Morocco Bound winter 2024 (1 Viewer)

[Portland]

Never managed to get breakdown cover after ADAC stopped doing it for Brits.
It's not so inexpensive any more but hopefully we'll be heading there come Jan.
There will be plenty of posts for costs and and dates to cross in company nearer to the time.

 

[Mark Brenton]

I reinsured with NFU at the beginning of this year as they specifically offer a green card for Morocco all they need is the dates. They don't do short term cover so will have to be for the whole year but as they were cheaper than last year's cover I was happy. They, and anyone else including insurance at the border, will be 3rd party only.

As an aside, I insured my scooter at the border, very simple, there's a booth just before Tangier Med dockyard gates, and it cost €150 for 2 months. Speaking to another couple and their motorhome cost...€150 for 2 months! Another motorhome was only there for for 1 month and their cover at the border was..... (Drum roll) €150 for 1 month; go figure!?


As far as I am aware no one does breakdown cover, please enlighten if I'm wrong, but local people are genuine, helpful and creative problem solvers. Top tip-carry a spare wheel. I did but I found out neither the jack nor the wheel brace supplied by Hymer, were up to the job and if it weren't for the generosity of 2clocal men I'd be stuck in the High Atlas still. So check your tools.

 

[gwyntaxi]

For insurance last year it was Saga and LV but I don’t believe anyone offers breakdown insurance. I’m sure others will come along shortly with other suggestions I’m not aware of, NFU?

Many thanks for your help

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[gwyntaxi]

Could I be cheeky and ask what was the reason(s) that you disliked it. Its on my list when I retire in a few years and generally everyone is positive so I would be really interested to hear another viewpoint.

Morocco can be a real culture shock for some people, think of people who only have what they stand In and some not even having a pair of shoes to their name, be prepared to go with an open mind and an open wallet, Moroccans are helpful and friendly people who can't do enough for you.

 

[Jimbo42]

Was there earlier this year and met up with Northern raider north of Asilah. This might not be the most popular reply to your question but we are with NR and while we only lasted just 5 weeks we will not be returning, ever!

We are currently in Bosnia and heading for Montenegro, it may well be cooler in winter but currently our preferred options for helping with Schengen issue.

Please, not looking for an argument or hostile replies just want to be subjective after our experience. Thanks

Hello, I have never been to Morocco but was planning to go next year, would be very interested to hear your reasons for not going back? Regards Jim

 

[Jimbohorlicks]

Has anyone been to Morocco at the end of the year. October through to December .?

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[Abgs]

Has anyone been to Morocco at the end of the year. October through to December .?

November 2002 10 day off-road tour ... No motorhome at the time. I remember it being blinking hot south of the Atlas but cold at night.

 

[GrannieAnnie]

Was there earlier this year and met up with Northern raider north of Asilah. This might not be the most popular reply to your question but we are with NR and while we only lasted just 5 weeks we will not be returning, ever!

We are currently in Bosnia and heading for Montenegro, it may well be cooler in winter but currently our preferred options for helping with Schengen issue.

Please, not looking for an argument or hostile replies just want to be subjective after our experience. Thanks

Hi I am interested to know what your reasons are? What was it about your experience in Morocco that made you decide never to go back?

 

[jongood]

Morocco is a bit Marmite. We love it we've done 5 Moroccan trips over a period of 10 years. IMO its a great place to go in our winter. We tend to go Jan to March, we usually dash through France ( because its cold) have a couple of weeks in Spain then 2-3 months in Morocco and a couple of weeks in Spain/France on our way back.

Morocco is much better than Spain Jan to march because the weather is generally much better and its not rammed full of snowbirds, unlike Spain ( which we also love btw) but in Morocco you can just bowl up at a Guardian parking or campsite and normally get in.

Morocco has several contrasting areas; The Atlantic Coast as far as Sidi Ifni is more Westernised, parts of it could very well be France, these days there are a lot more places where you can get a meal with a glass of wine etc. The weather on the coast is generally mid twenties with a pleasant breeze, This year the winds were stronger and more rainy periods than we ve previously had. I would recommend this for newbies.

We do see cyclists but we havent found Cycling easy in Morocco, The biggest problem is the dogs who will chase and snap at bicycles, and the standard of roads can be a bit mixed. We find a Motor Scooter works best for us.

Insurance has become a bit more difficult, LV seemed to be the best deal in recent years (sadly they wont cover our MH) we use NFU but only have 3rd party, I'm OK with that because I'm used to Moroccan Roads and weigh the risk v benefit, might be different for a newbie.

There have always been people who don't get on with Morocco it used to because they found it a little raw or the roads scared them but IMHO an extra reason this year has been the shufflers - these are starting on the back foot because they know they have to stay 90 days.

hth
Jon

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[Jimbo42]

Morocco is a bit Marmite. We love it we've done 5 Moroccan trips over a period of 10 years. IMO its a great place to go in our winter. We tend to go Jan to March, we usually dash through France ( because its cold) have a couple of weeks in Spain then 2-3 months in Morocco and a couple of weeks in Spain/France on our way back.

