Prague

Prague 5th & 6th November

Conveniently the camping is close to a tram line going into the city centre in about 15 minutes. A single ticket valid for 30 minutes cost only 24Kc which we managed to buy from the helpful camp site office. We immediately spotted a Patisserie with a great selection of cakes and coffee. There was a constant stream of customers which was a good sign. We decided just to amble around the main shopping area and get a feel of the city. There were many cobbled streets and tall buildings almost all beautifully restored. We came across small street stalls selling local snack delicacies and colourful painted souvenirs.

Even though it's November there were many tourists, it must be really packed in the summer. It's now a very trendy city with the usual range of top international brands. Gill even ended up buying some nice clothes in Marks & Spencer which seemed to have a much more interesting range than at home. The highlight of the day was finding the rather misnamed Municipal House. This is an enormous Art Nouveau building containing many function rooms full of superbly restored furniture &decorations. We were taken on a one hour guided tour through a selection of rooms and ended up with a drink in the Amerikany Bar. Everything was tiled, marbled, plastered. and lit with crystal glass lamps Many of the rooms are used for concerts and hired out for functions.

The next day we got on the tourist trail firstly over the Charles Bridge admiring the dark statues and then up the hill to the enormous Prague Castle site. It was a clear day to start with but a bitterly cold wind kept us on the move. The Baroque St. Nicholas church was actually very nice, not as over the top as many other Baroque buildings can be.

The castle seemed too modern to us and we didn't fancy the tour which possibly may have been more interesting. Cities generally don't appeal to us, we would rather be out in the countryside and seeing a bit of Prague over a couple of days was enough for now.

Arriving in Prague

Sunday 4th November

We reached the Czech border by lunchtime. Suddenly things looked different, older and more basic, not quite like the smart Motorway services we are used to in Europe. The biggest change though was that we are now out of Euro land and have to calculate prices. It's east to compare say the fuel price from Belgium to Germany (more expensive in Germany) as the currency is the same. Now we have to get used to approximately 30 Czech to a pound sterling.

We had to buy a vignette to allow us to drive on the Motorways, this will cover us for 10 days and we had to pay 16 euros as we had no Czech currency yet. It probably would have been better to pay on Credit card charged to the local currency. We soon diverted off the Motorway and got to a small local town which had a much poorer feel to it. The buildings looked run down and the shops & restaurants had cheap looking signs. Also it was hard to read much as Czech language is written quite differently to Western European languages, though brand names are still the same. Prices are cheaper than at home and the range of products was good even though half the shop seemed to be full of flavoured bottled water. We bought what we thought was a natural sparkling water but even this was flavoured.

Luckily we arrived in Prague on a Sunday, there was little traffic which was fortunate as the main road we drove down was full of roadworks and it was a bit disconcerting being sent along tram lines in some sections. We had to skirt the centre of the city and get across a major bridge, fortunately we knew where we were heading was close to the zoo which was well signposted. The area we are staying in called Trojska is quite suburban, it's along a street where many of the large houses have converted their gardens into camping areas. Being November only 3 were still open but we found a reasonable basic place Camp Sokol Troja for 310 Kc (£10) per night without electric hookup.

Belgium Holland and Germany

Friday 2^nd November 

Belgium

We hardly have any plans (and don't really like to make them) but we have already had to make a change as we had a text saying our Dover Calais DFDS ferry was cancelled and would now be two hours later. We got to Dover at the original time & asked if we could go instead to Dunkirk as there was an earlier sailing. With the hour time difference we didn't get to France until 7pm and of course it had started raining so we decided to only drive on for 30 miles to the nice small town of Veurne in Belgium where we have stayed a few times next to the small Marina. As usual there were another half dozen campervans there, and now we were out of France it had even stopped raining. We could still pick up BBC Radio 5 Live on medium wave so managed to keep up with the Brighton v Leeds match which finally ended in a 2-2 draw. We have brought an inflateable seagull with us which we found at the end of the Blackpool v Brighton match last Saturday, it's now our substitute pet, and will no doubt appear in some photo's soon (if Gill doesn't stab it!).

Saturday 3^rd November 

Belgium Holland and Germany in one day.

Planned a long day today driving, and driving it has certainly been, mostly heavy rain, all day for virtually all of the 389 miles today. Most fields in Belgium were semi flooded with lots of bedraggled cattle and horses standing around. We very briefly passed through Holland and then the rains really started to come down. German Motorways are scary even in the driest weather due to the speeds that many cars go at, they just appear in your rear view mirror from nowhere. Even the terrible conditions don't seem to deter them, I am surprised there aren't more pile-ups.

We abandoned driving soon after dark as there was no way we would reach our planned destination which was another 250kms. We have found a very busy free Stellplatz at Bettingen close to the motorway where we will spend the night in the company of at least 30 other motorhomes. It's very quiet though apart from the rain on the roof, so far we haven't set foot outside the van.

Heading for Eastern Europe

We were out for a walk near home last week and decided we should get away for a month in the van now the weather is starting to curtail the horse & bicycle riding activities. We know it would be warmer towards the West but we keep going through Spain & Portugal so we decided to see some of Eastern Europe even though it's the wrong time of year. We have been to Bavaria (in the Summer) but it's the Czech Republic and on towards Turkey that appeals to us at the moment. It looks like the majority of Campsites are shut but we will always find somewhere. The main problems will be water and toilet emptying facilities, luckily we managed to get an additional waste tank for the Porta Potti today! We now have snow chains & a shovel although we do not intend to seek out any snow and hope we will never have to use them. The vans diesel heater has been well tested last weekend in a very cold night in Blackpool so hopefully we will stay warm inside.

30 years ago we, Mark & Gill gave up our jobs to set off travelling for a year's trip around the World which somehow turned into a lifestyle. It was never planned but somehow we managed to combine careers with travel and now, having sold our business 5 years ago, we are still travelling and finally getting to explore more of Europe.

Nowadays it's usually in our compact camper which in 6 years has already clocked up over 60000 miles mainly on 5 long winter trips to Morocco. Having gleaned so much useful information from many other motor-homers blogs we felt we should share some of our experiences with others and keep you all updated with our adventures.

