18th October - 10th November Actual
Portsmouth - Spain - Tangier Med - Moulay Bousselham - Azrou - Casades d'Ouzoud - Marrakech - Essaouira - Safi - Oualidia - El Jadida - Casablanca - Mohammedia - Kenitra - Chefchaouen - Tangier Med - Algercias - Tafira - Gibraltar - Costa del sol - Motril - Sevilla - Caceres - Burgos - Santander - Portsmouth.
Well, another excellent trip, cut short on some pistes because of the weather, but my love for Morocco and Northern Spain grows. Some awful weather, some glorious sunshine but with stunning mountains, forests and beaches. 3,211 miles
http://www.findmespot.com/spotadventures/index.php/view_adventure?tripid=285529
Maroc 2 18/19th Oct Southampton – Portsmouth – Santander - Valladolid
Left home far too early again, just too excited as always and got to the ferry port in plenty of time. Through passport control, customs and boarded the ferry to Spain;
http://www.brittany-ferries.co.uk/fleet/pont-aven Nice calm crossing all the way to Spain, enjoying the good food and a glass or three of nice wine soaking up the atmosphere, it was almost a shame to get off really. We docked at about 18:00hrs on the19th and I drove to my 1st stop; http://www.eurocampings.co.uk/en/europe/spain/castile-and-le%f3n/campsite-cubillas-110240/
Already emailed the campsite a few days before to ensure they’re open, and sure enough they were, by the time I arrived about 21:00hrs I was glad they were, nice welcome, a sandwich, a glass of wine and turned in happy again to be travelling again.
20th Valladolid – Dos Hermanas
A stunning long sunny drive down again via Valladolid, Salamanca etc, this is truly a great road. All the way to this excellent campsite, again, I’d emailed them to ensure they’re open (all year round), had a swim, a bbq and a glass or three in the evening sunshine.
http://www.eurocampings.co.uk/en/europe/spain/andalusia/campsite-villsom-106564/
21st Dos Hermanas – Algercias – Tangier Med – Moulay Bousselham, Morocco
Another sunny start to the day hit the road south all the way to Algercias. Paid the only toll 6.10Euros between Sevilla and Jerez and headed towards Algercias and the coast. Brought tickets again from the famous Carlos from the HUBB Sahara forums, along with your tickets you get a nice cake, a bottle of bubbly and now a D16. Had already printed one off anyway, but took theirs’ and it worked quite well.
Got to the port early afternoon, buoyed with the prospect of returning to Morocco, and just being happy to be heading there. Hopped onto the Algercias – Tangier Med fast cat and about 40mins later arrived in the new port of Tangier Med, got the passport and entry slip stamped on the ferry which made entry a bit quicker, off the ferry to join the queue for customs.
Tangier Med is a huge port, no touts/helpers to be seen, so slowly moved forward in a queue un pestered, and then got stuck for about 20mins behind a couple of Dutch plated vans importing something, a Belgian behind me overtook us and started a new queue, I thought about it, then thought can’t be bothered, hopefully the vans will move soon. They didn’t, another 15mins and I overtook the vans and started another queue, then sat there for about another 15mins, trying not to look impatient and was called forward by a friendly customs officer, who took away my passport and D16 to be stamped, came back within 5mins, all ok and looked around the Landy and waved me on my way, well that was easy!
As I passed the last of the custom officers, I saw the Belgian still unpacking his vehicle, it’s not a good idea to hurry up the customs IMHO, and this guy was finding the result of doing so. Stopped at the insurance and money exchange booths and left the port, wohoo!
Hit the toll road South, just happy to be in Morocco again, made the campsite at Moulay Bousselham, the one “that’s pestered with mosquitoes” according to one travel guide, but at this time of year, seemed to be more flies so a quick spray of deet to clear the air and sat down enjoying the first evening in Morocco, spoke to a lone French motorcyclist who was on his way home after 3 months in Morocco, and a couple in their 110 on the way to South Africa; http://vengavamos.weebly.com/index.html
A lovely evening.
22nd Moulay Bousselham – Azrou
Up early as usual, have a brief breakfast, and a mug of tea, showered and on my way. The aim was to go direct to the Erg Chebbi area and then work my way along the bottom to Zagora and circle south and back up again. So I headed off down the toll road South, pass Kenitra – Rabat - Meknes and onto Azrou, made good time, stopped for fuel and for a snack, had a local sandwich with meat I couldn’t recognise, but it tasted alright.
Arrived at scenic Azrou mid-late afternoon, found the campsite but looked closed or just quiet, as I’d passed the new Eurocamping a mile or so back on the same road I turned around and tried that.
Well, what a place, a sort of Disneyland castle/campsite, all pretty strange, but with great staff and excellent facilities and it has 3 camping areas; tourist, business and 1st class areas, spread on 3 different levels, amazing. As it was near the end of the season (1800m up and can snow here) not only was the camping free (€2 per night otherwise) but also a free lamb tajine given on arrival, most excellent. This place was built my money donated by a wealthy Saudi and it shows, this amazing place would be a tourist attraction in Europe, so just sat in the sunshine and enjoyed myself chatting to other campers, next to me a Dutch couple in their 32yr old Renault campervan which they brought new and were still travelling around in it. Great stuff!
So turned in for the night and woken up by a horrendous electrical storm, thunder/lightening and a lot of rain, after a while thought s@d this and slept for a while inside the Landy as the roof tent isn’t earthed, eventually the storm passed and I returned to the tent. Not a good, or long night’s sleep.
23rd Azrou – Casades d’Ouzoud
Awoke early to the sound of the apes making a whooping noise, showered, had toast, had tea and the world looked better after the worst night’s camping I’ve ever had, which is saying something, though the weather had only improved slightly.
Hit the road after thanking the excellent camp staff and headed into Azrou, a decent sized reasonably pretty town and headed south west along the N8 towards Marrakech, through Khenifra on market day, the most amazing sights and sounds onto Kasba Tadla and Beni-Mellal where I stopped and grabbed a snack and drink and brought some fresh bread, a nice place, lots of atmosphere. I had already seen signs of the dirt track from El Kebab to the gorges being blocked because of a landslide.
At this point I made contact with a local I met on the last trip about the state of the pistes south near Erg Chebbi, particularly MS6, from the Chris Scott’s book, the Oued Ziz was flooded and thus causing problems for all traffic, this route was actually closed in 2008 because of the weather, damn, but I still could go to Zagora and south.
So I turned left onto the R304 towards Azilal, the idea being to go over the top of the mountains, then head south. So I climbed through rain, then heavy rain, then rain and mist, not the best weather to travel in, but what views I saw were, outstanding! I will, hopefully return to this region.
I arrived in Azilal after a long drive, had lunch, studied maps, and thought lets visit the Cascades, I didn’t realise I was that close, also with the weather being rubbish a chance of an early stop is too good to pass up. So I drove down towards the cascades, stopped at camping zebra N32 00’ 351” W6 43’ 177”, thankful for my planning flexible routes and what a campsite, a real campsite, great staff, excellent facilities and in a glorious setting.
Pitched tent after a long enough day and enjoyed the late afternoon/evening in this stunning setting, albeit the weather was still overcast and I saw later the lightening/thunder over the Atlas Mountains from where I was, though it didn’t rain where I was because I dropped about 500m, but the views were incredible. Met a Spanish couple, who after being made redundant decided they were taking 2yrs or so going around Africa, respect.