Morocco is much better than Spain Jan to march because the weather is generally much better and its not rammed full of snowbirds, unlike Spain ( which we also love btw) but in Morocco you can just bowl up at a Guardian parking or campsite and normally get in.

Morocco has several contrasting areas; The Atlantic Coast as far as Sidi Ifni is more Westernised, parts of it could very well be France, these days there are a lot more places where you can get a meal with a glass of wine etc. The weather on the coast is generally mid twenties with a pleasant breeze, This year the winds were stronger and more rainy periods than we ve previously had. I would recommend this for newbies.

We do see cyclists but we havent found Cycling easy in Morocco, The biggest problem is the dogs who will chase and snap at bicycles, and the standard of roads can be a bit mixed. We find a Motor Scooter works best for us.

Insurance has become a bit more difficult, LV seemed to be the best deal in recent years (sadly they wont cover our MH) we use NFU but only have 3rd party, I'm OK with that because I'm used to Moroccan Roads and weigh the risk v benefit, might be different for a newbie.

There have always been people who don't get on with Morocco it used to because they found it a little raw or the roads scared them but IMHO an extra reason this year has been the shufflers - these are starting on the back foot because they know they have to stay 90 days.

hth
Jon

Thank you very much for that.Overall would you say that it is better to go Jan/March than November?

 

[jongood]

Thank you very much for that.Overall would you say that it is better to go Jan/March than November?

Cant help sorry, We've only ever gone Jan- March, its sort of European season if that makes sense.

 

[Jimbo42]

Cant help sorry, We've only ever gone Jan- March, its sort of European season if that makes sense.

Thank you

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[jongood]

November 2002 10 day off-road tour ... No motorhome at the time. I remember it being blinking hot south of the Atlas but cold at night.

View attachment 795699

ASFAIK it usually is like that in the Desert areas. Anybody planning their Morocco trip will have to bear the weather in mind, It can be lovely and sunny with a pleasant breeze by the Coast, Roasting Hot in the Desert and 4ft of snow in the High Atlas pretty much at the same time.

 

[MartynSuz]

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Ok I said I wouldn’t do this, but against my better judgement and with several requests for further details and also the promise of me not justifying any of my opinions, here goes…

Firstly, we are in our mid 50’s, from Scotland, retired, travel fulltime in “Sully”, a large, conventional, conspicuous 7.3m motorhome, 3 grown up kids not traveling with us…

We were in Morocco from early February till late March 2023. I was very keen to visit the country and my wife had reservations but was interested enough to agree to the proposed 3 months visit, (Schengen dodge). We travelled as far east as Merzouga and down to Mhamid and as south as Essaouira. (Just setting the scene).

This message explains the reasons why we won’t go back, NOT reasons why we disliked the country, because we didn’t hate it, it just didn’t sit comfortably with us the way mainland Europe does. We are also very keen backpack travellers to SEA mainly Thailand and Vietnam.

Some of the things we liked and even loved, yes that’s correct it’s definitely not all bad (if it had been, we wouldn’t have lasted the 5 weeks). The climate was warm (when pretty much the whole of UK was wet and cold). Some of the food was lovely, we loved the veg and the “hub-cap” bread which cost about £0.08p each. We took or motorhome to the desert which we never envisaged, got some fantastic photos that we will cherish forever. Visited two movie locations which were interesting. Met two English couples that we still keep in-touch with and have visited since, and to be honest we enjoyed the achievement of taking the motorhome to Africa. The main roads were of a very high standard, some with small cost tolls.

I will also admit on the face of it Morocco has a lot to offer, its cheap, warmer in the winter, huge long coastline, great surfing, exciting destinations, most of the people are very nice to you especially if you are parting with money (funny it has the same effect on me when receiving money)

Before giving the reasons for our reluctance to return it must be said that we would not advise against anyone who is hell bent on going, not to go, nobody could have persuaded us not to go, as we regard adventurous travel as one of the best bits about motorhoming. We would however, advise any that were already wary or very undecided to either do plenty of research and possibly look at alternatives.

Also, to remember that this is a Muslim country with their own cultures, beliefs, dress rules and “calls-to-prayer” many times a day.

The begging was constant and off putting, while walking the streets, sitting in restaurants, kids on the highways gesturing for handouts. On one occasion we had a stone thrown at the drivers side window when we never stopped for a group of kids begging. Several times the windows were knocked on, whilst parked, by adults asking for money.

The Police checkpoints are constantly present, at entrances to towns, roundabouts and prominent junctions and if the sign says STOP or HAULT then you MUST stop until one of the policemen reluctantly gestures for you to move on, not stopping will result in an on-the-spot fine of 150DM (£12.50). Also, the temporary portable speed cameras are ever present and we had to part with cash on two occasions (we received a receipt both times). The middle finger was given on numerous occasions once in a supermarket and every other time whilst driving and only by male kids / youths.