 

Morocco 2012

Morocco 5^th January 2012

After a month in Spain it was time for the usual visit to Carlos for the ferry ticket to Tanger med port in Morocco.

This year was the same price E180 return and the usual gift of a cake & bottle of cider. Stocked up at Lidl & Carrefour then spent the night in their car park ready for the 10am sailing. It was very foggy in the morning and the ferry left about 45 minutes late. It was a larger ferry with four loading ramps,but only about 20 motorhomes, no other British. This time there were 2 immigration officials working doing the passport checks, so much easier than the land border at Ceuta.

After getting through Customs last year in 10 minutes this year was slower, they seemed to want to process all the Camping Cars together and we had to get out to show all the documents to the officials. At last after about 45mins we were free to go after the usual query as to whether we had any pistoles to declare! Straight on to the motorway which despite being so new has a few dubious bumps and ramps and slipped road surfaces to look out for as well as the usual pedestrians either crossing or trying to get a lift. Further on there were even people selling what looked like potatoes out of sacks.

After leaving Algeciras the crossing was clear with blue sunny skies and this continued until around Asilah where we started to get into cold fog and the visibility was very reduced. We were heading for Camping Ocean Bleu at Mohammedia and got there just before dark in the fog. We tried to by our 3g internet prepaye card as before at Maroc Telecom in Rabat but were told the didn't have any and to try at a Mega Mall. The guy seemed quite vague about whether we would find one, they just seemed interested in their smart phone sales. This was scuppering our plans as we would now have to go in search of the card if it was still available in either Casablanca or Marrakesh, neither easy places to negotiate in a vehicle.

The approach road to Ocean Bleu last year was all dug up with big pipes being laid, this year was easier but still rough at the seafront where the road is an uneven sandy track. A warm welcome in English and we quickly settled into a pitch after using the Grey & Black waste. About 20 vans here some looked as though they were there for a while but also a lot like us on a one night stop. Price has gone up from 60Dh to 80Dh per night for less than a weeks stay but probably includes electric hookup which we don't need.

Still very hazy in the morning, we decided to get on the search for the 3g card. Took the motorway to Casablanca and quickly spotted a Marjane store which luckily had a Maroc Telecom shop that was just opening. Completely different helpful service here and we were offered a free dongle with the 3g pack. Our old unlocked 3 network dongle is probably a bit dated so the new one should hopefully be a faster connection and more up to date software. Tried it out in Marjane car park at coffee time but couldn't connect. It sometimes takes a while to initialise so we thought we would get on with the driving. It was getting gloomier and more polluted in the smog and the drive out to find the motorway to Marrakesh was complete madness with traffic squeezing into position at the numerous traffic lights, then switching lanes around buses and trucks and crossing vehicles. With patience we somehow came out unscathed on to the calm (Toll) motorway.

Class 1 or 2?

Unlike French Motorway tolls which at least on smaller vehicles are based on height, in Morocco it seems to be what your vehicle looks like. There are only 2 classes and usually we are charged as class 1 but occasionally the toll booth operator comes up with a class 2 ticket. We have previously waved our class 1 ticket and they have changed it to class 1. On the stretch from Casablanca they have number plate recognition cameras which are printed on your toll ticket as you enter the motorway, these seem to show us as class2 (which costs 50% more) We had to pay 70Dh instead of about 45Dh, it becomes a bit of a game in the end, trying to challenge the charge as the amount is not that much and the travelling is much more restful.

Coming off the Motorway brought us back to more normal Moroccan roads. On the map a dead straight road for about 50kms, which it was except the first 20km were very degraded then suddenly a nice new flattish surface. It shows you can never quite plan your route just on distance.

We were aiming to get to Cascades de Ouzoud and knew that the final section was extremely mountainous, unlit and with sheer drops off the sides with little barrier safety. We just made it in dusk light, it's not safe driving in the dark as there are often unlit vehicles, bikes, donkeys and carts. Fortunately there was little traffic on the road and the surface was still in good condition.

Zebra Camping Cascades de Ouzoud 6^th to 15^th January 2012

When we arrived Paul & Renata where there to greet us, the rest of the staff had finished for the day, probably a shorter working day as it was Friday. They were just about to eat so we made a quick meal and joined them for coffee and caught up with all their latest news. They were very pleased as after numerous battles with corrupt officialdom they now have their permit, over 5 years after starting their project. They have managed to do this without paying a backsheesh to anyone which is the usual way things progress on Morocco. Paul said my old bicycle was still being used and I saw it one day with a new saddle. It was quiet, only 2 other campers and we got on to our favoured position where there are great views but you can still see all the goings on in the camping. Unlike most campsites in Morocco when you return a year later everything was in as good or better standard, though the price has risen from 60 to 75Dh partly they now have to charge tax.

We have been here nearly a week, good to be stationary for a bit and get a few things sorted in the van. Everything always gets a bit chaotic after a week or two constantly on the move and when you have a small “house” its nice to have a sort out and put everything back in the proper places! I finally got my cross stitch embroidery out and found it had gone a bit mouldy as I haven't looked at it for 9 months since we were last in Morocco. Fortunately a bit of a rinse and a blast of mid day sun has sorted that out! We have stayed here longer than we planned as the weather has been dry and bright, still cold at night as we are at about 1500metres up. We were surprised to find that nearly all the Almond blossoms are out already which looks lovely.

16th Jan
Crossed the Atlas yesterday via a small pass not one of the 3 main ones. It was a bit of an adventure as we knew the road was narrow and the surface not in good condition. The weather forecast was ok so we went for it, it was certainly a beautiful and dramatic drive and although a few narrow hairy bits where the road was crumbling away, there was very little local traffic, so you could take your time over the dodgy bits. I drove for the first stretch as I suspect Mark thought that would be the easiest bit but actually it was the bit with the biggest drops as the road followed mountainsides and only dropped down to follow a river after a couple of hours. It was amazing to still come across little villages with patches of cultivation on the bits of flat land next to the river. A very quiet life, no wonder all the children get excited and wave when we drive past! .

