2014 - MOROCCO .. All posts here now please..

[SUGGY]

The Space Race

Urgent up date on the international space race

Suggy n Rosie 1 point Ffffffrogs Nil pois

Yippeee we beat the frogs into (a) space 9.30 this morning ,
we drove in as the frogs were running across with bottles of water to reserve the space

Mr Frog croaked freely in his native tongue at great length to me ,

When he had finished i just said " Good Morning " , :Cool:

Peace resumed yet again :thumb:

 

[canopus]

Well our German neighbours have just left en route to Marakech and the camp site we recommended. Think they got fed up of throwing the ball for Jess.

There is water stansion pipe near our pitch which seems only to work mid morning and is clearly served by a pump judging by the pressure. Anyway I did my bit for reparation by filling Henri's mate's water bottle plus filled up a Dutch ladies bottles and also a charming French chap behind us over the fence - all with my jury rigged hose and connectors.

Suspect Henri must have the Safi sh1ts as he hasn't surfaced aujourd'hui. Serves the miserable git right for being such a 'branleur'. Look it up


Heading for Moulay Bousselham tomorrow all being well

 

[SueBaz]

We watched a Frog this morning at 7,30am walk across the parking aire , cassette in hand ,

oh thinks i , there is a cassette point , just near us :thumb:

No , he calmly walks over to the lake and empties his casette in the bushes , just as some more French were walking past with their dogs , :BigGrin

All the other French do is bid him good morning and stand talking ........:

Interesting.

Finest piece of camp etiquette we witnessed was the cleaning of a cassette in a washbasin at the site in Chefchaouen...... :Wacko:

Can't say what Terran nationality the gentleman professed but we had a suspicion.....:Angry: After a bit of thought though we concluded he must have been from a different planet....... The cassette service point was a dozen paces from the washbasin!!! oh:


Have Fun.

Barry and Sue. :thumb:

 

[SUGGY]

Interesting.

Finest piece of camp etiquette we witnessed was the cleaning of a cassette in a washbasin at the site in Chefchaouen...... :Wacko:

Can't say what Terran nationality the gentleman professed but we had a suspicion.....:Angry: After a bit of thought though we concluded he must have been from a different planet....... The cassette service point was a dozen paces from the washbasin!!! oh:


Have Fun.

Barry and Sue. :thumb:

HaHa!
Last year i saw a Female form of the Frog, washing Dog poooh off her shoes in the wash basin , oh:

BUT, alongside her , was another Frog lady who was cleaning her teeth

The teeth were still in the ladies mouth, Not in her hand , i hasten to add

 

[chrisboyo]

We are heading up to MB from Meknes tommorw as well
Are you going to the first or second site in the book
Happy daze
Chrisboyo

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[SUGGY]

We are heading up to MB from Meknes tommorw as well
Are you going to the first or second site in the book
Happy daze
Chrisboyo

Hi Chris
most people go to camping international , vic 27 ,
if you are there early you may get a sea view
Fresh bread at the restaraunt early am , you will know when it is there ,
you will hear the Frogs Croaking Loudly oh:
( from about 50 metres ,when we were there last year ):Sad:

 

[canopus]

HaHa!
Last year i saw a Female form of the Frog, washing Dog poooh off her shoes in the wash basin , oh:

BUT, alongside her , was another Frog lady who was cleaning her teeth

The teeth were still in the ladies mouth, Not in her hand , i hasten to add

If I was a betting man I would be giving 6 to 4 against it being French dog sh1t

 

[canopus]

We are heading up to MB from Meknes tommorw as well
Are you going to the first or second site in the book
Happy daze
Chrisboyo

Haven't decided yet will see how it pans out and will end up somewhere or other. :thumb:

 

[makems]

Day started badly today as the Alde hot water refused to light so showers were had over the sink using pans of hot water heated on the stove.
The day got better though because it was beautiful and sunny so we all six of us went in Chrisboyos van to Volubilis and thoroughly enjoyed it.
The flowers were out in abundance and the air was clean and the sun just the right sort of temperature. Not so hot that you felt uncomfortable..

We stopped at Marjane on our way back to the guardian parking in Meknes for essential supplies and made it back on the stroke of beer o'clock.

After a couple of drinks we had our dinner and then went for a walk around the square and the souk.