There is extreme poverty and always that comes with its own gut-wrenching guilt.

Scams from campsite owners overcharging for 3rd party services, to the normal guy on the street who will SELF appoint himself as your guide and then demand money.

If this next bit is wrong then I apologise in advance but after a long discussion with a young local man, who was well educated and spoke very good English, assured me that the Quran states that dogs repel angels and therefore they do not believe in keeping them as pets and would never keep one in the house. He also claimed that donkeys were to be used solely as work animals – see next paragraph. Donkeys can be seen continually along the road side, mainly inland, tied to a stake with no water, no food and very short length of rope. We purchased a bag of carrots and gave them to the accessible roadside donkeys, much to the amusement of locals. We lost count of the amount of fat lazy men sitting on small donkeys which are being continually whipped to make them move as fast as they possibly can.

Whether or not the Quran beliefs are to blame or not, and quite frankly it doesn’t matter, the cruelty we saw dished out to dogs and donkeys was disgusting. We don’t own a dog and never have but on one occasion beside a school I had to stop the van because of what three boys were doing to a dog, and this was on a main highway. When I stopped the boys ran off with the dog as I can only assume they knew I wasn’t happy, where upon my wife said “seriously what did you think you were going to do” …..I didn’t have an answer…

This next bit was the final straw for me….and I will go into more detail because the practice of what we saw will still be continuing today, and be there for everyone to see, mostly due to the moronic, uneducated, imbeciles that predominately come in the form of western tourists.

We were driving on the RN8 road from Marrakesh to Ounagha when we saw what, on first glance, looked to be goats up in the trees. Now as most travellers and educated people will know, there are some goats that will climb trees, and most of us will have seen those images. So as we approached the goat laden tree whilst fumbling for our I-phones and I slowed down to stop opposite the large 30 foot tree it became very disturbingly clear that this was a 100% staged situation. This tree had approximately 50 goats that had been precariously placed on small wooden planks that had been secured to the tree, solely for the purposes of passing tourists to take photos….for a small fee I may add, to be paid to the cretin who stood beside the road beckoning tourists to stop. It was 36 degrees in the shade and those poor animals suffering in the direct sun for what I can only assume would be hours on end. Anyway, when “the cretin” very enthusiastically approached our van for the photographic fee he quickly realised that he was being greeted with a rather hostile reaction… and I can only assume that he had encountered similar responses before, as he sought to usher me away as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, it wasn’t quite that simply, as I had still to deal with the self-important insta-book-twitter idiot, that had pulled up in her car to have her photo taken, and get this, with a baby goat in her arms, I tried in vain to make her realise the error of her ways, she didn’t… I wasn’t allowed to give her disapproving male partner a Glasgow kiss ….so we drove on. Sorry but that’s not the end yet.

We drove off, discussing in bewilderment what we had just witnessed and within minutes were confronted with the same scenario…a man gesturing us to stop, to take photos of his tortured goats…. we slowed down and let him know that we were disgusted with his practice. This happened a total of 5 times within a 10km stretch of that road. At the last location there was a large enough area where we observed a “tourist coach” which had stopped to allow the ignorant tourists to get out and take their photos…. again we slowed down where upon my dear wife asked me what I was planning to do…hopelessly we drove on.

We spent several days after that in Ounagha and decided that this country was not really for us and decided to start heading in the direction of Tangier Med.

If you choose to go, then remove any rose-tinted glasses, and do your homework…

Saying that, this next bit should be your starter pack for the first 3 or 4 days, FOR FIRST TIMERS ONLY!!!

Arrive in Morocco as early as possible, allowing more time if “stuff” doesn’t go to plan. At the ferry terminal location, the only purchase I would advise would be vehicle insurance (if you don’t have already) it will have to be 3rd party only as that’s all that’s available, and there is no way round this. Maybe take the chance to get some local currency. It’s illegal to purchase Moroccan Dirham outwith the country, I know it happens but the ferry terminal ATM’s will be your first legal opportunity to acquire them. Definitely do not purchase SIM cards here ! (See details later).

Ok as you leave the terminal you will be hailed down at the roundabout by locals, ignore them and head to Asilah, about 90km away and the road is in perfect condition. There are two popular campsites in the north end of Asilah, they physically back onto each other…. make your own choice. Stay here till you feel happy to move on. Speak to westerners at the campsite, most will have been there before and will be more than happy to pass on recommendations…hopefully you can filter out the unnecessary.

30-day unlimited Data SIM cards can be purchased here Agence INWI Asilah, type into google and read the reviews. Easily walkable distance from campsite and plenty of ATMs on route. We use two Huawei MiFi's.

Two “first time restaurant” recommendations.

Traditional and cheap - Restaurante Dar Al Maghrebia (ideal for when you arrive)

Western and expensive - Port XIV Restaurant (perfect for when your leaving, well it was for us, includes beer and wine)

Definitely don't eat at "his brother's restaurant"

Sorry it’s drawn out….. after that you’re on your own…good luck and safe travels.