19^{th Jan}

Ouarzazate for a night, all the usual things, dropped a load of washing with the cheery girl in the launderette, although when we arrived at 5pm she was slightly harassed as she had “beaucoup de travail” and only one machine working. Nevertheless she had it all washed, dried and neatly folded for us by 12noon next day. We spent the morning stocking up on Moroccan buns from our 2^nd favourite cake shop(no 1 is in Essouaria on the coast) , vegetable shopping and relaxing in the square at a nice cafe we usually visit, which also happens to have nice buns...there's a surprise! Then we were off to Agdz for a night in the grounds of a Kasbah. We were warmly greeted by one of the brothers who own it and his French wife. We have taken one of her very interesting tours for the last 3 years and seen the progress of their restoration of the traditional mud block built Kasbah. We said we were only stopping one night this time so unfortunately no time for the tour. She laughed and said we had done it in English, German, and French already so she was running out of languages! Good memory as the 2^nd & 3^rd times we went to look as much as hear the talk so just went on the next tour available whatever language.

We then had a stop over night in a new place for us, Tazzarine on the way East to the dessert places. The camp site we planned to stay at looked closed when we arrived but Mark went in a small side door in the wall and found the Guardian who opened the vehicle gates into a pleasant parking area next to a bit of a Palmerie/garden with some sheltered seating areas under nomad tents. We were happy to get inside the walls and get a bit of shelter from the strong winds that had started up the night before. We had the place to ourselves and spent a pleasant sunny couple of hours having our afternoon coffee (and new buns!) and reading in the shelter, which also acted as a great “bird hide” to watch all the bird life in their garden. I was especially surprised to see Blackbirds which I only remember from the greener north of the Atlas before and indeed our bird book only shows them in the top half of Morocco. They seem to be ignoring the bird book! I could see the Palmeries with small gardens and vegetable cultivation would be ok for them but these places are quite small and spread out in large arid semi desert areas where they wouldn't be able to survive so I wonder how they got here.

21^st January

We are now parked outside a hotel on the edge of the sand dunes at Erg Chebbi, bottom right of Morocco! . We came here 2 years ago and found the owner a very amenable chappy who also speaks good English, so easy for us. Yesterday we did a 4x4 trip out in and around the dunes and he came as our guide so we got the most out of it. We did a similar trip 4 years ago which was good but the driver only spoke French (apart from Berber and Arabic of course!) so we only understood half the information and couldn't ask many questions. The trip also included a visit to the “Gnaua” musicians association in the next village. Many of the people in this village are Black Africans whose ancestors came from Mali and Senegal and were involved with the camel train trading routes across the Sahara. When modern borders came into being they stayed in Morocco but have kept some of their musical heritage. We were also taken to several areas of stony dessert where you could just wander about and find fossils (Like Derbyshire limestone in our house!!) and all sorts of interesting rocks. Finally we ended up with the obligatory tourist gimmick “tea with the Nomads” for which they are paid of course. We weren't too bothered about this as we know these “Nomads”are semi settled , else how could they find them for tea so easily?! As it turned out it was actually interesting to see how these particular people do live in such difficult terrain. They now seem to have a small mud built house next to their traditional woven camel hair tent in a dessert area at the back of the Erg Chebbi range of dunes. Apart from occasionally providing tourists with mint tea, I think they live mainly from goats which are still nomadic to some extent as the “grazing” is so poor they have to move them around a lot . They also keep a few chickens and of course a camel or three, these days mostly for use by tourists rather than beasts of burden to move camps. The people we visited also had an ingenious system of keeping rabbits (Sorry not for pets!) They had made a hole about 3 ft deep with an old tyre round the top which obviously stopped the rabbits getting out but I think they were quite happy anyway as running off from the hole they had several burrows and food just dropped from the sky as any suitable vegetable peelings were dropped down the hole (good recycling) and the rabbits ate those.

Nomad's young camel enjoying a friendly neck rub before it tried to bite me!

Never trust a smiling camel!

We are on our 4th night now but will be going tomorrow as we are hoping to rendezvous with Kev and Barbara who we met last year. Also the weather is a bit disappointing. Although its been 15/ 16 degrees in the day and sunny there has been a strong wind so it feels colder so you certainly can't sit outside and even going out for a walk is not that pleasant (sand in teeth!)  I have to say I'm a bit tired of it and am hoping we will escape it as we head back to the edge of the Atlas mountains. It will still be chilly but if we can get away from the wind it will make a big difference.

31^st Jan

Revisited Todra Gorge which we saw on our first van trip to Morocco, as dramatic as ever and now the road has been repaired we could drive the 25Km up to a Berber village. Even though it was a bright sunny day it was freezing up there, literally! We saw a sign and stopped and brought bread from what almost looked like someone's house but had a wonderful smell of fresh bread. I stepped inside while one of the ladies in attendance got my change from a side room where I could see the

floor was covered in grain set out on sheets to dry, so I assume they made their own flour. It was certainly good bread and a spectacular drive to get it!

After that we met up with Kev and Barbara and their friends Peter and Mary who we also met last year and spent a few days with them at Boumalne. Nice to catch up, although we'd stopped the night with Kev and Barb in France on the way down. Also drove up Dades Gorge in company with them in Peters landrover. More spectacular scenery and snow! We showed them the benefits of a small van to get up narrow roads when all 6 of us squeezed into our Van (just) for a warming coffee and bun on the way down.

Now we have headed west to Tafraout which is a bit lower at 1000m (3000ft) and so warmer. Finally warm enough for just T.shirts in day time. Now a few days of exercise. We need to do some walking and cycling and wear off a few of the Moroccan buns we keep eating, not to mention the yummy bread we keep finding. We always like the flat Moroccan loaves as they are still made in individual bakeries, taste of bread and you feel like you've eaten something but this year we seem to be finding even better bakeries! And it still only costs 20p.

5^th February

Interesting day yesterday when we visited a mud built 3 story Traditional Berber House in a village near where we stay at Tafraoute. It was originally the home of a blind man who started giving tours to earn a living. It's obviously been a success as now the house is left as a “museum” and I suspect he lives in the new Guest House next door as he was keen to point out how good it was!

