Return to the Western Sahara 2013

[wobbly]

Ive ordered a lightbar mount off fleabay, I agree with you about different angles - I have a dashcam and its pretty dry stuff.

 

[MarkW]

I used the gopro suction mount, mostly forward facing inside the windscreen but also mounted on the roof of the lead vehicle facing back. One angle that worked well was attached to the side of one vehicle filming the other side on

 

[MarkW]

So to recap briefy, we've driven Plage Blanche down to the Western Sahara, Smara, then across to the Coast at Boujdor, north to Laayoune and are currently 10km of the R101 between Smara and Tan Tan with electrical problems..............


Whilst drinking beer and waiting for gaffa tape to cure the electrical problems, we had established some theories why everything was closed

1. Aliens had stolen all the fuel forcing the fuel stations to close
2. Eid Al Adha - big religious festival
3. Unicorns
4. Industrial Action by the Moroccan Fuel Pump Workers Collective

We also prayed to the God Max Ellory and requested aid in our time of need. This didn't get us very far as the Australians don't believe in indexes and we were worried about the Unicorns.

After a sound nights sleep rocked by gentle desert winds and soft suspension Dawn woke us, we told dawn to f-off and had another hours kip. This was followed by strong coffee brewed in my trusty Kelly Kettle fuelled by camel sh@t (much better than goat) and decisions were needed a quick vote revealed that the group preferred option 2 Eid Al Adha for the mysterious lack of open fuel stations. I still think Unicorns had something to do with it, they're shifty buggers.

Morning also revealed gaffa tape had failed to cure my electrical problem and we decided on no charge from the alternator. What next well the nearest Toyota Dealer was back in Agadir, a full days drive north, but I had no charge. We did have 4 batteries between us so we set off north, stopping in Tan Tan to look for a mechanic with no luck. The drive was slow with my batteries running down every our or so but with cycling batteries around between the 2 trucks we got to Toyota Agadir about 4pm to find it shut. The nice security guard told us to come back in the morning.

We decided to stay at the campsite in the middle of town. Not the best in the world full of French Camper vans no hot water and definitely past its prime. This was my first time staying in Agadir and I don't think I'll be back in a hurry. Its modern clean, has a macdonalds etc but no character. We ended up here for 3 days trying to get repairs.

We visited Toyota the next day where they confirmed it was indeed a big religious festival and they weren't sure what a Unicorn is so discounted that. Downside no mechanic for over a week, ok what about a new alternator, yes they said but none in Morocco it'd have to come from Europe - 1 week - feck. They could get a voltage regulator so we ordered that not knowing if this would fix the problem or not. We then spent the day trying to find somewhere else to get repairs or a new alternator even asking a random French chap working on a rally 80 series. He was a waste of space blowing the 100amp fuse but said come back tomorrow and he'd get an auto electrician to have a look.

Time for some beer and internet searches establishing there's a huge scrap yard just outside town. Next morning we trundled off to the scrap yard and sourced a 2nd hand alternator for £160 (special tourist stuck in a religious festival price. Got this fitted and every thing worked

 

[MarkW]

Sorry for the lack of photos since leaving the WS for repairs we were a little preoccupied

After losing 3 days of our planned trip I had devised an alternative to get as much off road in a possible. The plan was to head east from Agadir to Taliouine and take the first part of route MH7 to Askouan then head North along MH8 through the high Atlas to pick up the Tizi-n-Tichka pass before turning south to Ouarazazte.

P1060919 Panorama by Trackasylum, on Flickr

Near Askouan

P1060925 by Trackasylum, on Flickr

P1060950 Panorama by Trackasylum, on Flickr

Into the High Atlas

P1060998 Panorama by Trackasylum, on Flickr

All in a great drive with no real drama in places the route we took was barely used and we needed to back track a couple of times. If you've not been to Morocco or even he High Atlas the views are stunning and a different one around every bend. We had hoped to get to Ait Ben haddou for sunset but didn't quite make it.

Rather than the regular hotel we stay at in Ouarazazte we decided to camp at a small French run site in the palmaries. nice quite campsite was a nice change from the big Camper Vans of Agadir.

My 2nd alternator worked perfectly

 

[MarkW]

After a pleasant night in Ouarazazate it was time to hit the road again. Generally we were heading north on our return to the UK but still trying to make up for the days lost in Agadir.

Bearing this in mind we headed south towards Zagora. My cunning plan for the next 2 day was to take the road south along the Draa Valley before swinging east to Nekob then picking up route MH4 north across the Jbel Sahro then up the Dades Gorge on route MH1 through the High Atlas.

Now the wonderful Mr Chris Scott (author of Morocco Overland) says MH1 is the toughest route in the book and you should allow 2 days. I obviously missed the last section and we only had 2 days to do the lot

The road south to Zagora has some great views

P1070010 Panorama by Trackasylum, on Flickr

Looking North to Jbel Sahro

P1070013 by Trackasylum, on Flickr

P1070020 Panorama by Trackasylum, on Flickr

The View South from Tizi-n-Tazazert peak

P1070055 Panorama by Trackasylum, on Flickr

 

[Chas]

Many thanks for the reports and fantastic pictures, I must say this has reignited my wish to return to Morocco.

 

[MarkW]

Thanks, there still another 3 days of the trip to cover but I need to upload some more pics first

 

[Bat21]

Nice writeup here Mark.

March is my fav time in Morocco, Snow on the mountains, almond blossom out, mid 20's temperature, lovely. All my 4x4 trips have been October or late November. I always think that in Oct on the well used pistes there been time to complete repairs following the winter. March tracks could still be unpassable in some areas colder altitude and possibly mud............not tried proper mud yet in the 95 but theres plenty of that here over winter

Pretty much my thoughts too although my personal preferences are either April/May or September, Sept being my preferred of the 3 due to winter damage that can sometimes cause problems in the earlier part of the year + the day light hours are a little longer in Sept.