 

[Mark Brenton]

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Ok I said I wouldn’t do this, but against my better judgement and with several requests for further details and also the promise of me not justifying any of my opinions, here goes…

Firstly, we are in our mid 50’s, from Scotland, retired, travel fulltime in “Sully”, a large, conventional, conspicuous 7.3m motorhome, 3 grown up kids not traveling with us…

We were in Morocco from early February till late March 2023. I was very keen to visit the country and my wife had reservations but was interested enough to agree to the proposed 3 months visit, (Schengen dodge). We travelled as far east as Merzouga and down to Mhamid and as south as Essaouira. (Just setting the scene).

This message explains the reasons why we won’t go back, NOT reasons why we disliked the country, because we didn’t hate it, it just didn’t sit comfortably with us the way mainland Europe does. We are also very keen backpack travellers to SEA mainly Thailand and Vietnam.

Some of the things we liked and even loved, yes that’s correct it’s definitely not all bad (if it had been, we wouldn’t have lasted the 5 weeks). The climate was warm (when pretty much the whole of UK was wet and cold). Some of the food was lovely, we loved the veg and the “hub-cap” bread which cost about £0.08p each. We took or motorhome to the desert which we never envisaged, got some fantastic photos that we will cherish forever. Visited two movie locations which were interesting. Met two English couples that we still keep in-touch with and have visited since, and to be honest we enjoyed the achievement of taking the motorhome to Africa. The main roads were of a very high standard, some with small cost tolls.

I will also admit on the face of it Morocco has a lot to offer, its cheap, warmer in the winter, huge long coastline, great surfing, exciting destinations, most of the people are very nice to you especially if you are parting with money (funny it has the same effect on me when receiving money)

Before giving the reasons for our reluctance to return it must be said that we would not advise against anyone who is hell bent on going, not to go, nobody could have persuaded us not to go, as we regard adventurous travel as one of the best bits about motorhoming. We would however, advise any that were already wary or very undecided to either do plenty of research and possibly look at alternatives.

Also, to remember that this is a Muslim country with their own cultures, beliefs, dress rules and “calls-to-prayer” many times a day.

The begging was constant and off putting, while walking the streets, sitting in restaurants, kids on the highways gesturing for handouts. On one occasion we had a stone thrown at the drivers side window when we never stopped for a group of kids begging. Several times the windows were knocked on, whilst parked, by adults asking for money.

The Police checkpoints are constantly present, at entrances to towns, roundabouts and prominent junctions and if the sign says STOP or HAULT then you MUST stop until one of the policemen reluctantly gestures for you to move on, not stopping will result in an on-the-spot fine of 150DM (£12.50). Also, the temporary portable speed cameras are ever present and we had to part with cash on two occasions (we received a receipt both times). The middle finger was given on numerous occasions once in a supermarket and every other time whilst driving and only by male kids / youths.

There is extreme poverty and always that comes with its own gut-wrenching guilt.

Scams from campsite owners overcharging for 3rd party services, to the normal guy on the street who will SELF appoint himself as your guide and then demand money.

If this next bit is wrong then I apologise in advance but after a long discussion with a young local man, who was well educated and spoke very good English, assured me that the Quran states that dogs repel angels and therefore they do not believe in keeping them as pets and would never keep one in the house. He also claimed that donkeys were to be used solely as work animals – see next paragraph. Donkeys can be seen continually along the road side, mainly inland, tied to a stake with no water, no food and very short length of rope. We purchased a bag of carrots and gave them to the accessible roadside donkeys, much to the amusement of locals. We lost count of the amount of fat lazy men sitting on small donkeys which are being continually whipped to make them move as fast as they possibly can.

Whether or not the Quran beliefs are to blame or not, and quite frankly it doesn’t matter, the cruelty we saw dished out to dogs and donkeys was disgusting. We don’t own a dog and never have but on one occasion beside a school I had to stop the van because of what three boys were doing to a dog, and this was on a main highway. When I stopped the boys ran off with the dog as I can only assume they knew I wasn’t happy, where upon my wife said “seriously what did you think you were going to do” …..I didn’t have an answer…

This next bit was the final straw for me….and I will go into more detail because the practice of what we saw will still be continuing today, and be there for everyone to see, mostly due to the moronic, uneducated, imbeciles that predominately come in the form of western tourists.