The house was constructed around a central internal kitchen to take advantage of heat in winter with outer rooms and a roof terrace that are cooler for summer. I liked the convenient waste disposal system of a hole in the corner of the kitchen to drop waste food from kitchen to cows in the stable below. On the 3^rd floor as well as the terrace was the “best parlour” as it were, a room with lavish decoration and furniture compared to the plain walls and functional items in the rest of the rooms. This room could also be reached by outside stairs leading to a separate door so guests did not have to pass through the working parts of the house, or I suspect in the old days, see the women if they weren't family! Mr Blind man took an old banjo type instrument off the wall (amazing how he found everything...as long as it was put back in the right place) and accompanied himself singing a traditional Berber song. Then, as his piece de resistance, he suggested that “Madam would like to try the local costume?” In this area when outside the ladies wear 5 yards of black material with a decorated border swathed around them and covering their indoor clothes and usually pulled up over their hair. I thought this will be interesting, he was blind, about 5ft 6 and I bet he's never had to do this demonstration on a 6ft 1” woman before! Well credit where its due, he did an amazing job, even managing to get the decorated border of the material to fall in the “correct” zig-zag patten at the back. There was one dodgy moment when the belt that holds it all together at the end was produced and I said “that's never going to fit round my waist!”. We laughed when he just pulled it to show it was elastic so would even fit me.

The next day when leaving Tafraoute we noticed the back tyre on the drivers side had gone down again after Mark pumped it up a few days before. We realised we had a slow puncture and as our next camp site was quite remote and 9km down a dirt road we thought we'd better do something about it! I thought people here won't be able to afford to just get a new tyre they must get tyres repaired somewhere in town. Sure enough as soon as we drove into town we noticed a load of used tyres outside a little shop. My French doesn't run to technical talk, and not sure how much French the man in workshop spoke anyway, but we managed to convey that we didn't just want it pumped up but repaired. He took the tyre off and I (only being familiar with bicycle punctures) said hows he going to find the puncture “put the tyre in a giant bowl of water..Ha Ha”, but that's just what he did except it was a cleverly constructed ,tyre wide, trough of water on legs. It turned out to be a small screw that had penetrated the tyre and then broken off so we hadn't seen it. It was soon fixed with some tyre sealant, we paid 30Dh (less than £3) and we were on our way.

Our destination was a site called Fort Bou Jerif in a desert area close to the coast and, not surprisingly. next to a ruined Foreign Legion fort. About 30km from the last village we turned off the sealed road and went 9km down a rough track through a very dry and bare landscape except for various varieties of small Euphorbia bushes that surprisingly grow in this area. Suddenly in the middle of nowhere is a nice looking hotel complex with the camp site next to it. We enjoyed a lovely sunset sitting in the van with the side door open and playing music (We had parked as far away from the few other vans as possible!) We quickly acquired a little flock of Crested Larks who were very tame and came looking for crumbs on our doormat. This reminded Mark of some King Crimson music from his youth entitled “Larks Tongue in Aspic” which he had on his music player. How cruel!!

There are some interesting desert birds as it was the only place with water and a few trees for shelter but the second day after we'd done a bike ride, further along the track, it became too windy to enjoy walking.

By the next day we decided to leave as it was so windy you could hardly even walk to the shower block without getting totally sand blasted. We spent a night in a sheltered site about 50Km inland then having checked the forecast for wind, we ventured to the coast at Sidi-Ifni. There we caught up on a few chores and did some washing. (One of the important places marked WM on my map) Only 10Dh per Kg. For some reason the nice young lady in charge of operating THE MACHINE (only one on a site of about 100 vans so the idiot campers are not allowed to touch it) only charged me 30Dhr for a 4Kg load. Maybe she felt sorry for me having seen all my tatty knickers!

Mark likes to be by the sea but I am just as happy in the countryside but my opinion of the town went up several points when we found an excellent “petit fours” bun shop. I was so impressed that I gave it a grade 2 rating and they were only 60Dh per Kg (only Essouiria and Ouazazate qualify for grade one in “Gills survey of bun shops”and they cost 130dh Kg!) We tested them, then before leaving went back and stocked up for the next few weeks!!!

Even better, down the road they had a cafe with a man doing fresh hot doughnuts.

After a couple of days we moved on to another coastal village with a camp site for a few days. Weather getting warmer now but still a bit too breezy in the afternoons at the coast.

Then we spent 2 weeks at one of our favourite sites on the organic farm run by a French man. Here we had also arranged to meet up with our English friends again, Mary and Peter and Kev and Barbara. We originally met them at the farm last year and have kept in touch. The bun stocks came in handy too as most days we had “a brew” at someone's van and obviously you have to have something with your coffee! Mary and Peter have definitely got the bun bug from me and when out in their Landrover (they have a caravan but we still speak to them as they are fun!) hunted down their own bun shop in the local town to augment supplies. We had a relaxing time walking round the farm and the hills behind where we go tortoise spotting. Unfortunately the lack of rain and especially the colder than normal weather in January/Feb had wiped out their courgette and aubergine crops, although the new maize crop and the orange trees were doing ok. The owner said the local people will have a hard time this year as there will be less field work for them weeding and harvesting crops and then less work for those in the packing places. Also anyone with livestock is finding it very hard as there is so little grazing for the animals. We have hardly seen any wild flowers compared to previous years.

Mar 2^nd

Our last campsite was next to a small fishing village and port surrounded by some very dry , bare hills. On the first day as we set out for a walk we saw a flock of a dozen or so strange large black birds pecking their way across the ground right outside the site. I can't imagine what they found to eat there. On closer inspection they were not totally black but had a nice iridescent sheen to them which was just as well as they weren't the prettiest things. We confirmed, later, in our bird book that they were the rare Bald Ibis which only exist in a few places in Morocco and maybe a few individuals in Turkey. It was quite ironic to see them so easily as 2 years ago we went to a special protected National Park about 100Km down the coast and paid to have a guide to help us see them. We only saw one flying off into the distance!

Now we are back at the coast and gradually working our way north. As usual we suddenly seem to be running out of time, only 2 weeks left in Morocco, before our final few weeks in Portugal.