24th Casades d’Ouzoud – Marrakech
A reasonable but overcast day, got up early, showered, had tea and set off for the cascades, about 1km from the campsite.
So I walked into the small village where the cascades are, the village is toutville, I don’t mean that unkindly, it’s a nice enough place but near a major tourist attraction you’ll going to get touts. But they weren’t pushy, saw the top of the cascades, and then haggled like mad to get a small tour around the area.
And very nice it was as well, stunning, amazing and would have been great to see these glorious cascades with clear water, but with so much rain over the last few days, it was like a chocolate coloured, muddy waterfall and the rocks below were still muddy from the dirt washed down by the rain, but it didn’t ruin my enjoyment and experience of this beautiful area. Even a got a boat across the bottom, to come back up the other side.
Almost 2hrs later I wandered back to the campsite, knackered after walking all the way around and then down to the cascades, then back up the 750 (no I didn’t count them) steps to the top again. If I go again, I’ll do that at the end of the day, then relax, not in the morning with a days sightseeing in front of me.
But anyway, left the campsite, glad to be sitting down and followed the R304 to Khemis-Majden and the R208 through Attaouia-Ech-Cheibiya, which despite its is a small place and typically Moroccan. Joined the main N8 and turned right on a single sealed lane through some beautiful scenery, rather than take the main tourist route to Marrakech, I followed this road to the north, purely because it came out near the campsite, and so it did after a landcruiser nearly put me in a ditch, armhole!
I arrived at this great campsite mid afternoon, just wanted to relax really, weather was poor, but what cheered me up was meeting the Brussels to Benin Rally vehicles and guys and gals there. Brilliant! Some many adventurers here, particularly the guy in a 2 wheel drive 2CV on his 3rd rally, amazing! I loved the little Iveco 4x4 support truck; it was good to see a proper overland rallying set-up.
Late afternoon it started to rain, then got windy and just didn’t let up, so I turned in early, thankful for parking the 110 head on into the wind, another wet night, such is life!
http://lerelaisdemarrakech.com/
25th Marrakech - Essaouira
Up early, buoyed by a new day and a great mug of tea. Saw the rally vehicles leave for Benin, wishing I was going with them, oh well. I have my own small adventure to get on with, and must be grateful for that inspite of another overcast, drizzly day.
Needed some decent weather, check the internet and local weather forecasts, rain in south and west, but moving inland. Right I thought, this gives me an opportunity to visit Essaouira, although a tourist spot, it’s a bit out of the way on the coast, so thinking if I travel west, I’ll get some rain in the morning and by the afternoon when I get to the coast the sun will be out, good thinking hey, and did it work? Surprisingly yes, wohoo!
So it was, I gambled by throwing my dirty laundry and some dobie dust into my washing machine, (plastic container on roof rack); stocked up of fuel, got food stuff at a marjane before leaving Marrakech, fought my way through Marrakech, (a lot more police checkpoints here and all over Morocco since April) and out on the N8 towards Oudaya and Chichaoua, onto lovely Sidi-Moktar, where I stopped for a snack and brought some fresh bread (also rinsed my laundry, put fresh water back in the container and back on the rack) and followed this stunning road (the condition of most of Morocco’s’ roads are excellent) through a number of villages and towns before arriving at Ounara, a nice and bustling place, campsite on the left as you enter the town, near the roundabout, a short walk into town from the campsite it would make a good stopover.
However, I drove and onto into Essaouira, well towards the beach and the campsite which is opposite the beach, great little campsite, near the tourist area; camels, horses, quad bikes, various water sport stuff for hire etc and some nice little cafes/restaurants on the beach all about 10min walk away. And the sun was out! Very thankfully for that, it just brightens things up, it more ways than one.
So I threw up the roof tent, put the now rinsed laundry on the washing line and wandered towards the beach, port and town, the port is about a 30min walk from the campsite.
Walked along the beautiful beach, passing camels, horse’s quad bikes etc, and the nice little eating places, then carried on around the bay towards the port. Essaouira port is a must see, it’s nearly in all the travel supplements you get in the papers, if it mentions Morocco, and it’s a really lovely typically Moroccan town and port, loved seeing the port, wandered around and through the souks and the medina, part of the old town, stopped for a bite to eat and a drink. And wandered back to the campsite after about 3hrs, had a great time and in about 25C, marvellous.
Got some maps out, a landy mag, and relaxed with a glass or 3 in the evening sunshine, a great ending to a great day.
26th Essaouira
Got up, had a mug of tea and thought stuff it, it’s sunny, I’m near a beach and some cafes, I’m going to stay here today. And I did, the washing had dried, brought some fresh bread, made some corned beef sandwiches, gathered a couple of cans of coke and wandered off to the beach mid morning and just sat enjoying the view, weather and tranquillity.
After a few hours wandered back to the campsite and just slouched lazily the rest of the afternoon, lit a bbq, and enjoyed the evening. Spoke to a Dutch couple with a nice old landcruiser with a camper cabin on the back, they had just come from the Tiznit area, saying there’s a few flooded wadi’s but not too much problem.
So Maps out, a bit of studying over a glass of Moroccan wine, yes Moroccan and very nice to. Must be the French influence.
27th Essaouira – El Jadida
Got up to a beautiful sunny morning, studied maps again and weather forecasts with a mug of tea. Agadir and south rain today, possibly sun tomorrow onwards, North is sun, so options time; thought ok, could go south through Agadir, onto Tiznit and spend a few days visiting the area, including Sidi Ifni, plage blanc, FJB, etc, but so much to see down there would mean rushing it, didn’t want to that or go north and see places I wouldn’t see normally because they’re out of the way a bit.
In the end I thought go north and take your time, and I can see the south when I have more time in fact next time I can drive directly there now that I seen the coast bits I wanted to see.
And so it was, left Essaouira and travelled along the R301 coastal road, a truly lovely road with great views and some nice little villages, rounded the coast to Safi, where the first view is of a power station and the weather was overcast, stopped at a supermarket, stocked up and found the campsite just north of the town, it was a bit run down, no one else there, and it had peacocks wandering around, noisy buggers, thought not for me and carried onto Cape Safi, a good spot for lunch and some map studying.
Knew of a campsite in Oualidia, after a while I drove up the coast to there, a lovely little place right on the beach, toilets poor, showers don’t ask, also no campers here, just a few motor homes. But the views are great and a lovely little prosperous seaside town, with cafes/restaurants all within easy walking distance. The only thing being is that a little road runs through the campsite and as it’s a big fishing area, there where quite a few local fisherman coming pass on scooters trying to sell their catches, the langoustines looked very nice indeed.
After a while I thought lovely place, sunny, but didn’t feel comfortable here, don’t know why, everyone was friendly. So I left and carried on up the coast to Safi, got there late afternoon in the rain, that’ll teach me, found the campsite, pitched the tent, had a chat to a French couple in a 110, lit a bbq and huddled under the roof tent out of the rain, but still an had enjoyable day and saw some lovely sites.
28th El Jadida – Mohammedia
I wanted to see El Jadida, read a lot about it, up early, showered, packed up and had tea and drove around this very nice town, a few garages still use old series landies as breakdown vehicles, all looking well cared for. I was impressed with El Jadida, a busy place, loads of tree lined roads, clean streets and a relaxed atmosphere.