The square is really lively on Saturday and Sunday nights just like a small version of Marrakech. And the souk is great because nobody pesters you at all. We will be coming back here next year for sure (insh'Allah)

 

[canopus]

Hope you haven't buggered the Alde using that Moroccan butane Mike. :Sad:

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[canopus]

Canopus Crew now at Moulay Bousselham at Camping Flamants Loisirs (Flamingo Leisure). Can't be more than a dozen vans here, mostly of the F variety, though did notice one other GB van. Beer o clock as soon as we got the legs down.

Most pitches are very shaded, a god send, as the heat has increased since we arrived in Maroc back in mid January.

Now on the last lap up to Tanger, seems like yesterday when we were disembarking at Tanger.

 

[chrisboyo]

We are at MB camping international just down the road from you
Happy daze
Chrisboyo

 

[funman]

Asilah

Sorry Chrisboyo - Asilah is a lot nearer to Moulay Bousselhem than I said it was!

I think we're in Asilah but we can't see it through the fog!

 

[canopus]

Met with Suggy (Graham & Rosie) and now parked up at Ksar Es Seghir with Tanger Med visible in the distance.

Ferry tomorrow :Sad:

Its been a very memorable twelve weeks and and one we won't forget in a hurry. We will return, inshallah, in the very near future :thumb:

Steady ride back up through Spain & France and home in time for Eden Camp

 

[SUGGY]

2014 Morocco

Well thats it , 11 weeks in Morocco

where did it go .....

Well we have some great Funster Parties ,

The Tagazoute Beach Party n Campfires lasted about a week at least , plus all the meet ups all over Morocco ,

It has been a great time again ,

The Moroccan people have made us welcome wherever we have been , some like Mohamed and Rashid going the extra mile to help us with the engine troubles then inviting us to their homes as well ,

The weather has been great up to 49.8c ( in the sun :Blush with 22% Humidity to get rid of the Benidorm Barking Cough oh:

If you are in any doubt about coming here , just read through the posts from 2013 n 2014 ,

We have felt safe wherever we have been and have enjoyed morocco yet again and hope to be back in December 2014 :thumb: Inshalah :Cool:

Graham n Rosie

P.S. sorry about all the posts about the French but they really are a pain , like someone once said ... the only thing that spoils France is the French and that is the same for Morocco but in fairness , we did meet 2 nice French people ( in 11 weeks )

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[marjohn]

On are way home passed Spain in France

Hello everybody from motorhome
We have just left Spain a place called Salamanca and heading to Miranda de Ebro which where both good left for Pau also good in France at the moment Lourdes very good and got blessed thanks all for looking after us we hope you all have a safe journey home we hope to be in southport in June marjohn

 

[marjohn]

Watch you don't get bitten

Canopus Crew now at Moulay Bousselham at Camping Flamants Loisirs (Flamingo Leisure). Can't be more than a dozen vans here, mostly of the F variety, though did notice one other GB van. Beer o clock as soon as we got the legs down.

Most pitches are very shaded, a god send, as the heat has increased since we arrived in Maroc back in mid January.

Now on the last lap up to Tanger, seems like yesterday when we were disembarking at Tanger.

Watch the mosquitoes marjohn

 

[SUGGY]

Hello everybody from motorhome
We have just left Spain a place called Salamanca and heading to Miranda de Ebro which where both good left for Pau also good in France at the moment Lourdes very good and got blessed thanks all for looking after us we hope you all have a safe journey home we hope to be in southport in June marjohn

Hi John,
Mianda de ebro ... were you on a campsite or parking over night, ?
Do you have any GPS please ,:thumb:

 

[makems]

Well we finally dragged ourselves away from Meknes which has turned out to be our favourite big city in Morocco.
It's a short jaunt down the motorway to Fes and to the diamanté Vert campsite (no 1 in the book). The campsite has been significantly upgraded and there is a new entrance SO DO NOT FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS IN THE BOOK!
As you come off the motorway there is a sign to the right. FOLLOW IT! It takes you right to the posh new entrance.