What a country, as I sit here typing and thinking it must be time for afternoon coffee, a man has appeared at the van door selling cakes!! Well that's all for now, I have to check the merchandise.

Through the Rif

We had a really full day today. Started out North of Fes in a small town in the foothills of the Rif called Rhafsai, beautiful scenery all around. We were about to camp in a small forest nearby but the local police turned up saying it wasn’t safe so we moved on to a square in the centre of the town outside the hospital & post office. Very peaceful night and very surprisingly a 3g signal, I couldn’t even see a mast anywhere. We then did the drive through the Rif, had a couple of cars follow us trying to get us to stop but we just carried on. Around Ketama was chaotic mainly because it was souk day and plenty of folk trying to wave us down but no worse than honey sellers. Then took the N2 towards Al Hoceima for about 12k, then North to the Med coast. The road was good for about half way then just started falling apart but was just about passable with care in our van. We were relieved to hit the coast road near El Jebha but then it went downhill rapidly as we headed West  along the former coast road. They are completely rebuilding it whilst still enabling traffic to use it. It's like driving along a construction site but without any safety precautions. Most of the 4 hours we rarely got out of 3rd gear and we were mostly accompanied by heavy duty trucks with enormous loads of rocks or gravel. They attempted to dampen down the dust which just made it seem to stick to the van & windscreen all the better. It & us are completely covered. There was nowhere to stop and we have ended up in Oued Laou at the only camping before Martil. Its facilities are a real dump, no water, no toilets, possible hookup (we havent tried) for 44Dh but at least we are parked up and we get good 3g.
We were interested to see what the Med coast was like but wont try until they may have finished it in hopefully about 3 years. The scenery looked good from what we could see through the dust.
Will have to move from here tomorrow so probably 2 nights at Martil and a visit to Tetouan

Morocco 2011

Morocco 2011

Entered Sat 8^th Jan

This time we went from Algeciras to the new port about 40km from Tangier. The crossing was fine and you did some of the customs formalities with a cheery chappie on the boat which made it a lot quicker when we disembarked, also they seemed to have kept out all the rabble from the new port so you only have the officials to contend with and not a load of touts all trying to be your “helper” and tell you what office to go to for document stamping. You come straight out of the new port onto the coastal motorway so it’s very convenient for heading south asap.

There is always some confusion on paying roads about what class “Blendy” van comes into: in UK he’s classed as a car as he has windows (so not a delivery van) in France he’s classed at the higher rate as he’s over 2metres tall (hightest!- we only uses one section of French motorway as it’s so expensive) in Spain we’re back to being on the cheapest car rate and last year in Morocco they couldn’t decide what we were and we were sometime charged Class 1 as a car and sometimes class 2. This time we went all the way to Marrakesh in 2 days on the motorway so it was relevant what class we were. After the first 3 toll stations had charged us as class 1 we decided that must be right and when the chap at the next toll booth tried to charge class 2, I politely pointed out that we’d been class one up till then so he relented, at the next booth they actually asked me what class we were so naturally I said one. Also I don’t know the French for “you tell me mate”! It was great to be back bargaining in Morocco! It was also great to have sunshine right from the start, the last 2 years it has been very wet in the North as we’ve driven down.

From Marrakesh we crossed the Tizi n’Tichka pass over the Atlas mountains to Ouarzazate, where we remembered a laundry from our last visit 2 years ago so stopped one night to get a couple of loads of washing done. Last year’s correspondents may remember that washing machines and laundries are not easy to find on our travels and we try to avoid the dreaded HAND WASHING at all costs. Ouarzazate also has the advantage of a good “bun “shop for stocking up on traditional “petit four” cakes so a good town all round! We only stopped the one night though as we were keen to get on to Zagora and one of our favourite campsites where we can finally relax and stop driving.

Wed 12^th Jan-Today, Wed, was a souk day so we have stocked up on all our fresh fruit and veg to last us till the next one on Sun. I love that souk, it’s absolutely enormous serving a huge area as Zagora is the only proper town for miles and the last before you start hitting the Sahara proper. Apart from the fresh stuff that we buy it’s fascinating to look at all the other stuff for sale. Today, Mark (“gadget Goodwin”) wanted to go round the “electronics” section, not to purchase anything but because he can’t believe the broken up old bits of technology they have for sale, old cassettes, CD players, radios, mobile phones and computer stuff I don’t recognise. All this is on display on boxes, make shift tables or even just a bit of tarpaulin on the ground. It is so dry and dusty here, especially in the market with so many people walking about kicking up dust, that we can’t believe any of this electrical stuff will ever work again! Perhaps it’s that worldwide man thing that they just like to have stuff to endlessly tinker with!!

Sat 22^nd Jan

We have now been at Zagora for 11 days, I don’t know where it goes, we don’t seem to have done much but that was the idea really. At first it was a bit hectic on the site as they had 2 French tour groups for 2 nights one after the other. Some of their vans were absolutely enormous, the size of coaches, it seems ridiculous for 2 people to be driving round in these monsters and it must cost a fortune in diesel. I still don’t know what they have all that space for. As usual because they had a 2 day stop here they all set about doing their washing, by hand. Wouldn’t you think that if you drive round in a van costing £130,000 that;

a) One could afford, and have room to store, enough clothes to last you for a month’s holiday. (that’s how long most organised tours last)

b) One would have an on board washing machine!

Anyway the groups went and the only disturbance we were left with was the French people parked behind us and their irritating dog “Appy”. Actually that’s not fair the dog never made a sound, it was the woman forever calling in her high pitched voice, “Appy, Appy, viens avec maman” (come with mummy!!!!) They hardly managed to speak to us but I kept hearing the woman’s voice and then realising she was talking to Appy. Ironically we later found out from the friendly French/German couple on site that the dogs name was actually HAPPY but “mummy” obviously couldn’t pronounce her H’s or speak English!. Anyway after another day they too left so all is tranquil on site.

