morocco

[SpinDrift]

At the campsite I chatted with a Swiss couple driving a very nice 70 series land cruiser converted into a camper van. They were on the last leg of their trip having explored eastern Morocco. A few years earlier they had visited Mauritania - now there is an other interesting trip.

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The next day I headed off at day break taking the motorway towards Casablanca and on to Tangiers. The motorway passed some interesting rock formations between Marrakesh and Casablanca. Further up the coast I drove past some covered banana plantations. I arrived at Bab Sebta at around 6.00pm and crossed the border without any delay. I drove straight to the port and onto the ferry to Algeciras. That night I camped in the Lidl car park alongside several motor homes.

On the way up through Spain I stopped in Toledo, Spain's arsenal of old, for two nights. It is a magnificent city to visit. And you can wild camp for free in the large car park across the road from the bus station. There were as many as ten camper vans there.

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From Toledo, Santander was a five hour drive away.

This was a really great trip. I'll go back at some point as I am keen to explore Western Sahara and points further south.

 

[Gary Stockton]

Have you got some costs to share Reinhard?

Like -

diesel cost per litre in Spain and Morroco?
cost of insurance at the border / UK (green card)?
Visa cost?
Ferry cost from Portsmouth to Santander - I think it's in the region of £650 or so?
Ferry fromSpain to Morrocco - best route to take? and cost?
Any other costs you have to budget for (official type costs - not for spending / campsites etc.)

Cheers

 

[Sam]

First post in the thread Gary

 

[Gary Stockton]

Oh. Oops. Thanks Sam

 

[SpinDrift]

Hi Gary,

apart from ferry and fuel, the only other real costs were food, water and campsites - which to be honest are not that significant. Campsites were less than £10 a day. We took £100 worth of food (tinned stuff and rice/pasta) with us, a big chunk of which came back, so we were pretty independent food wise - although we did buy oranges, bread and water pretty regularly. We also bought veg like tomatoes, peppers, avocadoes and onions - which we either peeled, cooked or sterilised in a chlorine solution (Miltons - the stuff they use to sterilise baby's bottles), as well as fish and meat.

With regards to entry costs - there is no charge for temporary importation of a vehicle. A visa is not required for EU passport holders - details here: http://www.moroccanembassylondon.org.uk/en/viisa.html Car insurance was around £80 for a month.

I entered/exited through Cueta - the advantage being that you separate the disembarking/embarking from the ferry from the enrty/exit procedure into Morocco. Is it an advantage? I dont really know. But the problem with Cueta is that there is no insurance available at the border. I got mine 24 hours later in Fes - not ideal. You could travel to Tangiers. If you do I believe the new Tanger-Med ferry port (rather than the old port) is best. Insurance, afaik, is available at the border. Obviously it is easier if you could get a green card off your UK insurance.

 

[Charlie]

Insurance was €92 for 1 month at Tanger-Med ferry port, entry procedures were also very easy there.

 

[Charlie]

Fuel costs,
Morocco highest 7.6 MAD and Western Sahara cheapest 5 MAD.

 

[Charlie]

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Suddenly we came to a steep descent into a narrow gorge, some 30km from Hawza, that opened up onto a plain. Magnificent view. We made camp in the gorge, which turned out to be very windy - possibly because of the funelling effect of the surrounding hills.

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We broke camp early and headed down to the dried lake bed. The lake bed is 10 km across and is very flat - and is actually a great drive. I suppose it is very easy to get disorientated on it, but the way across is dead straight and is marked with cairns.

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On the otherside of the lake we picked up an old Spanish road. The road is in very bad state, with many pot holes and even missing secions, but it was a choice between either that or corrugations. A new road is being built. This road (following the route of the old P42) seems to be coming from Talha and joins up with the tarmac just West of the military post in Hawza. There should have been a checkpoint at Hawza but we didnt come across one when we drove past - or should we have driven straight through the gates and into the military post? We didn't and no one pursued us.

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Shortly after we picked up the tarmac road that took us across an area which some site on the internet claim is a mine field from the conflict in the 1980's. We came across a couple of white UN Nissan Patrols on this road, a few Land Rover Santanas and quite a few 70 series Land Cruiser pick ups.

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Just outside Smara we got to a checkpoint where the police officer, waving an iphone 4, asked for the usual details plus how long we intented to stay in Smara and where we would be heading afterwards. Just refuel and head to Laayoune, we said.

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Actually we drove into town to have a gander and visit the local market. There was a strong military presence - not just Moroccan army, but also UN peace keepers - in town, but it was pretty relaxed and the locals didn't even give us a second glance.

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On the way out of Smara we passed through a different checkpoint: 'I've been expecting you' said the officer and he proceeded to check our documents against the details he had already received from the previous checkpoint! But I must point out that the military and police at all checkpoints were always very polite and south of Assa, all spoke English. In the north they tend to wave foreign vehicles through. In the south, you were always stopped - but in quite a few cases we were let through after a brief chat when we said we didnt have any fisches.

The road to Laayoune is tarmac and takes you through an arid landscape with occassional small building or tent.

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In Laayoune we were pulled up by a local policeman. Now what, we wondered. He asked for our documents - passport and 'carte gris' and then asked if we had car insurance - which we produced with a flourish - to his dismay, we suspect. We headed north on the N1 and stopped at the Le Tre Roe campsite. We ate in their restaurant, which is very good but maybe a tad expensive, and were served in fine bone china plates with gold edging!!