If you follow the instructions in the book it will take you to a small car park with no way to get through to the campsite - the previous entrance gates are locked and barred.
We had to reverse up a steep hill and back out onto the main road without stopping to avoid getting stuck as our van is notorious for wheel spin in dusty, gravelly roads. Fortunately the oncoming Moroccan traffic stopped when I walked in the road and did my best imitation of a policemans stop hand signal!
Once we found the right entrance we discovered the facilities are first class, new and clean although the price has gone up accordingly. It's now 120dh a night including electric.
There is a really nice looking restaurant with meals at reasonable prices although we didn't test it.
We spent all afternoon using the water and electric to do over two weeks of laundry. The washing machine really earns it's keep.
Beer o'clock was very pleasant as it had been a scorching hot day 32 degrees in the shade! We sat out until ten o'clock without feeling cold.
The site can arrange an official guide (not necessary in my opinion) and can arrange transport into the city for 30dh per person. We didn't bother as we had decided to go to the guardian parking in the city centre.

 

[Malcolm Bolt]

no no no

Anglo french diplomatic relations are clearly breaking down :thumb:
Are fun members going to be allowed back Into moroc next year or do I have to join the dark side

Anything but the D#rks#de shhhh

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[AlanVal]

Hi John,
Mianda de ebro ... were you on a campsite or parking over night, ?
Do you have any GPS please ,:thumb:

There is an aire its in the spain and portugal aire book ,n41deg325'. W 002deg57.300'. Been there not that nice but you can park at the pasteur ( shepherd boy ) monument at Amayuago about Couple of miles on back road from From miranda to Burgos .. .

 

[canopus]

First in the queue at Tanger Med and the boat is just coming in. Inshallah we should be on time for a 10am departure. It's decidely nippy here on the quayside.

The Cuidad de Malaga is just docking stern end first. If we don't turn round inside the ship it will be first on last off :Sad:

Bon voyage dear Dumalay have a good journey and land at St. Malo correction Algeciras :thumb:

 

[makems]

Well we've put our first dent in the new van

We drove into Fes to find the guardian parking in the vicious book.
We followed the directions for approaching from the West but what we didn't know is that the directions assume you are driving on the old road rather than the motorway,
All went swimmingly until we got to within a half mile of the destination when suddenly the directions made no sense. We were in a fairly narrow street with options to either do a 42 point turn or drive down an even narrower street off to the left. Having had our fingers burned in narrow streets before I got out and legged it up the street to see if it was navigable, fortunately it was! :thumb:
Halfway up there was some parking and the guardians wee waving at us to pull in but it wasn't overnight and there wasn't really room so we drove further and emerged into a small square where there was a policeman. We asked him where we could park and he pointed up the street about 200 yards and there was our destination!:thumb:
Now bear in mind while all this is happening that the traffic in Fes is manic. Worse than Marrakech or Agadir by a significant magnitude, plus donkeys, horse, docker bikes etc swarming all over you. Not to mention touts trying to convince you to go somewhere or other and "guides" offering to take you who knows where.
So we finally arrive in a huge square and the guardian directs us round behind a row of parked cars and vans and there's loads of space. There's a bit of a slope so we reverse into our spot and I get the ramps out for the rear wheels. Up we go but a bit too quick and we are over the top and the ramps are now stuck between the two rear axles.
We try to drive forward over them, but it's just too big a mountain to climb and we roll back and ding the back end on the tow bar of the van parked behind us
Fortunately it's a very small ding, but even so........
To say we were not happy is an understatement.
We don't like fes:Angry:

 

[hilldweller]

To say we were not happy is an understatement.
We don't like fes:Angry:

Have you ever thought of swapping it for a tent ?

 

[makems]

We are at MB camping international just down the road from you
Happy daze
Chrisboyo

If you are still there Chris we will be arriving tomorrow mid afternoon from Fes. Decided we didn't want to make a long winding journey up to Chefchaouan so were heeding for the coast for a few days before we head for Tanger.

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[Scattycat]

Well we finally dragged ourselves away from Meknes which has turned out to be our favourite big city in Morocco.
It's a short jaunt down the motorway to Fes and to the diamanté Vert campsite (no 1 in the book). The campsite has been significantly upgraded and there is a new entrance SO DO NOT FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS IN THE BOOK!
As you come off the motorway there is a sign to the right. FOLLOW IT! It takes you right to the posh new entrance.

