices which basically boil down to either running south on Tarmac to Smara and then off road (faster) or heading off road sooner and taking longer to get to Dakhla.


Option 1 - would mean 1 day to Tan Tan with either wildcamp, campsite or hotel. Day 2 to Smara (about a 3 hours drive) then into the desert.

Option 2 - would be the same first day but then heading off road mid morning and taking 1.5 days to get to Smara mostly off road with an amazing dry lake bed en route. ( this option also has the possibility of taking another day off road as we head south)

From Smara we have 610km to cover to the next fuel stop at the edge of Dakhla. At the moment I've allowed 2 nights wild camp between Smara and Dakhla.

Option 1 would see us in Dakhla for the 17th October, option 2 the 18th. I've planned a rest day in Dakhla so we get a chance to explore the areaand I suspect we'll arrive for lunch.

Heading back north will be a long day from Dakhla to Laayoune along the coast road for 550km. I've looked for alternative off road routes but theres not a lot and I think we maybe better getting north and then heading into the Anti Atlas and High Atlas for the last few days.

 

[Mblinko]

Sorry to hear that Mark. Hope there's something good on the horizon for you. Option 2 sounds good as does heading into the mountains on the way back.

Just a slight change on my part ..... Froggy Steve is going to the Tabernas desert, leaving on the 4th, so subject to details and all being well, I'll drive down with Steve and meet up at Algeciras (unless of course you can join us ?). I'm still chatting with Steve about the detail but it makes sense as we live in the same area.

 

[MarkW]

OK I'll work on both options for the moment and see what give the best end result.

I had thought about heading out early and hooking up with the Tabernas trip but I think I've got too much to get organised atm.