The Marrakesh Express

[garry55]

Day 30 in Morocco.
We left Sidi Ifni and hugged the coast until Mirleft, where we turned right and headed for Tiznit. From there the R104 took us up and over a spectacular mountain pass, climbing through the clouds at one point, towards Tafraout. If you use this route, I would advise against following Google Maps advice to turn left in Tajgalt onto a single track road unless you want a hair raising drive over a mountain. Stay on the R104! We are staying 2 nights at Camping Les 3 Palmiers, just a 10 minute walk from town, and next door to the huge free parking spot that can accommodate a couple of hundred motorhomes!

 

[garry55]

View from our front window at Point Anchor guardian parking, Madraba Beach, Agadir. £1:80 a day!

 

[garry55]

Day 31 in Morocco.
The country that just keeps on giving. Rain was forecast for most of the day in Tafraout so we decided against staying another night and headed off in the direction of Agadir. We thought we had seen it all, but the single track R104 road from Tafraout towards Agadir bested the best. Out past the Tete de Lion rock formation and the kasbah at Tizourgane until joining the R105 which took us high up in the Ante Atlas mountains before diving down into the valley bottom, we saw goats feeding in Argan trees, a well-overloaded van, a well crashed van and spectacular mountain and valley vistas. Eventually we hit Agadir, we missed the turn for the bypass and found ourselves grid-locked in city centre mayhem. Coming out of that unscathed is a major achievement in my book, second only to driving through Naples city centre! We are staying the night at a guardian parking spot favoured by the surfing community at Point Anchor, up the coast from Agadir. It's 20 dirhams a night and we have already bought bread and pastry and nuts from the local vendors who wander around the site. Can't get much nearer to the Atlantic Ocean than here!

 

[garry55]

Day 32 in Morocco.
We walked from Point Anchor into Taghazout this morning to have a look around. It's a lovely little town full of surfers, for whom all the cafes and restaurants were open, so we partook of a late breakfast whilst we were there. Back onto the N1, we skirted the coast before turning inland to go around Essaouira to our next stop at the delightful Camping Esprit Nature campsite. It's not cheap at 165 dirhams a day (with ehu) but the facilities are the best we have come across so far. Lovely clean swimming pool, immaculate toilets and showers, generous sized plots and plenty of open space within the site to walk out two dogs. Fresh bread will be delivered to our door in the morning before our pre- booked taxi takes us into Essaouira for the day (250 dirhams). Apart from the access road, which is 3 Kms of what is best described as having a surface like a washboard, there is nothing to fault.
Top Tip - on your way in to the site, keep to the left of the road. Its smoother than the other side!

 

[garry55]

Day 33 in Morocco.
We spent most of today in Essaouira. First impressions weren't that favourable - it has a nice beach and promenade, but looks like it could be a resort anywhere in mainland Spain. It lacks the identity that reminds you that you are in Morocco, Africa.
However, it redeemed itself once we entered the giant Medina. What a place to lose a day! We wandered aimlessly, stopping for a drink, taking lunch at a small restaurant ( the Pastilla was the best I have had) and buying tat (a fridge magnet, a decal for the motorhome and a bag for Sharon). I don't think we covered a third of the place. Had a couple of glasses of white wine ( yes - really!) whilst waiting for the taxi to take us back to the campsite where we spent the late afternoon chilling and planning tomorrow's route.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[garry55]

Day 34 in Morocco.
An uninspiring drive to Marrakech. To the right - snow covered mountains. To the left - desert scrubland. Highlight of the journey was driving through a full-on sandstorm that lasted for 15 mins.
We are spending the next 2 nights at the Camping Relais de Marrakech site, next door to a huge building site that will eventually be the new waterpark. It's expensive (by Moroccan standards) but has all the services we need plus a restaurant that serves good food plus beer, wine and spirits.

 

[garry55]

Day 35 in Morocco.
Sharon took a taxi into Marrakesh city centre whilst I stayed at the campsite dog sitting. I took a walk to the nearby town, passing the construction site that will be the new aquapark, smiled at the new lamppost that was hit by a reversing concrete mixer and wondered who was going to buy all the new homes that are being built all around the campsite.
I got fresh veg, eggs and fruit from the market and laughed out loud at the towns petrol station. I made a Remoska omelette for tea then we retired to the poolside for a few glasses of wine before turning in for the night.

 

[garry55]

Day 36 in Morocco.
Left Marrakesh and headed for Safi, which has a large Marjane supermarket where we stocked up with provisions. You can tell we are not on the tourist route as we are the only motorhome in the car park!
From Safi we took the coast road to Oualidia, where we are staying on the guardian parking site for the next 2 days. It's 50 dirhams a day, which includes 20 litres of drinking water and use of the toilet cassette emptying point. Just a 5 minute walk from the lovely Blue Lagoon, and 25 mins up a steep hill into town where there are a good selection of local shops, cafes and restaurants.