We did get an hours great entertainment as they packed up to leave, so some compensation for 4 days of “Appy, Appy”. They had brought a little smart car with them in a double wheeled trailer (Fortunately they often when off in trips in the car and so we got a break from “Appy, Appy” every 5 mins). “Appy’s Daddy started to drive the car up the ramp but then realised that he’d left the hatch back up so had to reverse down and shut it, then he tried again and “Mummy” realised the wing mirrors hadn’t been folded in so back down we came and did that. On the third attempt there was much screeching of “Appy Appy” as the dog was running about excitedly and in danger of getting run over. Finally “Daddy parked the car at the top of the quite steep ramp and got out as apparently you have to winch the car the last bit actually into the trailer. Having watched the procedure so far this is probably a good idea to stop people driving up too fast and running into the front of the trailer. Anyway the car is at the top of the steep ramp, presumably only held in place by the hand brake until they can fit the winch on, meanwhile Appy positions himself at the bottom of the ramp just right to be squashed if the car rolls back. After the performance so far we were just imagining such a disaster. (Like in Fish called Wanda when the piano falls on the old ladies dog!) Luckily for Appy the car is winched in with no problems but then for some reason they open the hatch back and “mummy” is fed in until just her legs are sticking out and waving about. God knows what she was doing but it was hilarious to watch! Finally they left and the remaining half dozen campers could all get on with relaxing in peace and quiet!

Thur 27^th Jan

We’ve had an interesting and slightly more active second week in Zagora. Apart from our normal Wed and Sun trips to the souk for shopping we did a bit of exploring on the bikes down some roads we hadn’t been down before. One day we found signs to “Restaurant Chez Ali, avec jardin” It’s so dry and dusty here at the moment that the promise of a garden was very tempting so we went in for lunch. The lunch was nice, interesting starters, I had a cooked salad, tomatoes, green peppers, carrots, onions cooked with tasty herbs and spices and served with the usual bread and olives and Mark had something similar but uncooked with fresh chopped coriander. Then of course, Tajine and for desert there was a good choice so we had Moroccan pastries and coffee and avoided the almost inevitable sliced orange sprinkled with cinnamon. Very refreshing and tasty the first few times but after 4 trips here we are slightly tired of it! However the best bit was just sitting in the luxuriant garden, fruit trees, hibiscus and other flowering shrubs and Bougainvilleas dividing up little paved sections each with 2 or 3 pretty mosaic tables for dinning, you would never know from outside the walls that it could be so lush inside, shows what a bit of irrigation and shelter can do. They even had a Peacock which startled me at first by giving a blood curdling scream. I thought something was being murdered in the kitchen even though we’d ordered vegetable Tajine!

Next day we got chatting to the waiter in the French owned café that we sometimes have coffee in and he told us about an art exhibition that some local young artists (himself included) had put on in another café in the town. We decided to check it out and were rewarded by a very interesting couple of hours. The chap who had the most pictures on display spoke good English and gave us a tour and explanation of the work on show, mostly abstract pictures with Arabic calligraphy of poetry and expressing the young man’s wish for more communication and understanding between people and nations. (I am paraphrasing somewhat here but you get the idea) He had also created interesting textures by incorporating bits of recycled corrugated cardboard, old sacking and other “rubbish” saying people throw too much away: if he came to the uk he would be horrified. After chatting with him and his friends for a while they invited us to sit down and have tea ie stay for a longer chat. There were 4 young chaps all very interesting, 2 were fellow artists one of whom was studying “props” at college in Ouarzazate film capital of Morocco and the 4^th friend was a teacher in a primary school 10km from Zagora. They were all home as it was a school holiday. When it transpired that artist no 1 (Amar)had studied philosophy at university we were not surprised and shared the joke with his friends that that’s why he talked so much and they couldn’t always get a word in, of course they did have to contend with me as well!! It’s just really nice when you find people who speak good enough English to have a proper involved conversation with. It was well after lunchtime when we finally left with much handshaking and mutual good wishes all round.

Tuesday we went in search of Dinosaurs! The chaps had mentioned that the art association they belonged to had done a sculpture project last year and made these dinosaurs in a small local park as art and as entertainment for local kids. You wouldn’t think you could miss three 15ft dinosaurs but we have driven past this park at least 4 times, but in our defence it is set down from the main road and they are a bit hidden by trees. When we went into the park there was a gang 6 or 7 little boys hanging around and of course looking at us to see what we were about. I’d seem one of them climbing on a dinosaur as we approached so I indicated that I’d like to take a photo of them all climbing on it. Well you know little boys (and some bigger ones!) they all had to show off and climb as high as possible. I took the photo quickly and called them all over to look at it before someone got too high and fell off trying to outdo his mates. They seemed happy with this and not one even asked for a Bon Bon or Stylo!

[For anyone who wants to look at the art work or the dinosaur project they have a website www.aapzagora.c.la with pictures if you click on gallery at the top. Also anyone who knows any art associations in uk could put them in touch as they are looking for international contacts for exchange of ideas and communication]

On our final night in Zagora Mark managed to get the Brighton football commentary on the internet so he listened to that while I went and had a Backgammon lesson from the English/French woman parked behind us for the last couple of days. Not sure how to describe her as she left England at age 8 when her parents moved to Singapore then in her early 20’s when her parents moved to Australia she moved to France for some reason! Anyway I’m now genned up on the basics of Backgammon so that’s taken over from Canasta as the evening entertainment when we’re not reading or chatting. (Although last night we had a “TV” night and watched 3 episodes of Shaun the Sheep that Mark had recorded onto the computer- we are experiencing a wide variety of culture!!)

After 15 days in Zagora we moved about 150km North West to Agdz. It’s the 3^rd time we have been to the pleasant campsite there which is next to a family Kasbah. We once again took the tour with the French wife of one of the family. She remembered us but thought it was earlier this year she had seen us; actually it was 2 years ago as we missed this site last year but it certainly didn’t seem that long to us either. (How time flies and other clichés!!) Next time we could probably do the tour ourselves but we are interested to see how the restoration, which the family are doing in conjunction with a German university, is coming on. We noticed lots of patches on one outer wall which were apparently where the students had been trying to get the right consistency of mud plaster for inside and outside walls. I think our stone walls at home are thick but the Kasbah walls are made of mud blocks half a metre wide and 1 metre long, they must weigh a ton. I wonder how they get them up 3 storeys; sheer man power I suppose?