After a while I joined the road north to Casablanca, nothing special the drive into this city, couldn’t find the campsite, so drove around this city for a while and it was manic, thought stuff this, hit the coast road to see the only thing I wanted to see, the Hassan II mosque, apparently the largest in Africa, and what a sight it was as well, huge and magnificent, tried to stop, but couldn’t find a place anyway, pray time so cars were double parked all over the place.
I was glad to fight my way out off Casablanca, shame about the campsite, oh well, knew of one just north near Mohammedia, as you head north on the coast road just before Mohammedia, you can see the Ocean Bleu campsite from the road, turn down between the apartment blocks, along the beach a little way and you arrive at this great seaside campsite. Good toilets/showers, good size pitches and quite a few campers.
A meaty stew and potatoes, and then had a great evening with a Moroccan and a French couple, they didn’t speak English; I don’t speak French, but still an enjoyable evening.
Studied maps, had tea and turned in for the night.
29th Mohammedia - Moulay Bousselham
Up early, studied maps again and some thinking was needed, do I head inland towards Meknes or do I cut my trip short in Morocco and visit friends in Spain (which was long overdue) and see some more of Spain, this would also mean I wouldn’t need to change anymore money or extend my vehicle insurance.
So the decision was made to head north on the coast road towards Rabat, a stunning drive, passing through some very wealthy areas and a royal palace, before joining the road around Rabat, didn’t want to see anything in Rabat, but did want to stop in Kenitra and I did, arrived there early afternoon, held up by traffic accident, spotted a supermarket and fuel station on the way into town, so stopped, refuelled and stocked up.
Found the campsite, it seemed ok, but it was a bit early to stop, so I drove around Kenitra for a while and then hit the toll road by mistake, wanted to take the smaller road but missed the turning and found myself joining the toll road, too late. I wasn’t overly bothered and it was only a short distant, so I came off the toll road and pulled up outside the 1st night’s campsite, a good welcome, pitched up, wandered up the to café I passed on the way down to the campsite (10min walk), had a decent meal and wandered back.
An enjoyable evening, just relaxing.
30th Moulay Bousselham – Chefchaouen
Up early and hit the road, wanted to get to Chefchaouen early, didn’t feel I did it justice last time. Took a very scenic route there; R406/P4208 to Arbaoua, N1 for a while before joining the lovely R408 to Ouazzane, a nice little place, pottery stalls everywhere, picked up the N13 through the gorges, outstanding, hopped across the N2 and in Chefchaouen by early afternoon.
Found the campsite easy enough, pitched up and wandered into town, found a shortcut down some steps (out of the campsite gates, down the short road straight across at the bottom towards a flat piece of ground near the large hotel, and there’s a path), a lovely stunning little place Chefchaouen is, I wandered around the old medina and souks for quite a while, saw the amazing pale blue buildings, had a snack and wandered back to the campsite.
Had a great evening chatting to a couple of lads from the Czech republic would had long boarded around Morocco, the odd train and a few buses, but 700kms on road, amazing!
Another great day.
http://www.campingchefchaouen.com/
31st Chefchaouen – Martil – Tangier Med – Tarifa Spain
Up early and left early to get to the port, but first as is was almost on the way I wanted to find the campsite at Martil, on the coast near Tetouan. So I joined the N2 to Tetouan, passed through there and onto Martil, which is rather a nice place, the campsite didn’t look brilliant but pleased I found it. Back through Tetouan, why I didn’t go north through Findeq, which would have been shorter and quicker no idea.
So I carried on the N2 which was a busy road through some stunning scenery, before joining the toll road to Tangier Med, arrived at the port at about 11.00, just in time for the 12.30 ferry. Stopped by some helpers? Who shouted “ticket validation” ??? so drove a bit forward, and some helper came over with a badge and “ticket validation”, haven’t a clue but got out, locked up and walked over to the ferry booths on the right.
Oh, ticket validation means boarding card, through passport control, vehicle check, then had to get out while an oversized Xray machine scanned the vehicle, and onto the quayside 2nd in line to get onto the ferry, thought this is either the wrong queue or very few cars on this trip.
There was no 12.30 ferry, never did find out why, the next one was at 16:30, bummer. Oh well, made some lunch and read a book. The ferry duly arrived then took about 2hrs to unload, by the time we loaded and got off in Algercias, through customs plus an hour on the clocks, it was after 20.00, went direct to Tafira, found the campsite; Camping Rio Jara N 36° 2' 32.7" W 5° 37' 48.4" (opp sun and sail on the main road) easy enough to find even in the dark, pitched up and relaxed thinking about another excellent trip albeit a shortened one than planned in Morocco.
1st Tarifa – Gibraltar – Malaga – Calahonda, nr Motril
Up not that early, had a lovely shower at this excellent site, a nice mug of tea, phoned friends to ensure they’ll be available for a couple of days and set off along the coast to Gibraltar.
A lot of people I’ve met don’t like Gib, and a lot do, I do and I haven’t been there for a while, so as it was on my route, I thought I’d visit the rock.
Joined the N340, and headed through Tafira, this whole area is beautiful with a good coast road and great views. Stopped again at the Carrefour supermarket the other side of Algercias, nr the ticket office, rejoined the motorway, came off and headed for Gib, joined the queue to get in, and after 30mins or so through passport control and drove onto the rock, a drive around, up to St Michaels where, caves, tunnels etc are and apes, stopped took a few pics, the apes seem to enjoy playing on the landy, strangely very similar to the apes I’d seen in Morocco, after a while dropped into town again and back over the runway and into Spain.
Then joined the N340 coast road all the way up to just before Malaga, a lovely drive spoilt by so many properties, before hoping onto a motorway to Motril, made some time and arrived at a very good campsite; http://www.campingcastillo.com/en/
Open all year round, just outside Motril at a place called La Mamola nr Calahonda.
The weather was ok as well, did some washing, and enjoyed the afternoon and a good lunch, the evening and a bbq, a glass of Spanish wine and turned in for the night.
2nd Calahonda, nr Motril – La Rabita and area
A late start, packed up, had a good mug of tea and set off to see family friends had a great time visiting their lovely village in the hills, then down to La Rabita for lunch, then back up for a great afternoon, a lovely home cooked roast and spent the evening catching up with various things, really enjoyed it.
3rd La Rabita and area – Sevilla
Unfortunately the rain and mist had arrived here so sightseeing up in the mountains would be poor, so I said my farewells and thanks, wished them good luck and drove down to the coast road, along to Motril, onto Malaga and then the motorway to Sevilla, a really nice scenic drive, great roads, beautiful views and by early afternoon the sun came out.
Made very good time, stopped only briefly for a snack and drink, came off the motorway, drove through Dos Hermanas to the same campsite as before, a great campsite, a good welcome, pitched the tent and promptly got a flat tyre??? Bizarre! Glad I was carrying 2 spares, I put one on. (Got the tyre looked at, at home, the tube had a small hole caused by rubbing against something on the inside of the tyre, well they’ve been on 4.5yrs and the that’s the first flat, happy about that) Anyway, very thankful for it to go flat in a campsite.
Had a lovely evening meal and just relaxed thinking about the trip.
http://www.eurocampings.co.uk/en/europe/spain/andalusia/campsite-villsom-106564/
4th Sevilla – Caceres
Got up a little late, been awake most of the night with thunder and lightening, so I’m glad there was no rush today, a nice easy drive up to another great campsite at Caceres, all decent road, stopped for lunch and arrived at his campsite; http://www.campingcaceres.com
(Open all year) early afternoon.