We were driving on the RN8 road from Marrakesh to Ounagha when we saw what, on first glance, looked to be goats up in the trees. Now as most travellers and educated people will know, there are some goats that will climb trees, and most of us will have seen those images. So as we approached the goat laden tree whilst fumbling for our I-phones and I slowed down to stop opposite the large 30 foot tree it became very disturbingly clear that this was a 100% staged situation. This tree had approximately 50 goats that had been precariously placed on small wooden planks that had been secured to the tree, solely for the purposes of passing tourists to take photos….for a small fee I may add, to be paid to the cretin who stood beside the road beckoning tourists to stop. It was 36 degrees in the shade and those poor animals suffering in the direct sun for what I can only assume would be hours on end. Anyway, when “the cretin” very enthusiastically approached our van for the photographic fee he quickly realised that he was being greeted with a rather hostile reaction… and I can only assume that he had encountered similar responses before, as he sought to usher me away as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, it wasn’t quite that simply, as I had still to deal with the self-important insta-book-twitter idiot, that had pulled up in her car to have her photo taken, and get this, with a baby goat in her arms, I tried in vain to make her realise the error of her ways, she didn’t… I wasn’t allowed to give her disapproving male partner a Glasgow kiss ….so we drove on. Sorry but that’s not the end yet.

We drove off, discussing in bewilderment what we had just witnessed and within minutes were confronted with the same scenario…a man gesturing us to stop, to take photos of his tortured goats…. we slowed down and let him know that we were disgusted with his practice. This happened a total of 5 times within a 10km stretch of that road. At the last location there was a large enough area where we observed a “tourist coach” which had stopped to allow the ignorant tourists to get out and take their photos…. again we slowed down where upon my dear wife asked me what I was planning to do…hopelessly we drove on.

We spent several days after that in Ounagha and decided that this country was not really for us and decided to start heading in the direction of Tangier Med.

If you choose to go, then remove any rose-tinted glasses, and do your homework…

Saying that, this next bit should be your starter pack for the first 3 or 4 days, FOR FIRST TIMERS ONLY!!!

Arrive in Morocco as early as possible, allowing more time if “stuff” doesn’t go to plan. At the ferry terminal location, the only purchase I would advise would be vehicle insurance (if you don’t have already) it will have to be 3rd party only as that’s all that’s available, and there is no way round this. Maybe take the chance to get some local currency. It’s illegal to purchase Moroccan Dirham outwith the country, I know it happens but the ferry terminal ATM’s will be your first legal opportunity to acquire them. Definitely do not purchase SIM cards here ! (See details later).

Ok as you leave the terminal you will be hailed down at the roundabout by locals, ignore them and head to Asilah, about 90km away and the road is in perfect condition. There are two popular campsites in the north end of Asilah, they physically back onto each other…. make your own choice. Stay here till you feel happy to move on. Speak to westerners at the campsite, most will have been there before and will be more than happy to pass on recommendations…hopefully you can filter out the unnecessary.

30-day unlimited Data SIM cards can be purchased here Agence INWI Asilah, type into google and read the reviews. Easily walkable distance from campsite and plenty of ATMs on route. We use two Huawei MiFi's.

Two “first time restaurant” recommendations.

Traditional and cheap - Restaurante Dar Al Maghrebia (ideal for when you arrive)

Western and expensive - Port XIV Restaurant (perfect for when your leaving, well it was for us, includes beer and wine)

Definitely don't eat at "his brother's restaurant"

Sorry it’s drawn out….. after that you’re on your own…good luck and safe travels.

I can't disagree with you and Thankyou for taking the time to explain your reasoning, yet I'm still drawn to this wonderfully strange society where the western world crashes and mingles with the Arab world, where history is alive and even lived in and Roman Architecture is literally open to the hobbyist archeologist. I totally respect martynandsuz decision and can't fault their reasoning so, take on board what they say and research every source of information available and then make your decision, at the very least, if you go, you'll leave the country as a more informed and interesting individual able to, in my head only of course, able to astound and amaze your fellow guests at dinner parties

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[Just smiffy]

That’s the trouble with some of these places is that most people only see the tourist areas where it is kept “sanitised “ for the tourists benefit, with motorhomes and travelling a place for a few months in rural areas you really get to see the real country.

I have friends who’s say “oh I’ve been to France, Spain, Portugal for a week and I know it so well” well frankly they don’t when your driving around for maybe months you really get to see the whole place, good and bad…

 

[Jane And Rog]

For anyone interested, our thread is here -
https://www.motorhomefun.co.uk/forum/threads/jane-rog’s-retirement-tour-morocco-2023.275789/

We would certainly return to Morocco. And if you read our thread, that’s despite us having various van issues, and a father issue which meant we went home earlier than planned. Yes, there are problems in Morocco, but, in my view, that’s true of anywhere in the world. And we found Moroccans some of the most helpful people we have ever met.

I would disagree about the begging though - we saw relatively little of it, and when it happened people were good natured, smiled and didn’t bother us.

Dogs - not so great. But we saw plenty of Muslim families with pet dogs, and I’ll always remember the time in a coffee shop, when Flynn (not a small dog) laid back to sleep all over a chap’s feet and he just smiled and tried to stop us from moving him. I’ve had less favourable treatment in British pubs. Also, I introduced Flynn to a gaggle of Muslim girls, who fainallu dared to stroke him, and who asked all about him. Plenty of good experiences to balance the bad ones.

Go as a traveller and look for the best in everyone and everything, and you will have a fantastic time.