 

[garry55]

Day 37 in Morocco.
Today we had a walk to look at the ruins of the late King Mohammed V's summer palace on the bank of the lagoon. Despite being empty for almost 50 years, it is still fenced off and guarded by military personnel. We were told that we could look, but strictly no photos. So we took them from the other side of the lagoon later on
We planned to walk to the (not so) secret grotto in the afternoon but the persistent rain put a stop to that and confined us to the motorhome.
It's better weather in the UK apparently

 

[garry55]

Day 38 in Morocco.
Today we played "dodge the deadly potholes" on the 40 Kms of the R101 from Oulidia to our next stopover at Camping Plage Mrizika. We survived! This is a strange place, best described as "Bohemian" with an eclectic mix of campers including a hippy Dutch family, a German couple in a top of the range motorhome, a Russian couple in a 4wd Toyota and Darren and Bridget from Lancashire who are on a 9 month adventure living in a 7 seater 4wd car with a tent box on top and a large screen projector in their awning! The facilities are adequate - the 2 showers have hot water but only a curtain for a door, the one European toilet is functional and clean and the on site shop stocks lots of things that you'll never need. But the shopkeeper is a gem of a guy, originally from Scotland, but living in Morocco for the past 30 years.
The site is accessed via a single dust track and is situated behind a large sand dune which hides the impressively clean beach and sea beyond. The beach is the cleanest we have set foot on in all of Morocco and runs for over 40 miles. Sadly, the much hyped sunset was spoiled by low cloud but we are hoping for a better show tomorrow night.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[garry55]

Day 39 in Morocco.
After last night's rain, the sky cleared and we took the dogs on a long walk up the beach, accompanied by the campsites guardian dog Arba, We found strange Blue Bottle jellyfish washed up on the shore and also the local beach side fisherman's village. Other than that, it was beach and dunes as far as we could see. Back at the campsite we spent a lazy afternoon soaking up the rays before taking the dogs for another beach digging session. Deciding against watching the sunset due to there being too much cloud out at sea, we retired to the van for tea and to plan our next destination. I do love a good lazy day

 

[garry55]

Day 40 in Morocco.
We awoke to more rain but it soon cleared and the blue sky returned. The remainder of the R301 coast road to El Jadida tested my PET (pothole evasion technique) to the limit but thankfully I missed all the biggies. The pungent aroma of petrochemicals greeted us as we passed El Jadida's port and turned inland to pick up the toll road to Casablanca. This is the first toll road we have been on in Morocco and the standard is good, although grazing sheep and cattle on the hard shoulder can be a little disconcerting! We looped around Casablanca and continued on the toll roads as far as Rabat, where we turned inland again on the N2 to tonights overnight stop at Hacienda des Cigognes, a vineyard that allows motorhome parking on site. There is a clean toilet and shower cubicle for male and female guests but no water or waste tipping facilities. Our evening meal has been booked for 20:00, to be taken in the owners house. The menu of Moroccan salad starter, chicken tagine main and a fruit salad dessert is eagerly awaited, along with the bottle of wine that is included in the price. Tomorrow we get a tour of the winery and the chance to purchase some of the produce. Sorted!

 

[garry55]

Day 41 in Morocco.
We had a great night at the winery, in the company of a German couple who were also staying the night. Wine tasting started at 20:00 and finished at 22:00, at which point we decamped to the owners house to be served our delicious 3 course meal. And some more wine! We also purchased 6 bottles to top up our on-board stock.
This morning we drove to the Carrefour supermarket in Khemisset, where I saw the old Citroen that was the only car in a brand-new Citroen showroom! then onwards to Meknes, opting to take the slower route rather than the motorway. It's a lovely drive through a verdant landscape, broken by fields of fire and purple trees.
We are staying on a guardian carpark in the city centre at a cost of 50 dirhams a day plus we paid 100 dirhams to have the motorhome hand washed whilst we walked around the kasbah and part of the old city. If you like doorways and doors, this is the place for you!

 

[garry55]

Missed opportunity?
We are parked in Meknes on a guardian protected piece of waste land we call Beirut that us used primarily by market traders and their customers. When it's wet, it's very muddy. But the location, right by the city wall, and price, 50 dirhams a day, work in it's favour. However, next door, separated by a wall, is a new, paved car park. It has entry and exit barriers which have never been used (they still have the protective covering in the arms) and a toilet facility in the new, but derelict, shopping arcade behind it. The toilets have been vandalised and are unusable, although there are still large signs displayed indicating their location. Fill this with motorhomes, charge 100 dirhams a day without facilities and I would be there for a couple of days.