Pitched the tent under one of the camp awnings, the beauty of this campsite is the facilities, an on-suite toilet and shower, a type of awning, and electric outside light, small shop (supermarket about 3kms away), great little café/bar on site and friendly, helpful staff and only €11 a night.
Knocked up a good stew to warm me up, then popped down to the bar for some Spanish wine, a good end to a good day.
5th Caceres
Got up to sunny day and not for the first time thought stuff it, it’s great place, it’s sunny, I’ve food and drink; relax, eat, drink and be merry.
So I did, not so much as ONE LIFE LIVE IT, more ONE LIFE LIVE IT WELL.
6th Caceres – Burgos
Got up a bit late, due to a glass or 3 too many yesterday, but a good shower, 2 mugs of tea and felt I was ready for the world.
A bit of a drive today but on all good fast roads, so brought some fresh bread, paid the bill and thanked the Lady, hopped onto the A66 towards Salamanca, Valladolid and onto Burgos.
On the way to Salamanca saw the beautiful snow capped mountains of the Sierra de Credos, they looked stunning on this gloriously clear sunny day. Passed some great lakes, more great scenery, it all makes driving a pleasure.
Arrived mid afternoon just as it started to drizzle, got to the campsite and what a campsite; Camping Fuentes Blancas N 42° 20' 29.5" W 3° 39' 27.6", a huge place with excellent facilities, also near the centre and only €11 a night. A Danish guy arrived shortly after, Ib in a Aussie plated 110, an interesting guy, spent time in OZ, now spends 6mths in the Caribbean as an engineer on a private yacht and 6mths off, when travels where he can in his 110, he went to Mongolia last year, he’s also has been to Iceland, but not Morocco, so it was great hearing his tales.
Then met up with some Dutch guys in a €300 Volvo doing the Amsterdam to Dakar banger rally, great bunch of guys, had a good chat and wished them safe travels.
Went to the café and had a pretty good meal, and then turned in for the night. Another good day, thoroughly enjoying travelling and meeting people, real love it! The big difference when travelling by yourself is you get to meet more people because your not in a group.
7th Burgos – Santander
Another good sleep, up early no reason really, had some breakfast, made a 2nd mug of tea and set off through a busy and rather nice town that is Burgos, then picked the N623 and then the N627 towards Aguilar de Campoo, what a awesome drive and stunning views, a great road through villages, forests and in sight of the Picos de Europa, a spectacular mountain range. A really lovely drive on this clear day, great stuff.
Joined the motorway again and climbed up and down and into Santander, made for the campsite which is about 15kms form the port, found the campsite Virgen del Mar easy enough (N43 28’ 23” W 3 52’ 29”), they were open, good, very nice campsite, good toilets and showers, clean, great location, but expensive at €18 a night for a tent and this was off season. So left and got some supplies and fuel and returned, put up tent and relaxed for the evening.
8th Santander
Another day here, so I thought I’d wander down to the seafront and bar I saw on the way up, got chatting to the only other campers, fellow brits, he turned out to be a bit of a landy fan having owned a couple in his time and said to me that last night 6 series vehicles and a 101 drove onto the beach to collect seaweed, what here, yes about 1km down the road, bl@@dy hell missed it!
So thanked him and set off for a walk down to the beach and bar, had a great walk around the little bay, stopped for a drink at the bar, which is an amazing colonial African themed bar playing English music, serving English beer which wouldn’t be out of place on the costas, but here in a large car park, no where near any houses, near a little beach, it is just amazing. A stunning place with some great photos of a bygone era spread all around this amazing place.
And a church on a little spit head which gives magnificent views along the coast, what a great little place.
Wandered back to the campsite, had lunch, an afternoon dose in the sun and then set off again at about 16.00hrs to try and see the landys, at about 17.00hrs 1 series show up, then shot off, then 2 more showed up then shot off and that was that, maybe not enough seaweed here after last night, and I reckon they go up and down the coast following the tide to collect it.
Stayed for another drink and left a little disappointed, but still had a great time.
9th Santander – sea
This is it, ferry day, made a mug of tea and left a little later than normal, no rush and got to the port mid morning. And then set off around Santander, which I quite like, it looks clean and quite prosperous. Running low on Euros, I stopped at a bank to change £20, that’ll be a €6 charge sir, think again senor, €6 charge for changing £20, jokers.
So after a while wandered back to the port terminal, pleased they took sterling in the café and shop and at a good rate without a fee, had a cooked breakfast and a mug of tea, great. Back to the landy and wait for the boarding to start, a brief dose, made some tea in the back of the landy, after a while we started to board on time, it took a while and we left late but I didn’t care, I was on my way home.
A great service Brittany Ferries operate on this route. An excellent clean tidy ship, with friendly staff, great food, good French wine and excellent service.
10th sea - Portsmouth
Nothing to report really, just eating, drinking (not too much alcohol, a bit early for me) and relaxing, it was dark by the time we got to Portsmouth, easy to get off the ship, through customs, hit the motorway and was home about 20mins later.
Another great trip, really enjoyed it. 3,211mls
Some information;
Hubb Sahara forum is an excellent source, as is Chris Scott’s book Morocco Overland.
Ferries; UK/Spain only Brittany ferries now, but excellent service and last time only paid £488, bargain really considering it’s about a 2,000 mile round trip via Dover.
I chose to use Carlos again, very good service, and nicely located near supermarkets and fuel stations, not far from Algercias, and this time €170 open return.
Carlos details;
DIRECCIÓN:
Pol. Ind. Palmones I, salida 112
C/ Fragata, local 3
11379 Los Barrios (Cádiz)
Tfnos: (0034) 956 675 653 (0034) 956 675 653/ Portable: (0034) 606 288 880
Fax: (0034) 956 675 719 Email: [email protected]
36º 10' 45 N, 5º 26' 28 W
Fuel;– Spain 1.30Euros a litre (approx) - Morocco 60/70p a litre (approx) stations everywhere, humbly suggest stick with the bigger named ones.
Food/drink – Morocco, cheap enough, some big supermarkets in major cities, plenty of little shops all over the place. Bottled water everywhere, but found to be high in chemicals, can give you the squits as you’ll need to drink plenty of fluids. I took 15L (3x5L) of bottled water and 70L of tap water, the only Moroccan water I used was for toilets and showers, other than that just drank soft drinks/wine.
Time – Morocco always stays on GMT, Spain +1 or +2hr.
Camping – Spain €11/18 Euros a night – Morocco mostly around 60dh (£5) a night, but varies from £2 (Essaouira) to £8 (Marrakech) per night.
Local currency – you can only get in Morocco, exchanges, banks and ATM’s are good and numerous.
Tangier Med/Moroccan customs entering;
Drive off the ferry where your passport is stamped, follow road up to the customs booths, wait, then move forward, the customs officer takes away your passport, V5 (logbook) and D16 he gets them stamped and passes them back to you, looks over the vehicle and waves you on, that’s it.
Don’t forget, he’ll give you a copy of the D16 back, DO NOT lose this, you’ll need it to get out of the country.
Insurance/money exchange booths are the way out.
Moroccan customs leaving;
Pull over at the booths on the right to get your boarding pass.
Drive forward to the customs, give them your passport and D16, they’ll check them over and sign the D16 and give it back to you, through customs and a big Xray machine, that’s it. KEEP the D16 if you want to return to Morocco in the same vehicle, it makes things easier.