 

[jongood]

Broken Link Removed Broken Link Removed Broken Link Removed Broken Link Removed Broken Link Removed Broken Link Removed

Ok I said I wouldn’t do this, but against my better judgement and with several requests for further details and also the promise of me not justifying any of my opinions, here goes…

Firstly, we are in our mid 50’s, from Scotland, retired, travel fulltime in “Sully”, a large, conventional, conspicuous 7.3m motorhome, 3 grown up kids not traveling with us…

We were in Morocco from early February till late March 2023. I was very keen to visit the country and my wife had reservations but was interested enough to agree to the proposed 3 months visit, (Schengen dodge). We travelled as far east as Merzouga and down to Mhamid and as south as Essaouira. (Just setting the scene).

This message explains the reasons why we won’t go back, NOT reasons why we disliked the country, because we didn’t hate it, it just didn’t sit comfortably with us the way mainland Europe does. We are also very keen backpack travellers to SEA mainly Thailand and Vietnam.

Some of the things we liked and even loved, yes that’s correct it’s definitely not all bad (if it had been, we wouldn’t have lasted the 5 weeks). The climate was warm (when pretty much the whole of UK was wet and cold). Some of the food was lovely, we loved the veg and the “hub-cap” bread which cost about £0.08p each. We took or motorhome to the desert which we never envisaged, got some fantastic photos that we will cherish forever. Visited two movie locations which were interesting. Met two English couples that we still keep in-touch with and have visited since, and to be honest we enjoyed the achievement of taking the motorhome to Africa. The main roads were of a very high standard, some with small cost tolls.

I will also admit on the face of it Morocco has a lot to offer, its cheap, warmer in the winter, huge long coastline, great surfing, exciting destinations, most of the people are very nice to you especially if you are parting with money (funny it has the same effect on me when receiving money)

Before giving the reasons for our reluctance to return it must be said that we would not advise against anyone who is hell bent on going, not to go, nobody could have persuaded us not to go, as we regard adventurous travel as one of the best bits about motorhoming. We would however, advise any that were already wary or very undecided to either do plenty of research and possibly look at alternatives.

Also, to remember that this is a Muslim country with their own cultures, beliefs, dress rules and “calls-to-prayer” many times a day.

The begging was constant and off putting, while walking the streets, sitting in restaurants, kids on the highways gesturing for handouts. On one occasion we had a stone thrown at the drivers side window when we never stopped for a group of kids begging. Several times the windows were knocked on, whilst parked, by adults asking for money.

The Police checkpoints are constantly present, at entrances to towns, roundabouts and prominent junctions and if the sign says STOP or HAULT then you MUST stop until one of the policemen reluctantly gestures for you to move on, not stopping will result in an on-the-spot fine of 150DM (£12.50). Also, the temporary portable speed cameras are ever present and we had to part with cash on two occasions (we received a receipt both times). The middle finger was given on numerous occasions once in a supermarket and every other time whilst driving and only by male kids / youths.

There is extreme poverty and always that comes with its own gut-wrenching guilt.

Scams from campsite owners overcharging for 3rd party services, to the normal guy on the street who will SELF appoint himself as your guide and then demand money.

If this next bit is wrong then I apologise in advance but after a long discussion with a young local man, who was well educated and spoke very good English, assured me that the Quran states that dogs repel angels and therefore they do not believe in keeping them as pets and would never keep one in the house. He also claimed that donkeys were to be used solely as work animals – see next paragraph. Donkeys can be seen continually along the road side, mainly inland, tied to a stake with no water, no food and very short length of rope. We purchased a bag of carrots and gave them to the accessible roadside donkeys, much to the amusement of locals. We lost count of the amount of fat lazy men sitting on small donkeys which are being continually whipped to make them move as fast as they possibly can.

Whether or not the Quran beliefs are to blame or not, and quite frankly it doesn’t matter, the cruelty we saw dished out to dogs and donkeys was disgusting. We don’t own a dog and never have but on one occasion beside a school I had to stop the van because of what three boys were doing to a dog, and this was on a main highway. When I stopped the boys ran off with the dog as I can only assume they knew I wasn’t happy, where upon my wife said “seriously what did you think you were going to do” …..I didn’t have an answer…

This next bit was the final straw for me….and I will go into more detail because the practice of what we saw will still be continuing today, and be there for everyone to see, mostly due to the moronic, uneducated, imbeciles that predominately come in the form of western tourists.

