Tonytone and 24seven head for Morocco

[tonytone]

Well tbe time has come and we are setting off to Morocco on Monday 12th April.

We will be joining 24seven and his mate in Zagora on the 24th.

Trying out a Tburaya sat phone this trip, so if anyone wants to follow our progress via thurayalocate.com pm me for log in details.

cheers

Tony

 

[Bat21]

Well tbe time has come and we are setting off to Morocco on Monday 12th April.

We will be joining 24seven and his mate in Zagora on the 24th.

Trying out a Tburaya sat phone this trip, so if anyone wants to follow our progress via thurayalocate.com pm me for log in details.

cheers

Tony

I've been following your progress so far via thurayalocate... looks like you guys are on the Demnat pass this evening.

 

[Bat21]

No update from Tony for two days on the Thurayalocate site... hope all is ok with their trip

Anyone heard from them?

 

[Bat21]

Just got an update, looks like Tony is 50 miles east of Ouarzazarte.

 

[Bat21]

Anyone heard from 24seven or TonyTone since last Thursday

 

[Gav Peter]

I see that they surfaced on the other side

 

[24Seven]

I'm here (well in a campsite in Spain) reading up on all the threads for the last month

Parted company with Tony on around the 5th, he went North we went east.

My mates LR died today and is being recovered to the UK (as far as I know).

I have done around 3700 miles in Morocco with the only fault being a bent exhaust, the trip overall will be over 4500 miles, I have around 230 miles to go to Bilbao for the ferry on Sunday

Another fantastic trip to Morocco (better start planning the next)

 

[Bat21]

Looking forward to seeing the photos (and track log )

Safe journey Matt and keep an eye in the rear view mirror tomorrow

 

[24Seven]

Safe journey Matt and keep an eye in the rear view mirror tomorrow

I will be keeping away from all those trucks, thats for sure

I got fined 400 Dh for Speeding this year, 69 Km/h in a 60, had tea with a border guard and given a small "present" by a couple of guys in a bull doser who turned up at a wild camp (only in Morocco)

 

[Bat21]

I will be keeping away from all those trucks, thats for sure

I got fined 400 Dh for Speeding this year, 69 Km/h in a 60, had tea with a border guard and given a small "present" by a couple of guys in a bull doser who turned up at a wild camp (only in Morocco)

I remember those 400Dh fines very well, we got pulled by the Feds in just outside Tantan last year and were fined the same for not stopping at an 'island' in the middle of nowhere

The small 'present' sounds intriguing

 

[24Seven]

Met a guy and his family in Spain on the way out, who we met last year and he also got a speeding fine, another guy who went in Feb I chat to, got a fine for overtaking on a solid white line, the Police are out in force for sure

Mine was leaving a town as well, they know where to catch you

We were very carfull arounf Tan Tan, everyone we met had a tale to tell about that place.

 

[ignat]

I have done around 3700 miles in Morocco with the only fault being a bent exhaust, the trip overall will be over 4500 miles

Glad to see your Colorado has treated you well.

Eagerly waiting for the trip report

 

[24Seven]

Got back into the UK yesterday afternoon and never even got pulled by the UK border guards. The Land Rover is being sent back to the UK on Friday, my mate got a plane home from Malaga on Saturday.

Total trip Miles were 4986 in the end with just over 4 weeks away.


Pictures are Here

titles are based on Chris Scott's Book (Morocco Overland) although there are way points that can be copied into Google Maps.

If anyone wants the Garmin track log, then PM your email address (around 3.5Mb)

 

[TonyP]

Some great pictures there Matt. Looks like you had a great time.

Did you encounter any issues with the LC's (punctures, something breaking etc) or any other trouble at all?

 

[24Seven]

Did you encounter any issues with the LC's (punctures, something breaking etc) or any other trouble at all?

The only damage is a bent exhaust, which then rattled metal to metal until I put some gaffer tape on it, to quietened it down. I did have a squeak that was a bit of a worry but after much bouncing the car when stationary (Hard work when it's in the high 30's ) was put down to a body mount which stopped squeaking a few days latter and has not since.

It was very very hot in the low southern areas and the wind blow up the sand for a couple of days, also I felt ill due to the extreme heat I was drinking 4L a day and still getting dehydrated so I had to use the air-con for a day or so.

The Toyota was been 100% reliable not needing any maintenance (I did adjust the air-con belt) during the trip, not even any oil. Myself and Tony with BFG M/T's suffered no punctures, the Land Rover with Macho style (remoulds) fitted with inner tubes suffered 21 punctures hardly a night pasted without the sound of a high lift jack being used which kind of says you get what you pay for.

My tyres are looking a little bit beaten around though after two trips to Morocco.

 

[Bat21]

.....the Land Rover with Macho style (remoulds) fitted with inner tubes suffered 21 punctures hardly a night pasted without the sound of a high lift jack being used which kind of says you get what you pay for.

How many

How come he was running with tubes in?

I used the Greenway Matcho's for one trip to Morocco..... only one puncture but, I took them straight off when I got home

 

[ignat]

Amazing stuff.

Why is it every trip report has a LR that needs towing home?? Poor buggers!

Gives me confidence that my Colorado will make it through Africa next year.

Nice pics by the way

 

[TonyP]

That's pretty impressive considering how rough some of those roads looked.

What about security? How safe did you guys feel?

 

[24Seven]

.....the Land Rover with Macho style (remoulds) fitted with inner tubes suffered 21 punctures hardly a night pasted without the sound of a high lift jack being used which kind of says you get what you pay for.

How come he was running with tubes in?

David does what David does I guess, to be fair last year his Land Rover was more or less fault free, this year there is a list of things that went wrong ending in the gear box in Spain.

 

[24Seven]

That's pretty impressive considering how rough some of those roads looked.

What about security? How safe did you guys feel?

Very safe, the Moroccans are very friendly and in fact look out for you in general.

We were camped very much out of site in the desert by a lake (N29 39.527 W7 12.296) with water in it (Jumped in fully clothed btw ) near the Algerian border and three smartly dressed Army guys turned up in the evening in a LC 70 series (Open top and no win screen or A posts) to check we were all right.

At another check point I was made tea and filled their book in round the back of the fort in the shade and spent a very nice 15 mins chatting, until David (who as a few miles behind) failed to stop and drove straight through the check point which had the border guard running down the hill.

Laayoune (very posh town) in the Western Sahara had the highest level of security IMO as an Army guy had a machine gun across his chest when taking your details.

Some of the kids in the High Atlas (they are very very poor there) can be a pain as they stand in middle of the road playing chicken with you which is all very well and good but they sometimes have toddles with them which don't move very quickly so you have to be very careful not to hit one.