Portsmouth - Spain - Tangier Med - Moulay Bousselham - Azrou - Casades d'Ouzoud - Marrakech - Essaouira - Safi - Oualidia - El Jadida - Casablanca - Mohammedia - Kenitra - Chefchaouen - Tangier Med - Algercias - Tafira - Gibraltar - Costa del sol - Motril - Sevilla - Caceres - Burgos - Santander - Portsmouth.
Well, another excellent trip, cut short on some pistes because of the weather, but my love for Morocco and Northern Spain grows. Some awful weather, some glorious sunshine but with stunning mountains, forests and beaches. 3,211 miles
http://www.findmespot.com/spotadventures/index.php/view_adventure?tripid=285529
Maroc 2 18/19th Oct Southampton – Portsmouth – Santander - Valladolid
Left home far too early again, just too excited as always and got to the ferry port in plenty of time. Through passport control, customs and boarded the ferry to Spain;
http://www.brittany-ferries.co.uk/fleet/pont-aven Nice calm crossing all the way to Spain, enjoying the good food and a glass or three of nice wine soaking up the atmosphere, it was almost a shame to get off really. We docked at about 18:00hrs on the19th and I drove to my 1st stop; http://www.eurocampings.co.uk/en/europe/spain/castile-and-le%f3n/campsite-cubillas-110240/
Already emailed the campsite a few days before to ensure they’re open, and sure enough they were, by the time I arrived about 21:00hrs I was glad they were, nice welcome, a sandwich, a glass of wine and turned in happy again to be travelling again.
20th Valladolid – Dos Hermanas
A stunning long sunny drive down again via Valladolid, Salamanca etc, this is truly a great road. All the way to this excellent campsite, again, I’d emailed them to ensure they’re open (all year round), had a swim, a bbq and a glass or three in the evening sunshine.
http://www.eurocampings.co.uk/en/europe/spain/andalusia/campsite-villsom-106564/
21st Dos Hermanas – Algercias – Tangier Med – Moulay Bousselham, Morocco
Another sunny start to the day hit the road south all the way to Algercias. Paid the only toll 6.10Euros between Sevilla and Jerez and headed towards Algercias and the coast. Brought tickets again from the famous Carlos from the HUBB Sahara forums, along with your tickets you get a nice cake, a bottle of bubbly and now a D16. Had already printed one off anyway, but took theirs’ and it worked quite well.
Got to the port early afternoon, buoyed with the prospect of returning to Morocco, and just being happy to be heading there. Hopped onto the Algercias – Tangier Med fast cat and about 40mins later arrived in the new port of Tangier Med, got the passport and entry slip stamped on the ferry which made entry a bit quicker, off the ferry to join the queue for customs.
Tangier Med is a huge port, no touts/helpers to be seen, so slowly moved forward in a queue un pestered, and then got stuck for about 20mins behind a couple of Dutch plated vans importing something, a Belgian behind me overtook us and started a new queue, I thought about it, then thought can’t be bothered, hopefully the vans will move soon. They didn’t, another 15mins and I overtook the vans and started another queue, then sat there for about another 15mins, trying not to look impatient and was called forward by a friendly customs officer, who took away my passport and D16 to be stamped, came back within 5mins, all ok and looked around the Landy and waved me on my way, well that was easy!
As I passed the last of the custom officers, I saw the Belgian still unpacking his vehicle, it’s not a good idea to hurry up the customs IMHO, and this guy was finding the result of doing so. Stopped at the insurance and money exchange booths and left the port, wohoo!
Hit the toll road South, just happy to be in Morocco again, made the campsite at Moulay Bousselham, the one “that’s pestered with mosquitoes” according to one travel guide, but at this time of year, seemed to be more flies so a quick spray of deet to clear the air and sat down enjoying the first evening in Morocco, spoke to a lone French motorcyclist who was on his way home after 3 months in Morocco, and a couple in their 110 on the way to South Africa; http://vengavamos.weebly.com/index.html
A lovely evening.
22nd Moulay Bousselham – Azrou
Up early as usual, have a brief breakfast, and a mug of tea, showered and on my way. The aim was to go direct to the Erg Chebbi area and then work my way along the bottom to Zagora and circle south and back up again. So I headed off down the toll road South, pass Kenitra – Rabat - Meknes and onto Azrou, made good time, stopped for fuel and for a snack, had a local sandwich with meat I couldn’t recognise, but it tasted alright.
Arrived at scenic Azrou mid-late afternoon, found the campsite but looked closed or just quiet, as I’d passed the new Eurocamping a mile or so back on the same road I turned around and tried that.
Well, what a place, a sort of Disneyland castle/campsite, all pretty strange, but with great staff and excellent facilities and it has 3 camping areas; tourist, business and 1st class areas, spread on 3 different levels, amazing. As it was near the end of the season (1800m up and can snow here) not only was the camping free (€2 per night otherwise) but also a free lamb tajine given on arrival, most excellent. This place was built my money donated by a wealthy Saudi and it shows, this amazing place would be a tourist attraction in Europe, so just sat in the sunshine and enjoyed myself chatting to other campers, next to me a Dutch couple in their 32yr old Renault campervan which they brought new and were still travelling around in it. Great stuff!
So turned in for the night and woken up by a horrendous electrical storm, thunder/lightening and a lot of rain, after a while thought s@d this and slept for a while inside the Landy as the roof tent isn’t earthed, eventually the storm passed and I returned to the tent. Not a good, or long night’s sleep.
23rd Azrou – Casades d’Ouzoud
Awoke early to the sound of the apes making a whooping noise, showered, had toast, had tea and the world looked better after the worst night’s camping I’ve ever had, which is saying something, though the weather had only improved slightly.
Hit the road after thanking the excellent camp staff and headed into Azrou, a decent sized reasonably pretty town and headed south west along the N8 towards Marrakech, through Khenifra on market day, the most amazing sights and sounds onto Kasba Tadla and Beni-Mellal where I stopped and grabbed a snack and drink and brought some fresh bread, a nice place, lots of atmosphere. I had already seen signs of the dirt track from El Kebab to the gorges being blocked because of a landslide.
At this point I made contact with a local I met on the last trip about the state of the pistes south near Erg Chebbi, particularly MS6, from the Chris Scott’s book, the Oued Ziz was flooded and thus causing problems for all traffic, this route was actually closed in 2008 because of the weather, damn, but I still could go to Zagora and south.
So I turned left onto the R304 towards Azilal, the idea being to go over the top of the mountains, then head south. So I climbed through rain, then heavy rain, then rain and mist, not the best weather to travel in, but what views I saw were, outstanding! I will, hopefully return to this region.
I arrived in Azilal after a long drive, had lunch, studied maps, and thought lets visit the Cascades, I didn’t realise I was that close, also with the weather being rubbish a chance of an early stop is too good to pass up. So I drove down towards the cascades, stopped at camping zebra N32 00’ 351” W6 43’ 177”, thankful for my planning flexible routes and what a campsite, a real campsite, great staff, excellent facilities and in a glorious setting.
Pitched tent after a long enough day and enjoyed the late afternoon/evening in this stunning setting, albeit the weather was still overcast and I saw later the lightening/thunder over the Atlas Mountains from where I was, though it didn’t rain where I was because I dropped about 500m, but the views were incredible. Met a Spanish couple, who after being made redundant decided they were taking 2yrs or so going around Africa, respect.