At the campsite we met an old Andorran gentleman driving a 120 series Land Cruiser. If I understood him correctly, he said that Land Cruisers for the Spanish market are assembled in Spain and could modified at the assembly plant - e.g. non standard suspension, etc. The advantage of this was that it avoided the engineers test and certification that would be required if you modified the vehicle yourself. But as I say, I might have misunderstood. Anyway his 120 sported a winch
hidden behind a standard, non sprayed, front bumber. Inside, the back seats had been stripped out and he had a storage system, bed, cooking area and even a toilet!! He had changed the front passenger seat into a swivel one, so it could be turned to face the rear - giving more convenient seating space when he was parked up but it seems that this mod was not quite in order and he had to swap seats whenever he had to take the vehicle in for testing. It seems that he was on his way back from Mauritania and that he spends around four months a year on the road.... ahh, the life ...

We must have driven the same tracks

 

[Charlie]

At some point we crossed into Western Sahara. We saw military debris – some empty tubes – this having been a battle ground on the 80s.

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Heading south we found one of these on the right-hand side of the track, next to a small circle of stones making some graves.

 

[SpinDrift]

At some point we crossed into Western Sahara. We saw military debris – some empty tubes – this having been a battle ground on the 80s.

[attachment=0:3rlxwqok]DSC_4360.JPG[/attachment:3rlxwqok]

Heading south we found one of these on the right-hand side of the track, next to a small circle of stones making some graves.[/quote]

Yes, that is the one in the photo. We spotted another two once we descended through the pass just before the dried lake bed.

 

[SpinDrift]

We must have driven the same tracks

Yes, we must have done - I recognised some of the places in your pics. Great trip.

 

[SpinDrift]

Insurance was €92 for 1 month at Tanger-Med ferry port, entry procedures were also very easy there.

How was the entry through Tanger-Med?

Bab Sebta (Cueta) was chaotic in April 3 years ago but was very calm and quiet in January/February this year.

 

[Charlie]

Insurance was €92 for 1 month at Tanger-Med ferry port, entry procedures were also very easy there.

How was the entry through Tanger-Med?

Bab Sebta (Cueta) was chaotic in April 3 years ago but was very calm and quiet in January/February this year.

Tanger-Med, excellent all procedures very easy.

 

[JakeM]

Absolutely fantastic photos. Very inspiring Thank you.

 

[Gary Stockton]

Just resurrecting this thread ....

What's the shortest amount of time to spend in Morocco to make it any sort of worthwhile?

I have, maybe, 10 days to play with end-August and was thinking of going there and down to Western Sahara area only for that amount of time - on my tod. Obviously I'd love to go for longer and go to more places, but given where my life is at the moment with SWMBO frantic on her PhD (so no time off for her) and daughter getting married in September, funds and time are both tight, so not too much I can do (although maybe I'll say stuff-it and go to the Red Sea on a liveaboard for a week - cheaper than a ferry ticket )

I just looked at the Brittany ferries site and got a fright - £850-ish for a ticket for me + Cruiser to Santander from Plymouth return (dates and times suit me better than Portsmouth - I have to drive from Edinburgh first!). That's a lot of fuel - and time. Is it really worth it to go to Santander or should I go to France and drive down???

Questions, questions - all a bit vague at the moment I'm afraid. Anyone else planning to go there at this sort of time? Any other suggestions?

I need some sun and off-road driving!!!

Cheers

 

[SimonD]

Lateral thought Gary. If you find 10 days too short for Morocco [quite a distance from Scotland in getting there and back] and you want sun and driving, consider Oman. You get dunes, sea, wadis and all sorts and they love Land Cruisers to boot. We hired one and had a great day up a wadi. The major bookshops including the airport have 4wd route books and there are companies like http://www.gulfleisure.com/dunedriving.htm where you can join a tour or probably even create a bespoke one. I don't know this company - just an example but there are others. The flights are reasonable too although the better driving is probably towards Salalah in South West. We went to Muscat [which is a nice city - souks are like Morocco but without the hassle]

 

[Andrew Prince]

Lateral thought Gary. If you find 10 days too short for Morocco [quite a distance from Scotland in getting there and back] and you want sun and driving, consider Oman. You get dunes, sea, wadis and all sorts and they love Land Cruisers to boot. We hired one and had a great day up a wadi. The major bookshops including the airport have 4wd route books and there are companies like http://www.gulfleisure.com/dunedriving.htm where you can join a tour or probably even create a bespoke one. I don't know this company - just an example but there are others. The flights are reasonable too although the better driving is probably towards Salalah in South West. We went to Muscat [which is a nice city - souks are like Morocco but without the hassle]

OT - I'm off to Salalah in 10 day if there's anything I can help with.

 

[Gary Stockton]

Thanks guys - at this rate I'm going to hop on a plane (well, 2 planes seeing as I have to get to Gatwick first) to Marsa Alam and go diving on Emperor Divers Elite I think - far less hassle, and surprisingly a lot cheaper than trying to get to Morocco...

So sun and sea vs. sun and sand

Still pondering

 

[Chris]

You know that you are always welcome to stay with us if you need a stop over either on the way down or way up Gary. More likely on the way I would think, but there you are.

Chris

 

[Bat21]

Gary, it will take you 3 days to get to Algeciras which ever way you go.... that's only going to give you 4 days in Morocco which isn't worth it.... stick with the sun and sea option chap