We only planned a couple of nights but ended up staying 4 as we had pleasant company, some more Brits travelling with an Australia couple they had met on the ferry over and also an interesting youngish (30?)Australian couple who were touring Europe by bike and, like a lot of the campervaners, decided it’s better to come to Morocco in the winter as even southern Spain and Portugal are not really warm (or perhaps more to the point, dry enough). It was fascinating seeing what they could pack onto their bikes, of course they have special light weight gear and travel light but I still wouldn’t want to be cycling with 4 loaded panniers.

We did our usual walk through the Palmerie to the river. It is flowing ok at the moment from snow in the High Atlas so the Palmerie was a hive of activity as everyone prepared their little plots amongst the date palms, for cultivation, lots of Donkeys loaded with panniers of manure and people busy diverting water along irrigation channels into their plots. Part of the Kasbah tour is round their “fields” and it’s fascinating to see what cultivation can be achieved in this dry climate, when you have the know how. At the moment they are growing clover in some places and cutting it every 2 weeks for animal feed. You certainly appreciate a flowing river if you live here!

We also took advantage of several visits to our favourite bakery in Morocco which is down a little ally off Agdz’s main street. We always stop if passing through even if not staying at the site here. The bread is baked on the premises so usually still warm. On the way down to Zagora we got one of their huge round flat loaves then had to drive for an hour with the tortuous smell of fresh bread filling the van before we could justify stopping for lunch. Strangely there seemed to be bits missing from the edge, I told Mark, who had been driving, I couldn’t explain it, maybe they had large mice in the bakery!

Moving on from Agdz we decided to take it slowly and break the journey to Tafroute with a nights “wild” camping as we remembered the drive being very scenic from when we did it on our first trip 4 years ago. We also remembered the awful campsite at Tata which is about half way but we couldn’t face it again, just a concrete walled compound, no view, chock a block with cheapskate French camper vans (It was a really cheap site) and rather dilapidated facilities, even by Moroccan standards. Instead we had a nice night on our own just off the main road under some trees. The drive was as good as we thought passing through several areas of completely different rocks and hills, some green tinged, some showing all the lines of the “strata” or whatever you call the different geological layers. I always think of it as seeing the hills bones as there is hardly any flesh/soil covering them. Further on there were some great hills with swirls on them like the coloured sand in glasses you get from the seaside.

At one point in the usual seemingly dry and barren landscape we became aware that there was a riverbed which had water running parallel to the road. It was cutting deeper into the surrounding rock and at one point we parked and walked over to see how deep the “gorge” was. It was about 20ft, and as we stood there admiring the river we were amazed by the sight of 4 ducks flying over us, beautiful orange, black and white, against the vivid blue sky, then landing on a sandbank in the river. I’m sure this river doesn’t flow all year so I wonder where they came from. After consulting the bird book I think they were Ruddy Shellducks (no Malc I’m not “swearing so nicely” as you say, that’s their name) Not surprisingly we soon came to an area where palm trees were growing and people are able to cultivate under them so there was a small town, Tissint, which at the moment had a cascade, admittedly only falling about 6 foot but in all this dryness it was impressive. The landscape for about 5 miles beyond the town was very strange, the sandy rock having had big gouges carved into it, presumably by the occasional storm and water running off the hills.

6^th Feb

We’ve now been at Tafraoute for a week enjoying some good walks over the rocky hills and some cycle rides round them! The first day I rode my bike here I had a problem with the back wheel and found that the tyre wall was worn and bulging and could split at any time. Next day we took the bike into town to a bike shop we found. I thought no one was there then a little wizened chap appeared from the back. He rummaged around and found an appropriate tyre and inner tube. We then asked if it could be fitted and the back tyre swapped with the front as I wanted the better quality tyre on the back. I thought we’ll have to wait for some young chap to turn up as this must be granddad left in charge, but no. It was like someone switched him on. He started stripping off his Jellaba (floor length type coat with a hood) the equivalent of rolling up his sleeves and sprang into action turning my bike upside down, even though it was nearly as big as him! We indicated we’d come back later and he said 20 mins. We were about half an hour having had coffee and bun (good way to fill the time!) and it was all done and ready on our return. We knew the tyre cost 50Dhr (Less than £5) and he only charged an extra 30Dhr for fitting.

Next day with newly repaired bike we cycled out to see the “Blue Rocks”, I have mentioned these in past years. In 1984/5 some Belgian artist painted a random selection of huge boulders in a valley about 5 miles from Tafraoute. The first year we saw them they were badly faded and not very impressive but last year they were just starting to repaint them so we wondered how they looked now. Well the “Blue Rocks” are now Pink and Green as well as Blue!

Although the days are sunny, the nights here are always quite cold as Tafraoute is about 1000metres above sea level, the temperature plummets as soon as the sun sets but it seems to be particularly cold at the moment. One morning we woke to see frost outside and we had ICE on the inside of our front windscreen behind the insulating screen we put up at night. I guess condensation got between the window and the screen. We are nice and cosy in bed but we have had the heating on every morning before we get up. Luckily Mark thought to have the switch positioned so you can turn it on whilst still in bed!

17^th Feb

We’ve now had nearly a week at a newish campsite on an organic farm that we discovered last year. This year it’s a lot busier, lots of people like us coming back and of course more people discovering it. We only just got onto the main site as there are only about 25 pitches. The French owner came round on our second night and recognised us from last year and asked if everything was ok. I commented that he was doing well and busy and he said “Yes but still quiet” I didn’t mean to be rude but I must have made a face as I had just spent the afternoon being distracted from my reading by the 2 French couples behind us yacking continually for 3 hours over lunch, that’s when they weren’t interrupted by their dog barking, which in turn started our neighbours dog off. Anyway he said if we wanted to we could go off to the top edge of the farm near some olive trees so the next morning we did. It’s very nice and peaceful and handy for walks in the small rocky hills at the back where we are again going tortoise spotting. So far we have found 7 including a little baby one that was SOOO cute, I wanted to keep him as a pet (a nice quiet pet!) but knew he’d be better off left alone, after he’d been photographed of course!