24th Casades d’Ouzoud – Marrakech
A reasonable but overcast day, got up early, showered, had tea and set off for the cascades, about 1km from the campsite.
So I walked into the small village where the cascades are, the village is toutville, I don’t mean that unkindly, it’s a nice enough place but near a major tourist attraction you’ll going to get touts. But they weren’t pushy, saw the top of the cascades, and then haggled like mad to get a small tour around the area.
And very nice it was as well, stunning, amazing and would have been great to see these glorious cascades with clear water, but with so much rain over the last few days, it was like a chocolate coloured, muddy waterfall and the rocks below were still muddy from the dirt washed down by the rain, but it didn’t ruin my enjoyment and experience of this beautiful area. Even a got a boat across the bottom, to come back up the other side.
Almost 2hrs later I wandered back to the campsite, knackered after walking all the way around and then down to the cascades, then back up the 750 (no I didn’t count them) steps to the top again. If I go again, I’ll do that at the end of the day, then relax, not in the morning with a days sightseeing in front of me.
But anyway, left the campsite, glad to be sitting down and followed the R304 to Khemis-Majden and the R208 through Attaouia-Ech-Cheibiya, which despite its is a small place and typically Moroccan. Joined the main N8 and turned right on a single sealed lane through some beautiful scenery, rather than take the main tourist route to Marrakech, I followed this road to the north, purely because it came out near the campsite, and so it did after a landcruiser nearly put me in a ditch, armhole!
I arrived at this great campsite mid afternoon, just wanted to relax really, weather was poor, but what cheered me up was meeting the Brussels to Benin Rally vehicles and guys and gals there. Brilliant! Some many adventurers here, particularly the guy in a 2 wheel drive 2CV on his 3rd rally, amazing! I loved the little Iveco 4x4 support truck; it was good to see a proper overland rallying set-up.
Late afternoon it started to rain, then got windy and just didn’t let up, so I turned in early, thankful for parking the 110 head on into the wind, another wet night, such is life!
http://lerelaisdemarrakech.com/
25th Marrakech - Essaouira
Up early, buoyed by a new day and a great mug of tea. Saw the rally vehicles leave for Benin, wishing I was going with them, oh well. I have my own small adventure to get on with, and must be grateful for that inspite of another overcast, drizzly day.
Needed some decent weather, check the internet and local weather forecasts, rain in south and west, but moving inland. Right I thought, this gives me an opportunity to visit Essaouira, although a tourist spot, it’s a bit out of the way on the coast, so thinking if I travel west, I’ll get some rain in the morning and by the afternoon when I get to the coast the sun will be out, good thinking hey, and did it work? Surprisingly yes, wohoo!
So it was, I gambled by throwing my dirty laundry and some dobie dust into my washing machine, (plastic container on roof rack); stocked up of fuel, got food stuff at a marjane before leaving Marrakech, fought my way through Marrakech, (a lot more police checkpoints here and all over Morocco since April) and out on the N8 towards Oudaya and Chichaoua, onto lovely Sidi-Moktar, where I stopped for a snack and brought some fresh bread (also rinsed my laundry, put fresh water back in the container and back on the rack) and followed this stunning road (the condition of most of Morocco’s’ roads are excellent) through a number of villages and towns before arriving at Ounara, a nice and bustling place, campsite on the left as you enter the town, near the roundabout, a short walk into town from the campsite it would make a good stopover.
However, I drove and onto into Essaouira, well towards the beach and the campsite which is opposite the beach, great little campsite, near the tourist area; camels, horses, quad bikes, various water sport stuff for hire etc and some nice little cafes/restaurants on the beach all about 10min walk away. And the sun was out! Very thankfully for that, it just brightens things up, it more ways than one.
So I threw up the roof tent, put the now rinsed laundry on the washing line and wandered towards the beach, port and town, the port is about a 30min walk from the campsite.
Walked along the beautiful beach, passing camels, horse’s quad bikes etc, and the nice little eating places, then carried on around the bay towards the port. Essaouira port is a must see, it’s nearly in all the travel supplements you get in the papers, if it mentions Morocco, and it’s a really lovely typically Moroccan town and port, loved seeing the port, wandered around and through the souks and the medina, part of the old town, stopped for a bite to eat and a drink. And wandered back to the campsite after about 3hrs, had a great time and in about 25C, marvellous.
Got some maps out, a landy mag, and relaxed with a glass or 3 in the evening sunshine, a great ending to a great day.
26th Essaouira
Got up, had a mug of tea and thought stuff it, it’s sunny, I’m near a beach and some cafes, I’m going to stay here today. And I did, the washing had dried, brought some fresh bread, made some corned beef sandwiches, gathered a couple of cans of coke and wandered off to the beach mid morning and just sat enjoying the view, weather and tranquillity.
After a few hours wandered back to the campsite and just slouched lazily the rest of the afternoon, lit a bbq, and enjoyed the evening. Spoke to a Dutch couple with a nice old landcruiser with a camper cabin on the back, they had just come from the Tiznit area, saying there’s a few flooded wadi’s but not too much problem.
So Maps out, a bit of studying over a glass of Moroccan wine, yes Moroccan and very nice to. Must be the French influence.
27th Essaouira – El Jadida
Got up to a beautiful sunny morning, studied maps again and weather forecasts with a mug of tea. Agadir and south rain today, possibly sun tomorrow onwards, North is sun, so options time; thought ok, could go south through Agadir, onto Tiznit and spend a few days visiting the area, including Sidi Ifni, plage blanc, FJB, etc, but so much to see down there would mean rushing it, didn’t want to that or go north and see places I wouldn’t see normally because they’re out of the way a bit.
In the end I thought go north and take your time, and I can see the south when I have more time in fact next time I can drive directly there now that I seen the coast bits I wanted to see.
And so it was, left Essaouira and travelled along the R301 coastal road, a truly lovely road with great views and some nice little villages, rounded the coast to Safi, where the first view is of a power station and the weather was overcast, stopped at a supermarket, stocked up and found the campsite just north of the town, it was a bit run down, no one else there, and it had peacocks wandering around, noisy buggers, thought not for me and carried onto Cape Safi, a good spot for lunch and some map studying.
Knew of a campsite in Oualidia, after a while I drove up the coast to there, a lovely little place right on the beach, toilets poor, showers don’t ask, also no campers here, just a few motor homes. But the views are great and a lovely little prosperous seaside town, with cafes/restaurants all within easy walking distance. The only thing being is that a little road runs through the campsite and as it’s a big fishing area, there where quite a few local fisherman coming pass on scooters trying to sell their catches, the langoustines looked very nice indeed.
After a while I thought lovely place, sunny, but didn’t feel comfortable here, don’t know why, everyone was friendly. So I left and carried on up the coast to Safi, got there late afternoon in the rain, that’ll teach me, found the campsite, pitched the tent, had a chat to a French couple in a 110, lit a bbq and huddled under the roof tent out of the rain, but still an had enjoyable day and saw some lovely sites.
28th El Jadida – Mohammedia
I wanted to see El Jadida, read a lot about it, up early, showered, packed up and had tea and drove around this very nice town, a few garages still use old series landies as breakdown vehicles, all looking well cared for. I was impressed with El Jadida, a busy place, loads of tree lined roads, clean streets and a relaxed atmosphere.