We were driving on the RN8 road from Marrakesh to Ounagha when we saw what, on first glance, looked to be goats up in the trees. Now as most travellers and educated people will know, there are some goats that will climb trees, and most of us will have seen those images. So as we approached the goat laden tree whilst fumbling for our I-phones and I slowed down to stop opposite the large 30 foot tree it became very disturbingly clear that this was a 100% staged situation. This tree had approximately 50 goats that had been precariously placed on small wooden planks that had been secured to the tree, solely for the purposes of passing tourists to take photos….for a small fee I may add, to be paid to the cretin who stood beside the road beckoning tourists to stop. It was 36 degrees in the shade and those poor animals suffering in the direct sun for what I can only assume would be hours on end. Anyway, when “the cretin” very enthusiastically approached our van for the photographic fee he quickly realised that he was being greeted with a rather hostile reaction… and I can only assume that he had encountered similar responses before, as he sought to usher me away as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, it wasn’t quite that simply, as I had still to deal with the self-important insta-book-twitter idiot, that had pulled up in her car to have her photo taken, and get this, with a baby goat in her arms, I tried in vain to make her realise the error of her ways, she didn’t… I wasn’t allowed to give her disapproving male partner a Glasgow kiss ….so we drove on. Sorry but that’s not the end yet.

We drove off, discussing in bewilderment what we had just witnessed and within minutes were confronted with the same scenario…a man gesturing us to stop, to take photos of his tortured goats…. we slowed down and let him know that we were disgusted with his practice. This happened a total of 5 times within a 10km stretch of that road. At the last location there was a large enough area where we observed a “tourist coach” which had stopped to allow the ignorant tourists to get out and take their photos…. again we slowed down where upon my dear wife asked me what I was planning to do…hopelessly we drove on.

We spent several days after that in Ounagha and decided that this country was not really for us and decided to start heading in the direction of Tangier Med.

If you choose to go, then remove any rose-tinted glasses, and do your homework…

Saying that, this next bit should be your starter pack for the first 3 or 4 days, FOR FIRST TIMERS ONLY!!!

Arrive in Morocco as early as possible, allowing more time if “stuff” doesn’t go to plan. At the ferry terminal location, the only purchase I would advise would be vehicle insurance (if you don’t have already) it will have to be 3rd party only as that’s all that’s available, and there is no way round this. Maybe take the chance to get some local currency. It’s illegal to purchase Moroccan Dirham outwith the country, I know it happens but the ferry terminal ATM’s will be your first legal opportunity to acquire them. Definitely do not purchase SIM cards here ! (See details later).

Ok as you leave the terminal you will be hailed down at the roundabout by locals, ignore them and head to Asilah, about 90km away and the road is in perfect condition. There are two popular campsites in the north end of Asilah, they physically back onto each other…. make your own choice. Stay here till you feel happy to move on. Speak to westerners at the campsite, most will have been there before and will be more than happy to pass on recommendations…hopefully you can filter out the unnecessary.

30-day unlimited Data SIM cards can be purchased here Agence INWI Asilah, type into google and read the reviews. Easily walkable distance from campsite and plenty of ATMs on route. We use two Huawei MiFi's.

Two “first time restaurant” recommendations.

Traditional and cheap - Restaurante Dar Al Maghrebia (ideal for when you arrive)

Western and expensive - Port XIV Restaurant (perfect for when your leaving, well it was for us, includes beer and wine)

Definitely don't eat at "his brother's restaurant"

Sorry it’s drawn out….. after that you’re on your own…good luck and safe travels.

I would agree that they definitely dont treat their animals well, and most don't really get the concept of 'pets', this is something we've noticed in many African countries. Visits to the butchers aren't for the faint hearted.

You can't escape the fact that you will witness poverty and disfigurement, this a poor country. The begging used to get on our nerves until we realised that a lot of it (although not all) is a bit of a game with kids who are pretty well cared for by a their families and more so than most by their communities (who are quite prepared to correct them if they do push it too far) looking for a bit of fun in a land with very little to engage them. The look on some of their faces if you give them a sweet or a pen is a joy. We've also travelled Asia and often describe Morocco as France meets Thailand, where also things generally go better with a smile.

But as a winter destination in the motorhome its very hard to beat, so hard that we've been 5 times. We've seen massive changes, some good some bad, There only used to be one spot that had goats in Trees and this year there are several, btw I think the goats are inclined to climb the trees to get at the argan nuts but maybe not as many or as often as fhe earnings opportunities btw said goat will spend all day grazing around the trees in the hot sun anyway. On the positive side we've noticed that the role of women is changing and much of Morocco is becoming more moderate and western looking in its outlook. It was very different 10 years ago.

We enjoy the freedom, the adventure aspect, the weather, the sights etc, the warmth of most of the people. We are very fortunate in being able to visit there, but always recommend that newbies go with an open mind and a fallback plan. As I said in my earlier post its Marmite.

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[Sue and Rick]

For insurance last year it was Saga and LV but I don’t believe anyone offers breakdown insurance. I’m sure others will come along shortly with other suggestions I’m not aware of, NFU?

There is a guy who does breakdown in Agadir. Depending on your weight he decides wether to bring one camel or two to tow you to the garage.

 

[jongood]

There is a guy who does breakdown in Agadir. Depending on your weight he decides wether to bring one camel or two to tow you to the garage.