 

[garry55]

Day 42 in Morocco.
We left Meknes and had a mostly forgettable drive up to Asilah. I say mostly, as the drive was interrupted by me collecting my first speeding fine in Morocco - 71 km/hr in a 60 zone. It was a fair cop so I begrudgingly paid the £11.80 fine and carried on.
We are staying at the Hotel Briech, just north of Asilah, as the revues of the 2 sites in Asilah aren't that good. Terrible, in fact.
The hotel has 2 pools, a cafe, a restaurant and a shop and is only a 10 minute walk from a lovely, clean beach and an hour drive from Tanger-Med port. We took a late afternoon walk along the beach, watching the fishermen casting their beach nets and staying on to watch our last sunset in this wonderful country. And it didn't disappoint!

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[sarumsteve]

Read the whole 8 pages today. Just great. Thanks!

 

[steve69]

We found strange Blue Bottle jellyfish washed up on the shore and also the local beach side fisherman's village. Other than that, it was beach and dunes as far as we could see.
View attachment 1032646

It's a Portuguese man'o war....very nasty.

 

[garry55]

Read the whole 8 pages today. Just great. Thanks!

You are most welcome!

 

[The Boofles]

We stayed at Hotel Briech on our last night too - great little restaurant and the pottery shops down the road were cheap as chips compared to Safi, where most of their stuff comes from

 

[The Boofles]

Thanks for a great thread (we hijacked Just smiffy)’s … lots of useful information and we might do the same route you guys did next time we go.
Safe journey home

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[garry55]

Thank

Thanks for a great thread (we hijacked Just smiffy)’s … lots of useful information and we might do the same route you guys did next time we go.
Safe journey home

Th

Read the whole 8 pages today. Just great. Thanks!

Thanks!

 

[garry55]

Thanks for a great thread (we hijacked Just smiffy)’s … lots of useful information and we might do the same route you guys did next time we go.
Safe journey home

Thank you. Glad you enjoyed it!

 

[garry55]

Day 43 (and a bit of day 44) in Morocco.
We left Breich and arrived at Tanger Med port just after 09:00. Sharon went to book the return ticket and the first available boat was the 21:00, so a 12 hour wait on the port was not something we were looking forward to. At 19:00, Sharon went to collect the tickets only to be told that the sailing had been delayed until 23:30 and to go back to the ticket office at 21:30 to collect the tickets. Which she duly did, only to be told that the boat wasn't going to sail until 01:00. So, at 01:20, the 21:00 boat finally nosed out of port heading for Algeciras. We got to Los Barrios, our overnight stay, at 04:30 and nabbed the last available space. We managed to sleep until 09:30, did a provisions shop in the nearby Lidl and decamped to the marina at La Linea, one of favourite stops overs.

 

[garry55]

We left La Linea the next day and headed to Ronda, staying on a very nice site just north of the town.

From there, we visited nearby Sentinel then headed for the coast to meet up with some friends who have been at Camping La Garrofa for the past 3 weeks. And we can see why they haven't moved on. It is a beautiful isolated spot on the coast between Roquetas de Mar and Almeria. A local bus stops outside the camp and takes you into Almeria if you need any shopping.

 

[Barriesimpson]

Day 28 in Morocco.
We are staying at Camping Gran Canaria, a good, level site with great showers and toilets and easy access to the beach and town.

Cheeky buggers, they really wish it WAS Gran Canaria

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[billym]

Cheeky buggers, they really wish it WAS Gran Canaria

Camping Gran Canaria is in Sidi Ifni.
There is a long history of it being Spanish and there is still a lot of Spanish spoken there
It was in 1969 the the Spanish gave the rule of it over to the Moroccans.
There is a good museum there detailing it's history in photos..

So yes, there are many still there who wish it was still part of Spain.

Sidi Ifni - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

Ifni War - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

 

[Barriesimpson]

Camping Gran Canaria is in Sidi Ifni.
There is a long history of it being Spanish and there is still a lot of Spanish spoken there
It was in 1969 the the Spanish gave the rule of it over to the Moroccans.
There is a good museum there detailing it's history in photos..

So yes, there are many still there who wish it was still part of Spain.

Sidi Ifni - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

Ifni War - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

Yes, I'm fully aware of the history having lived here for more than 40 years. You're right that more than one wishes it was still Spain and that is why I said it. Just a bit of fun really, at least until the Spanish government hands over the Canaries to the Moroccans...........

 

[3DOM]

Thanks for posting your travels and photos.
Safe journey home.

 

[garry55]

Thanks for posting your travels and photos.
Safe journey home.

Thank you!

 

[garry55]

We left Camping La Gerrofa this morning and had a very boring motorway drive to our next stop at Camping El Pinet Playa. Upon arrival, we took one look at the motorhomes packed in like sardines in a tin that we quickly consulted S4S and P4N and found another site only 1.5 Kms away - Camping La Marina El Pinet. This site is most welcoming and has more spacious plots, fewer guests and excellent facilities all for 15 euros a day. It's a 25 mins walk to the lovely beach and then a further 20 mins walk into the town of La Marina, where there is a good choice of bars and places to eat .

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}