After a while I joined the road north to Casablanca, nothing special the drive into this city, couldn’t find the campsite, so drove around this city for a while and it was manic, thought stuff this, hit the coast road to see the only thing I wanted to see, the Hassan II mosque, apparently the largest in Africa, and what a sight it was as well, huge and magnificent, tried to stop, but couldn’t find a place anyway, pray time so cars were double parked all over the place.
I was glad to fight my way out off Casablanca, shame about the campsite, oh well, knew of one just north near Mohammedia, as you head north on the coast road just before Mohammedia, you can see the Ocean Bleu campsite from the road, turn down between the apartment blocks, along the beach a little way and you arrive at this great seaside campsite. Good toilets/showers, good size pitches and quite a few campers.
A meaty stew and potatoes, and then had a great evening with a Moroccan and a French couple, they didn’t speak English; I don’t speak French, but still an enjoyable evening.
Studied maps, had tea and turned in for the night.
29th Mohammedia - Moulay Bousselham
Up early, studied maps again and some thinking was needed, do I head inland towards Meknes or do I cut my trip short in Morocco and visit friends in Spain (which was long overdue) and see some more of Spain, this would also mean I wouldn’t need to change anymore money or extend my vehicle insurance.
So the decision was made to head north on the coast road towards Rabat, a stunning drive, passing through some very wealthy areas and a royal palace, before joining the road around Rabat, didn’t want to see anything in Rabat, but did want to stop in Kenitra and I did, arrived there early afternoon, held up by traffic accident, spotted a supermarket and fuel station on the way into town, so stopped, refuelled and stocked up.
Found the campsite, it seemed ok, but it was a bit early to stop, so I drove around Kenitra for a while and then hit the toll road by mistake, wanted to take the smaller road but missed the turning and found myself joining the toll road, too late. I wasn’t overly bothered and it was only a short distant, so I came off the toll road and pulled up outside the 1st night’s campsite, a good welcome, pitched up, wandered up the to café I passed on the way down to the campsite (10min walk), had a decent meal and wandered back.
An enjoyable evening, just relaxing.
30th Moulay Bousselham – Chefchaouen
Up early and hit the road, wanted to get to Chefchaouen early, didn’t feel I did it justice last time. Took a very scenic route there; R406/P4208 to Arbaoua, N1 for a while before joining the lovely R408 to Ouazzane, a nice little place, pottery stalls everywhere, picked up the N13 through the gorges, outstanding, hopped across the N2 and in Chefchaouen by early afternoon.
Found the campsite easy enough, pitched up and wandered into town, found a shortcut down some steps (out of the campsite gates, down the short road straight across at the bottom towards a flat piece of ground near the large hotel, and there’s a path), a lovely stunning little place Chefchaouen is, I wandered around the old medina and souks for quite a while, saw the amazing pale blue buildings, had a snack and wandered back to the campsite.
Had a great evening chatting to a couple of lads from the Czech republic would had long boarded around Morocco, the odd train and a few buses, but 700kms on road, amazing!
Another great day.
http://www.campingchefchaouen.com/
31st Chefchaouen – Martil – Tangier Med – Tarifa Spain
Up early and left early to get to the port, but first as is was almost on the way I wanted to find the campsite at Martil, on the coast near Tetouan. So I joined the N2 to Tetouan, passed through there and onto Martil, which is rather a nice place, the campsite didn’t look brilliant but pleased I found it. Back through Tetouan, why I didn’t go north through Findeq, which would have been shorter and quicker no idea.
So I carried on the N2 which was a busy road through some stunning scenery, before joining the toll road to Tangier Med, arrived at the port at about 11.00, just in time for the 12.30 ferry. Stopped by some helpers? Who shouted “ticket validation” ??? so drove a bit forward, and some helper came over with a badge and “ticket validation”, haven’t a clue but got out, locked up and walked over to the ferry booths on the right.
Oh, ticket validation means boarding card, through passport control, vehicle check, then had to get out while an oversized Xray machine scanned the vehicle, and onto the quayside 2nd in line to get onto the ferry, thought this is either the wrong queue or very few cars on this trip.
There was no 12.30 ferry, never did find out why, the next one was at 16:30, bummer. Oh well, made some lunch and read a book. The ferry duly arrived then took about 2hrs to unload, by the time we loaded and got off in Algercias, through customs plus an hour on the clocks, it was after 20.00, went direct to Tafira, found the campsite; Camping Rio Jara N 36° 2' 32.7" W 5° 37' 48.4" (opp sun and sail on the main road) easy enough to find even in the dark, pitched up and relaxed thinking about another excellent trip albeit a shortened one than planned in Morocco.
1st Tarifa – Gibraltar – Malaga – Calahonda, nr Motril
Up not that early, had a lovely shower at this excellent site, a nice mug of tea, phoned friends to ensure they’ll be available for a couple of days and set off along the coast to Gibraltar.
A lot of people I’ve met don’t like Gib, and a lot do, I do and I haven’t been there for a while, so as it was on my route, I thought I’d visit the rock.
Joined the N340, and headed through Tafira, this whole area is beautiful with a good coast road and great views. Stopped again at the Carrefour supermarket the other side of Algercias, nr the ticket office, rejoined the motorway, came off and headed for Gib, joined the queue to get in, and after 30mins or so through passport control and drove onto the rock, a drive around, up to St Michaels where, caves, tunnels etc are and apes, stopped took a few pics, the apes seem to enjoy playing on the landy, strangely very similar to the apes I’d seen in Morocco, after a while dropped into town again and back over the runway and into Spain.
Then joined the N340 coast road all the way up to just before Malaga, a lovely drive spoilt by so many properties, before hoping onto a motorway to Motril, made some time and arrived at a very good campsite; http://www.campingcastillo.com/en/
Open all year round, just outside Motril at a place called La Mamola nr Calahonda.
The weather was ok as well, did some washing, and enjoyed the afternoon and a good lunch, the evening and a bbq, a glass of Spanish wine and turned in for the night.
2nd Calahonda, nr Motril – La Rabita and area
A late start, packed up, had a good mug of tea and set off to see family friends had a great time visiting their lovely village in the hills, then down to La Rabita for lunch, then back up for a great afternoon, a lovely home cooked roast and spent the evening catching up with various things, really enjoyed it.
3rd La Rabita and area – Sevilla
Unfortunately the rain and mist had arrived here so sightseeing up in the mountains would be poor, so I said my farewells and thanks, wished them good luck and drove down to the coast road, along to Motril, onto Malaga and then the motorway to Sevilla, a really nice scenic drive, great roads, beautiful views and by early afternoon the sun came out.
Made very good time, stopped only briefly for a snack and drink, came off the motorway, drove through Dos Hermanas to the same campsite as before, a great campsite, a good welcome, pitched the tent and promptly got a flat tyre??? Bizarre! Glad I was carrying 2 spares, I put one on. (Got the tyre looked at, at home, the tube had a small hole caused by rubbing against something on the inside of the tyre, well they’ve been on 4.5yrs and the that’s the first flat, happy about that) Anyway, very thankful for it to go flat in a campsite.
Had a lovely evening meal and just relaxed thinking about the trip.
http://www.eurocampings.co.uk/en/europe/spain/andalusia/campsite-villsom-106564/
4th Sevilla – Caceres
Got up a little late, been awake most of the night with thunder and lightening, so I’m glad there was no rush today, a nice easy drive up to another great campsite at Caceres, all decent road, stopped for lunch and arrived at his campsite; http://www.campingcaceres.com
(Open all year) early afternoon.