We broke down in Morocco about 5 years ago in our then Fiat based mh. To cut a longer story short, Engine water pump went taking the fanbelt with it a few miles outside a medium sized town. I found a mechanic who fixed it with genuine parts within 24 hours. for a very fair price.

I know people who have had clutches replaced and various other works. In fact I could take you to garages in Morocco that specialise in repairing European Motorhomes.

 

[GrannieAnnie]

Thanks for taking the time to explain your reasoning. I can fully understand why you feel it’s not for you and we have experienced much of what you describe although not really seen much begging. As others have said it is a bit ´marmite’ and you certainly have to go with an open mind. The first time we went it certainly was a culture shock! Having said that we have been several times since and plan to go Jan next year. We still feel the positives out way the negatives that you highlighted and can’t wait to go back. By the way we don’t need to go because of the Schengen shuffle, we are French residents.

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[DucatoMan2]

i imbeciles that predominately come in the form of western tourists.

I think you put your finger on the problem there. Imagine a group of kids 'earning' more on a 'good day' than their parents and you can see why requests for 'l'argent' can become very insistent. I found inland villages that had very few visible working age males. I guess many might be working in Spain, but whatever there was a 'Lord of the flies' vibe at times. I'll refrain from saying anymore about that as I don't want to blow it out of proportion.

Anyhow thanks for the up to date info. I am planning on a longer trip this time, but am glad of the reminder to remain aware. Of course the aftermath of the quake is another factor, but I think supporting the coastal areas is one small way we can help, tourism is apparently badly affected.

Morocco earthquake: 'Our guides are worried about their future if people choose not to travel'

When the earthquake struck, it was the beginning of peak season for tourism to the country

inews.co.uk

 

[Jimbohorlicks]

Can anyone advise what the customs checks are like at Ceuta to Morocco.
Are they pretty stiff on what you can take through booze and food wise?

 

[canopus]

Ceuta is a Spanish Colony in North Africa. The ferries are operated by Balleria. Why dont you cross to Tangier Med it’s probably cheaper.

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[Jimbohorlicks]

Ceuta is a Spanish Colony in North Africa. The ferries are operated by Balleria. Why dont you cross to Tangier Med it’s probably cheaper.

Hi Ken , have checked some on line ferry prices and the Algeceras to Ceuta are a lot cheaper( and quicker).but not checked the "carlos" prices yet.

Via Naviera Armas ferry its £233. Tangier med is over £300

 

[ceejayt]

Ceuta is a bit of a mad house at the border from our experience Tangier med apparently much better

 

[MaidinDevon]

Thinking about travelling to Morocco this winter. What about LPG. I have refillable Gasit, but don't have a bbq point. How do people manage getting gas.

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[Jimbohorlicks]

Thinking about travelling to Morocco this winter. What about LPG. I have refillable Gasit, but don't have a bbq point. How do people manage getting gas.

You can buy a gaslow adaptor hose that will fit a camping gaz valve ( available all over morocco)and also the Spanish repsol propranol adaptor which you then just screw into your gaslow fill point.

Gaslow Camping Gaz Adapter

The Gaslow Camping Gaz Adaptor 01-1665 is used to Convert Camping Gaz cylinders to 21.8LH screw thread. Output pressure through the adapter will be cylinder pressure. Normally connected to a bulkhead mounted 30mbar regulator via high pressure pigtails.

www.gaslowdirect.com

Reserve Gas Connection Hose and Adaptors Archives

Reserve cylinder connection hose is used if you are running low on gas. simply screw into your LPG filler point and connect to a reserve cylinder to continue using gas in your vehicle.

www.gaslowdirect.com

 

[Barchetta47]

You can buy a gaslow adaptor hose that will fit a camping gaz valve ( available all over morocco)and also the Spanish repsol propranol adaptor which you then just screw into your gaslow fill point.

Gaslow Camping Gaz Adapter

The Gaslow Camping Gaz Adaptor 01-1665 is used to Convert Camping Gaz cylinders to 21.8LH screw thread. Output pressure through the adapter will be cylinder pressure. Normally connected to a bulkhead mounted 30mbar regulator via high pressure pigtails.

www.gaslowdirect.com

Reserve Gas Connection Hose and Adaptors Archives

Reserve cylinder connection hose is used if you are running low on gas. simply screw into your LPG filler point and connect to a reserve cylinder to continue using gas in your vehicle.

www.gaslowdirect.com

We have been to Morocco a couple of times recently and relied on using the Gaslow Local adaptor screwed in to the filler point. I use a local cylinder, cheap as chips, £7 including deposit for 13kg + £4 for swap. If you are worried about contamination you can add an in line filter.

 

[jongood]

Hi Ken , have checked some on line ferry prices and the Algeceras to Ceuta are a lot cheaper( and quicker).but not checked the "carlos" prices yet.

Via Naviera Armas ferry its £233. Tangier med is over £300

Carlos did Tanger med for us for 230 open this year iirc. Never done Ceuta but Tanger Med is easy, didnt even bother looking at the scooter this year. They don’t seem to want to see the booze.

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