20^th Feb

Still on the organic farm, it’s been a hectic few days as suddenly there are lots of Brits here and we keep stopping for chats when we are passing the main site or bump into them out walking. The first people we met are particularly nice, 2 couples originally from Burnley but now one couple live in France and they just meet up in the winter in Morocco. You can arrange to have meals here in the owner’s garden or in Bedouin tents in the orange groves so I thought I would see if any of the other English speaking campers were interested. I rounded up 11, 9 Brits and 2 Dutch for lunch so it was quite worthwhile for the campsite and I think we got a good price although of course some people thought it was too much when I told them and moaned when they found out it was cous cous, having initially not expressed any particular preferences. Anyway it was a good meal and a nice social occasion, everyone got on well and had interesting travel experiences to tell so all were happy in the end and thanked me for organising it. Stress!

A couple of days later we invited the 4 “Burnley’s” ,who were on the main site, up for afternoon coffee at our van in the olive tree meadow about 15 mins walk away. They arrived bearing a homemade cake made by Barbara, very welcome, and we had a nice chat sitting in the sun. The tortoise spotting competition is getting hot, Mark is on 4 and me on 3 but Barbara and Kev (The couple who live in France) are also on a joint score of 7. We can’t let them win, they only found out there were tortoise here because we told them! Fortunately we saw 3 the next day and they failed to score! then they left so we are the champions, and Mark and I saw 5 each so a happy tie!

Finally after 11 days we left the farm and went back to the hustle and bustle of the real world, driving to Agadir, a busy road after we had only seen the old tractor or jeep on the farm. We stopped at Marjane (The Tescos of Morocco) for our first lot of supermarket shopping since leaving Spain. We are not normally over fond of supermarkets but it was such a novelty we somehow managed to spend over 2 hours going round looking at everything and only about 20mins of that was in the alcohol department! Then to recover we had a tuna Panini in the supermarket café, it seemed quite exotic, without a tagine dish in sight!

We spent 2 nights at a site recommended to us on the coast north of Agadir which was really nice. A very small fishing village with a few cafes mainly frequented by surfers, local and tourist, who come for the apparently great waves in the 2 bays either side of the village. We would have stayed longer but unfortunately, like the farm, there was no signal for the internet and apart from wanting to get news on the political events in North Africa, we had to skype phone Marks mum on her birthday and get the Brighton football commentary on Sat!

26^th Feb

Back at Essaouria campsite, we drove in and saw a Dutch couple who we met at the beginning of this trip. When we went over to speak to them we found they had made friends with a Swedish family we spent time with 2 years ago so we all had a nice reunion. The Swedish parents looked exactly the same but of course their children had grown now six and a half and 4 years old. Since we last saw them the boy, Alvin has learnt English just from listening to his parents on their 2 month winter trips to Morocco (no one speaks Swedish so they are always speaking English to the other campers) and even 4 year old Malvina understands most of what you say and can say simple things. Mark was her hero for 5 mins as he managed to glue the pink flower back on her hair band. Although quite a tom boy at the moment and keeping up with her brother in tree climbing, she is into pink in a big way!

Unfortunately it has been extremely windy in Essaouria, normally we enjoy the half hour walk along the sea front to the town but it was no fun being sand blasted by gale force winds. The Swedish family left for home and next day as it was still forecast to be windy we decided to go inland for a few days. We went to a nice country site, only about 10 miles from the coast so still quite windy but at least no sand to get whipped up and make it worse. It is also one of the rare places with a washing machine so we have been able to catch up on the washing. We are doing quite well so far this trip, only had to hand wash one lot of smalls to keep us going between laundries and washing machines!

Sunday 6^th March

Back in Essaouria wind down to a light breeze so no excuse to put off the riding any longer. Having fallen off cantering on the beach here last year I was rather nervous about this but felt it was something I had to overcome. Anyway I had an hour ride today back on Prince (it wasn’t his fault I fell off!) but only walked and trotted on the beach but at least I have done some riding in the great outdoors. After we went for lunch at a beach side restaurant to celebrate/relax!!! and had a nice pizza, very Moroccan.

Mon 14^th March

After a long days drive we reached Zebra camping at Cascades D’Ouzoud, a lovely site run by a Dutch couple that we discovered last year. It is just up a small hill from the village and the top of the famous cascades (Waterfall to you and me) and has great views of the hills all around. Since last year they have completed a marvellous new shower and toilet block. The beautifully tiled hot showers are brill, hooks to hang clothes, shelf for shampoo, soap etc, good pressure and about 6ft square so plenty of room to manoeuvre! Outside the showers are double sinks, Also with hot water, set in a blue glass worktop with a large mirror at the back AND a vase of silk/dried flowers and all immaculately clean. You could be in a 5 star hotel, for a Moroccan campsite it’s amazing!

Caught up with Paul and Renate over coffee then meal on our last night

Cascades, coffee and bun and view, good exercise for Gill& also Bike ride 2 mile down then back up road. Cascades very brown for a day after the rain.

Left after 2 days rain, Light snow in Azilal then clear till we entered Azrou. Unfortunately half hour after dark and it was still snowing. Planned to go to Cherry Orchard site but there was a queue of traffic going that way and we thought we better just get in somewhere so went into “Disneyland” new site. Glad of a haven on the night but not very impressed next morning, pitches not level, could only find one squat loo (and that had no paper basket or water to flush)stupid paying system in office up hill not at the super fancy entrance! But the lady workers sheltering in the bosses office were friendly and nice and volunteered to be photographed when I said I hadn’t met many Moroccan ladies.

FEZ Met Karl and Helga (from 2 years ago in Tafrout and Taroudant) coming out of Marjane so joined them at Camping International and had a jolly evening in their van. Won’t go to that camping again though 110Dh (with compulsory electric) but old fashioned basic facilities and grumpy reception.

Volubilis Found site in book after we went 5 miles from Moullay Idris, not “about 4km” as our camping book says. Pleasant site, being updated nice welcome and mint tea next morning so we decided to stay a second night. Volubilis as good as we remembered but weather better this time.

Final night in Asilah parking (40DH- sure it was 20 last time but things changed a bit round parking area) Lunch in café next to medina wall, very pleasant.