Pitched the tent under one of the camp awnings, the beauty of this campsite is the facilities, an on-suite toilet and shower, a type of awning, and electric outside light, small shop (supermarket about 3kms away), great little café/bar on site and friendly, helpful staff and only €11 a night.
Knocked up a good stew to warm me up, then popped down to the bar for some Spanish wine, a good end to a good day.
5th Caceres
Got up to sunny day and not for the first time thought stuff it, it’s great place, it’s sunny, I’ve food and drink; relax, eat, drink and be merry.
So I did, not so much as ONE LIFE LIVE IT, more ONE LIFE LIVE IT WELL.
6th Caceres – Burgos
Got up a bit late, due to a glass or 3 too many yesterday, but a good shower, 2 mugs of tea and felt I was ready for the world.
A bit of a drive today but on all good fast roads, so brought some fresh bread, paid the bill and thanked the Lady, hopped onto the A66 towards Salamanca, Valladolid and onto Burgos.
On the way to Salamanca saw the beautiful snow capped mountains of the Sierra de Credos, they looked stunning on this gloriously clear sunny day. Passed some great lakes, more great scenery, it all makes driving a pleasure.
Arrived mid afternoon just as it started to drizzle, got to the campsite and what a campsite; Camping Fuentes Blancas N 42° 20' 29.5" W 3° 39' 27.6", a huge place with excellent facilities, also near the centre and only €11 a night. A Danish guy arrived shortly after, Ib in a Aussie plated 110, an interesting guy, spent time in OZ, now spends 6mths in the Caribbean as an engineer on a private yacht and 6mths off, when travels where he can in his 110, he went to Mongolia last year, he’s also has been to Iceland, but not Morocco, so it was great hearing his tales.
Then met up with some Dutch guys in a €300 Volvo doing the Amsterdam to Dakar banger rally, great bunch of guys, had a good chat and wished them safe travels.
Went to the café and had a pretty good meal, and then turned in for the night. Another good day, thoroughly enjoying travelling and meeting people, real love it! The big difference when travelling by yourself is you get to meet more people because your not in a group.
7th Burgos – Santander
Another good sleep, up early no reason really, had some breakfast, made a 2nd mug of tea and set off through a busy and rather nice town that is Burgos, then picked the N623 and then the N627 towards Aguilar de Campoo, what a awesome drive and stunning views, a great road through villages, forests and in sight of the Picos de Europa, a spectacular mountain range. A really lovely drive on this clear day, great stuff.
Joined the motorway again and climbed up and down and into Santander, made for the campsite which is about 15kms form the port, found the campsite Virgen del Mar easy enough (N43 28’ 23” W 3 52’ 29”), they were open, good, very nice campsite, good toilets and showers, clean, great location, but expensive at €18 a night for a tent and this was off season. So left and got some supplies and fuel and returned, put up tent and relaxed for the evening.
8th Santander
Another day here, so I thought I’d wander down to the seafront and bar I saw on the way up, got chatting to the only other campers, fellow brits, he turned out to be a bit of a landy fan having owned a couple in his time and said to me that last night 6 series vehicles and a 101 drove onto the beach to collect seaweed, what here, yes about 1km down the road, bl@@dy hell missed it!
So thanked him and set off for a walk down to the beach and bar, had a great walk around the little bay, stopped for a drink at the bar, which is an amazing colonial African themed bar playing English music, serving English beer which wouldn’t be out of place on the costas, but here in a large car park, no where near any houses, near a little beach, it is just amazing. A stunning place with some great photos of a bygone era spread all around this amazing place.
And a church on a little spit head which gives magnificent views along the coast, what a great little place.
Wandered back to the campsite, had lunch, an afternoon dose in the sun and then set off again at about 16.00hrs to try and see the landys, at about 17.00hrs 1 series show up, then shot off, then 2 more showed up then shot off and that was that, maybe not enough seaweed here after last night, and I reckon they go up and down the coast following the tide to collect it.
Stayed for another drink and left a little disappointed, but still had a great time.
9th Santander – sea
This is it, ferry day, made a mug of tea and left a little later than normal, no rush and got to the port mid morning. And then set off around Santander, which I quite like, it looks clean and quite prosperous. Running low on Euros, I stopped at a bank to change £20, that’ll be a €6 charge sir, think again senor, €6 charge for changing £20, jokers.
So after a while wandered back to the port terminal, pleased they took sterling in the café and shop and at a good rate without a fee, had a cooked breakfast and a mug of tea, great. Back to the landy and wait for the boarding to start, a brief dose, made some tea in the back of the landy, after a while we started to board on time, it took a while and we left late but I didn’t care, I was on my way home.
A great service Brittany Ferries operate on this route. An excellent clean tidy ship, with friendly staff, great food, good French wine and excellent service.
10th sea - Portsmouth
Nothing to report really, just eating, drinking (not too much alcohol, a bit early for me) and relaxing, it was dark by the time we got to Portsmouth, easy to get off the ship, through customs, hit the motorway and was home about 20mins later.
Another great trip, really enjoyed it. 3,211mls
Some information;
Hubb Sahara forum is an excellent source, as is Chris Scott’s book Morocco Overland.
Ferries; UK/Spain only Brittany ferries now, but excellent service and last time only paid £488, bargain really considering it’s about a 2,000 mile round trip via Dover.
I chose to use Carlos again, very good service, and nicely located near supermarkets and fuel stations, not far from Algercias, and this time €170 open return.
Carlos details;
DIRECCIÓN:
Pol. Ind. Palmones I, salida 112
C/ Fragata, local 3
11379 Los Barrios (Cádiz)
Tfnos: (0034) 956 675 653 (0034) 956 675 653/ Portable: (0034) 606 288 880
Fax: (0034) 956 675 719 Email: [email protected]
36º 10' 45 N, 5º 26' 28 W
Fuel;– Spain 1.30Euros a litre (approx) - Morocco 60/70p a litre (approx) stations everywhere, humbly suggest stick with the bigger named ones.
Food/drink – Morocco, cheap enough, some big supermarkets in major cities, plenty of little shops all over the place. Bottled water everywhere, but found to be high in chemicals, can give you the squits as you’ll need to drink plenty of fluids. I took 15L (3x5L) of bottled water and 70L of tap water, the only Moroccan water I used was for toilets and showers, other than that just drank soft drinks/wine.
Time – Morocco always stays on GMT, Spain +1 or +2hr.
Camping – Spain €11/18 Euros a night – Morocco mostly around 60dh (£5) a night, but varies from £2 (Essaouira) to £8 (Marrakech) per night.
Local currency – you can only get in Morocco, exchanges, banks and ATM’s are good and numerous.
Tangier Med/Moroccan customs entering;
Drive off the ferry where your passport is stamped, follow road up to the customs booths, wait, then move forward, the customs officer takes away your passport, V5 (logbook) and D16 he gets them stamped and passes them back to you, looks over the vehicle and waves you on, that’s it.
Don’t forget, he’ll give you a copy of the D16 back, DO NOT lose this, you’ll need it to get out of the country.
Insurance/money exchange booths are the way out.
Moroccan customs leaving;
Pull over at the booths on the right to get your boarding pass.
Drive forward to the customs, give them your passport and D16, they’ll check them over and sign the D16 and give it back to you, through customs and a big Xray machine, that’s it. KEEP the D16 if you want to return to Morocco in the same vehicle, it makes things easier.