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Below you will find our diary/blog written mostly by Helen as we went along. Simply scroll down to read or use the links in the table to jump to a specific day.

Day 1 - Portsmouth Day 9 - Erg Chebi Day 17 - Asilah
Day 2 - Ferry to Bilbao Day 10 - Tinerhir Day 18 - Tangiers
Day 3 - Haro to Merida, Spain Day 11 - Todra George Day 19 - Tarifa
Day 4 - Merida to Tarifa Day 12 - Ouzoud Day 20 - Tarifa
Day 5 - Tarifa to Chefchauen Day 13 - Ouzoud Day 21 - Merida
Day 6 - Chefchaouen, Meknes, Ifrane Day 14 - Azrou Day 22 - Merida to Haro
Day 7 - Midelt Day 15 - Fez Day 23 - Haro to Bilbao
Day 8 - Meski, Errachidia Day 16 - Fez Day 24 - Ferry to Portsmouth

 

Day 1 - Friday 30th September

Despite an apparent lack of organization, Leonard the Landy was packed and ready to go on time from Oxford. Liam had even found time to go and wave at Kevin Whately whilst they filmed at Salter’s! Neil, Lewis & Oscar came to wave us off, and steal giant jenga as Neil decided we wouldn’t be using it. We arrived in Portsmouth in record time and revisited some of Liam’s university haunts. We even went to see the hovercraft – it was brilliant! As we queued at port, a guy called Ray appeared asking us if we were on a group trip to Morocco – I think we stood out. He was also off to Morocco but on a package land rover group tour with Trialmasters. We loaded onto the boat with what appeared to be the whole of crufts and waved good-bye to Portsmouth in the most beautiful sunshine. We saw Patchwork’s home mooring and had our dinner overlooking beautiful calm sea. Ray came for a chat and soon it was engines, wiring and all things Land rover! Finally bedtime came and having watched Doctor Who all was well.!

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Day 2 - Saturday 1st October

We had no idea of timescale in our pitch black cabin with no windows, but awoke to Liam deciding he needed a cup of tea – bang on 8am. Who needs a watch. After Breakfast we had a tour of the engine room with a very nice “1st mate” gentleman, that despite the language barrier gave Liam a fab tour of stern thruster, engine room, boiler, workshops and control room. Everyone was very French, particularly the 1st Engineer who kept chewing a tea stirrer! There was definitely a fantastic lack of health and safety and Liam seemed duly impressed he could have touched the spinning prop shaft if he’d wanted. We headed back up deck, thanking all the crew in our most horrendous French accents. We sat down, met up with Ray and replicated a Land rover forum with the geekiest of conversation topics – I read my book. The boat had quite a few things to do, we ended up sitting in the saloon where the TV and General Knowledge quizzes were going on – just for Dad – what is the singular of “Scampi”??? A packed lunch from the night before and a nap later we arrived. Ray followed us in convoy to our first campsite in Haro – very nice, and very organized.

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Day 3 - Sunday 2nd October

We set off from Haro having had a delightful shower that became scolding whenever a toilet was flushed. The heat hit 30°C and Liam’s shorts came out. We stopped at a little café, were we saved by the Challis European menu decoder and had sandwiches all round. We continued on our convoy as Ray was meeting his group near Marbella (a place I thought was fictional) and it was nice to have the security of someone else around. His degree is in environmental science and I impressed him with my knowledge of chimney stack emissions testing, he looked impressed! We arrived at Medina campsite, the woman on reception let us struggle for a decent time until she reviled she could speak English. I think we asked for one night of companionship and she felt the need to intervene. A tiny campsite but I spoke three different languages in the ladies loo – not necessarily the right one to the right nationality but we met Germans, English and Spanish!

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Day 4 - Monday 3rd October

We left Medina and their somewhat tepid showers traveling south past some huge fields full of solar panels. We stopped for lunch near a cotton plantation  and saw an ominous leak under the Landy. We naturally ignored it and carried on…we stopped. The lift pump was broken, so out came the overalls and some disconnection, reconnection and we were off again with the spare lift pump fitted and threat of having to create a gravity fed fuel system on the bonnet if this one fails. Ho hum, the life of a land rover. I decided to accompany and assist in the occasion by having a nosebleed – most helpful! In my defence it was 31°C. We drove on and found a beautiful view point village called Vejer which turns out to be a regular spot for English tourists from the Costa del Sol! Very bemusing, having driven through central countryside of Spain to find English accents. We then drove down to Tarifa and found a beautiful campsite on the beach and treated ourselves to dinner. Liam was tested on his first aid knowledge which was reassuring; although I’m glad he didn’t quiz me on mechanics in return. We filled every receptacle with drinkable water ready for the next step to begin!