If you follow the instructions in the book it will take you to a small car park with no way to get through to the campsite - the previous entrance gates are locked and barred.
We had to reverse up a steep hill and back out onto the main road without stopping to avoid getting stuck as our van is notorious for wheel spin in dusty, gravelly roads. Fortunately the oncoming Moroccan traffic stopped when I walked in the road and did my best imitation of a policemans stop hand signal!
Once we found the right entrance we discovered the facilities are first class, new and clean although the price has gone up accordingly. It's now 120dh a night including electric.
There is a really nice looking restaurant with meals at reasonable prices although we didn't test it.
We spent all afternoon using the water and electric to do over two weeks of laundry. The washing machine really earns it's keep.
Beer o'clock was very pleasant as it had been a scorching hot day 32 degrees in the shade! We sat out until ten o'clock without feeling cold.
The site can arrange an official guide (not necessary in my opinion) and can arrange transport into the city for 30dh per person. We didn't bother as we had decided to go to the guardian parking in the city centre.

So, what is so good about Meknes?

 

[makems]

So, what is so good about Meknes?

Meknes has the most easy going atmosphere of any of the Moroccan cities we have visited. You can walk from one end of the souk to the other without a single trader insisting that you visit his stall/shop.
Ever been to Fes or Marrakech or Agadir and got fed up with the "come and see, good price, free to look, where you from? England? I have been to London. Very good price, what you want? I have it in different colour" and so on and so on?
None of that in Meknes.
The souk isn't huge, but like every souk in Morocco there are still endless small shops.
There are no"guides" who want to take you to see this, that or the other especially their brother/father/uncle/cousins restaurant/carpet shop etc etc
Basically nobody in Meknes sees you as a source of easy money just because you are not Moroccan. (Apart from a small number of restaurant hustlers in the main square).
That doesn't mean you don't have to haggle in the souk cos even the locals have to do that!
It's just the relaxed feeling you get that is different to most of the other cities.
And where we were parked right in the centre where it was quiet at night and no hassle from kids was great.
Of course someone else might go there and hate it!we are all different after all!

 

[SUGGY]

Well we are in Spain , its cold and got huge black clouds

Todays crossing went ok ,
At the port 7,50 am
kiosk opens 8 am
Rosie gets told , ticket no good got no names on the paper work ,,,,,,
( there isnt any on the out going or incoming but no problem going out )
after much shouting from the man , he says ok in Spain but you must have names on for Morocco , after 10mins he gives Rosie the tickets ,

SO CHECK YOUR TICKETS FROM CARLOS :thumb:

Through the Xray machine ,

Down to the quay side ,, pole position :Cool:

all ok 10am boat leaves at 11 , we get to Lidl 1.45 local time :thumb:
only 6 hours must be a record :thumb:



i went to carlos and spoke with his daughters they didnt believe me to start with saying i should have phoned them from the ticket office , then she rang someone and changed her attitude towards me and gave me a gift bag of cider n cake , She said they were changing companies later in the year from Aciona ,

There is about 40 vans here 4 uk couple Nl and couple D rest Ffffffffff :Sad:

 

[Kiwi Coss]

We watched a Frog this morning at 7,30am walk across the parking aire , cassette in hand ,

oh thinks i , there is a cassette point , just near us :thumb:

No , he calmly walks over to the lake and empties his casette in the bushes , just as some more French were walking past with their dogs , :BigGrin

All the other French do is bid him good morning and stand talking


I have recently witnessed the same similar behaviour, when we were parked up at Taroudannt. I was enjoying a nice coffee before the town waked up, and saw a French guy walk over to the edge of the carpark near the guardians wall and empty his cassette. when I yelled out to him that it was not on, he simply said "No No No" and tried to indicate that it was only grey water. When I walked over and saw the solids he just carried on walking back to his camper. By the time I found the guardian and some French that spoke English he had left. To be fair to the French that I spoke to about him, and showed them his registration number, they were disgusted at his behaviour.
They were apologetic on behalf of the decent French but it does appear that when the French get together on mass they tend to make their own rules.

 

[marjohn]

Hello from mar john

Hello everybody
We are in France at the moment on are way to ypes in Belgium from a place in France called Suippes it's lovely place 2euro for water frontline 1st world war worth a visit marjohn

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