1st Overland - Morocco 2008

Our trip started on Saturday October 6th where we left the drizzle (and my parents) in Bristol for Portsmouth Docks and the ferry to Bilbao (Northern Spain). Rain persisted and the wind howled causing the ferry embarkation to be delayed. Whilst in the queue waiting to board we got speaking to a chap (Pete) who was also going to Morocco on his own. We exchanged numbers incase of problems and hoped to see each other again somewhere down the line. When we finally left Portsmouth Docks, the sea state was force 7-8 and over the course of the 1st night picked up to a force 10! Lisa was ill for almost the entirety (~37hours) of the crossing.

Landing in Bilbao later than planned on the Monday morning we anticipated a shorter day due to us never having driven abroad, but enthusiasm got the better of me and with a few breaks and average speed of 60mph we covered around 470miles getting past Madrid (our main concern). The following day saw us rising early (just before the sun) getting to Algeciras around 4pm, a rush to buy tickets and we were on the ferry by 4.30pm! (Were we mad, probably) Getting to the Moroccan border 2 hours before last light probably wasn’t the smartest of moves, but it does have some advantages, in that we got through in around 10minutes with zero hassle. Driving to Mirleft on the coast near Tetoun to find a good campsite just before dark, only stopping at an ATM for some quick cash. The following day we had to drive into Tetoun to find temporary car insurance and change up some euros’. The only place here for the insurance is opposite Cinema Espanola. Finding a bank, we changed nearly all our euros’ for a fistful of dirhams. Armed with these we headed south along main roads, taking the western approach to Meknes/Fes. As it was getting dark, we found Camping International in Fes, which was over priced and pretty basic.

Feeling slightly deflated by the hassles of FES, the rain and the time spent stuck on the mountains we headed south on the main road past Sefrou heading for Midelt. We did try one piste heading east off the main road, but time and conditions were not favorable, so we decided against it. Arriving in Midelt we found the campsite was no longer there but managed to camp in a hotel car park about 50m from the original site. Midelt was pretty uneventful, but we did go to the local market to buy lots of fresh vegetables for 8dh. Leaving the next morning, we cut the day short for a break in Erfoud. Campsite here is OK and the people (Husain) are friendly with good advice. The piste heading southeast out of the city was washed away by the Oeud Ziz so the next day it was back on the main road heading south to Erg Chebbi which was approximately 60km from Erfoud. Arriving around midday we took some of the many worn tracks that criss-cross the approach to Erg Chebbi for a bit of fun in the sand and a break from the tar. Finally settling on a campsite called Le Dunes de Or in the northwestern region of the Erg. Here we just camped around the back of the auberge within some of the smaller dunes of Erg Chebbi. Feeling pleased and finally happy to be in the desert we chilled out for a few hours and didn’t do much. The next day we got up at 5.30am for the sunrise over the dunes quickly followed by bacon sandwiches for breakfast. The early morning also proved to be the best time for some dune bashing. Airing down we treaded carefully around the smaller section before venturing further a field. We never went very far from the camp as we were a single vehicle and I was a little worried about disaster being around every corner. We probably only covered around 2.5km of the dunes, but it was satisfying enough. With nothing much else to do we went for a spin down to Mezouga and onto Taouz to check piste conditions for the 200km stretch to Zagora. Before we even got to Taouz the road was cut by high flood water from an Oued originating in Algeria. Police reported that the Oued Ziz further down the piste also blocked the path. Deflated by this, we tried a few shorter pistes heading west from the main road, but the Ziz blocked us everywhere, so it was back to planning the course of the next few days.

The following day we headed back north on tar with the Gorges being our destination. No fewer than 20km from Rissani the oil warning light came on. I wasn’t sure how early I had spotted this, but the now familiar "Griffiths Panic" was already setting in. pulling over we found engine oil covering the underside of pretty much everything resulting in it covering the backdoor and spare wheel too! Opening the bonnet confirmed that I had lost a lot of oil from somewhere. "Griffiths Panic" like you have never seen before! After getting under it and wiping a lot of oil off with toilet roll Lisa briefly started the engine which showed us that the leak originated from the outlet of the oil cooler pipe at the engine block. Tightening this up I thought my worries were over. Checking the dipstick proved dry. As I was only carrying 3 litres of 15/40w I promptly poured this in to discover... still a dry dipstick! Deciding to leave Lisa with the car I was walking toward an Auberge about 1km away when I noticed a 110 in the heat haze distance. As it approached the number plate began to become more recognizable. It was from the UK! Pulling over I explained what happened and they doubled back to Rissani to return with 10 litres of Shell Helix 20minutes later. After a cup of tea, some digestives, repayment for the oil and a few cans of San Miguel we parted. Ian and Nick, if you are reading this, your help was much appreciated. Driving along gingerly we crossed 2 swollen oueds heading west along the N12 to pick up the piste at Alnif heading north to Tinerhir. Finding the piste tarmaced lifted our spirits as we made time towards Tinerhir arriving at the campsite just before dark. Here we managed to download photos from memory cards onto CD and email family. We also met a cat with a bag hanging out of his arse (AKA shitbag) but that’s another story.

The following day, after visiting the Super Marche and getting more Dirham’s from the ATM we headed onto the Todra Gorge. Here some local kids wanted a lift, so they hung onto the roll cage whilst standing on the rocksliders. A young bloke who spoke good English (and Japanese) also wanted a lift further up. Winding our way up the Todra on tar a few of the Oued crossings were washed out, but we got the landy across without any problems. This was the end of the line for normal cars as it was too rough. After dropping the kids off at Le Festival Auberge we came across people shoring up the retaining walls along the oued, which was now dry. We asked the older local to tell them "they were doing a good job and people really appreciated it". Handing out Cigarettes, dates a figs we continued north on what was now excellent condition tar with no other vehicles on the road. We dropped the other guy off at Tamtattouchte continuing onto Ait Hani where we left the tar and headed northwest on rough piste. It was here we met the 20+ vehicle convoy know as the Land Rover Owner Adventure Club (run by Protrax) who were throwing pens out of windows whilst not stopping to give them to the kids. Laughing at the LRO sheep that spilled out £1250 to follow someone else’s dusty trail we headed onwards to Agoudal where we crossed some clean flowing streams and great big dirty mud puddles. After Agoudal the piste ended and we took the tar onto Imilchil. Heading up to Lac Tislit we camped there at an uber friendly auberge 2220m in the High Atlas. The clear sky and full moon were an awesome sight over the lake as the temperature dropped to a sprightly 7 degrees.(Not Complete)

Comments (1)

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written by Jim, December 03, 2009

Nice writeup so far, looking forward to the rest of it Damn lucky you bumped into that 110!

The pics you've posted look incredible, I'm particularly interested in the location of the waterfalls in pic 4. My girlfriend and I are trying to decide whether to do Morocco or Nordkapp for our next mini overland trip after next summer... I'm leaning towards Morocco and showing her these pictures should certainly help swing her decision my way

Many thanks, Jim.