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Day 5 - Tuesday 4th October

A sense of apprehension as we left the security of Tarifa Camping, their wonderful hot showers and the reassuring presence of Ray. We hoped, skipped and jumped into Tarifa to stock up on the essentials, oranges, courgettes and bread – before persuading a bemused chemist to give us a box of Amoxicillin (anti-biotics) in case we get diarrhea. Couldn’t believe our luck - £1.65 for a course, well worth it if nothing for reassurance. We booked our ticket after a very formally dressed Gibraltan couple who were “popping to Morocco for the day”. We boarded being moved around by the art of whistling of the crew and went upstairs to get our papers signed whilst cruising. We had an amazingly dated emergency video and then found a queue which we assumed had to be for the Moroccan official – official is a man in a shirt with a laptop and a stamp. A brief ride later and we had arrived – the chaos of the port soon hit, and we sufficed to a tout to guide us through the confusion of papers signing. It’s perfectly obvious of course, that you leave your vehicle, exit the port, go up some stairs, give your passport to a man who types inanely on a computer and then return to your vehicle. Nevertheless the Police came, inspected our boot, looked at the first aid kit, because we didn’t really understand what he was looking for – he agreed it was ok. Asked my name and said we could go through! Cash changed into dirhams and Moroccan car insurance done. Liam was of course in control of this as this is not the place to be a blonde female! I locked myself in the car and observed the locals  - women in traditional wear as expected and the traditional men wearing what can only be described as smocks made of some of Mum’s old tablecloths. Anyway, we weaved our way through Tangier and out onto the main road. Success, shortly followed by the smell of burning. Our power steering pump had bust. The pump bearing had failed and was spewing hydraulic fluid all over the place. We removed the drive belt and continued. Slow going due to lorries, continually waved at by touts to pull in to buy lychee, tea or local produce. The main ones are pomegranates and onions! We saw thousands, and bought none, much to the disgust of some. We pulled up to our lovely village between two peaks, drove past the gentleman with a camouflage car named ‘Adolfo’ with a large ear growth and found some flat land. Albran loaf, squash and European style toilets – bliss!

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Day 6 - Wednesday 5th October

The hot dribble out of the shower was amazing. We headed off early to avoid the heat and joined a convoy of Danish land rovers for half an hour. Great fun. The temperature rose and rose and rose to over 35 degrees. We’ve both agreed a trip like this is easier with air conditioning, we gave in at 1pm at a road side café for fluid and an attempt at awful French which turned into pointing and gesturing. Never mind, I like coke occasionally! We navigated beautifully through central Meknes (the Bristol equivalent of morocco size wise), through fortified walls, and found the campsite, closed and looking decidedly odd. We turned around, found a car park and headed into our first Medina. Absolutely manic, fruit, teapots and clothes galore. Should anyone want a pair of neon satin moccasins with a pointed toe, I know just the place. We hunted for an internet café in the heat and finally succeeded. The keyboard was in Arabic so everything took forever, but at least we had home contact! We headed back to the square and gave in to a café man for some lunch, and played the great game of name the nationality of the tourist– mainly done by leg skin tone to hat material ratio. Lots of Germans! We continued to sweat in unpleasant places so decided to try and find a campsite – brilliant a town, Ifrane, 30 miles away. On arrival at the campsite…closed, ok the hotel, closed. Our knowledge of ferme/ouvert was now quite good. So in the closing daylight we followed signs for what seemed like miles and ended up in a 4 person apartment for £38. In bed by 9pm – absolutely cream crackered.

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Day 7 - Thursday 6th October

After what was a very luxurious night in a bed with a flush toilet we popped into the town for some fresh bread and headed off into the Cedar forest. We had progressed from red roads down to yellow roads (1 lorry every 15 mins compared to one every 5). The trees were lovely and we took our first off road route – we were defiantly on our own now. It took 2 hours to do about 15 miles through burbah farms, across sheep paths and through forest. We were in the middle of absolute nowhere! Perfect timing for the gps to stop working, great, but my compass skills appear still proficient and by the time technology had caught me up we were on a fairly good tarmac equivalent. Our path was then halted by….baboons! Couldn’t believe it! In the shrubbery next to us, was going on a family of 15-20 baboons, babies, mothers and clearly some alpha males. They were amazing – like a real safari! We continued on and unfortunately our time in the shade had not prepared us for the stonking heat. Again, roasting!! We attempted an undercover toilet stop in the middle of barren land and weren’t attacked, so a success there although our relationship has hit a new level of openness. We then followed a road up into the Atlas Mountains, absolutely beautiful but lots of kids wanting pens and cigarettes which made finding a lunch spot tricky. Finally we managed a break on a roadside for a traditional lunch of marmite baguette…mmmmmm. Liam went for a pee and had a small slip on a steep incline resulting in much hilarity, mainly from me. Although I then repeated it but into a tree! We finally leveled out into a town but the heat was overwhelming. We pulled in the shade and had a rethink. The morning had been amazing but if we break down there we could be in real trouble. I think we both suddenly had a remoteness reality check, we had seen one car all morning – that does not bode well. So we’ve had a rethink. More major roads but seeing more sights, a compromise. Hopefully we’re taking the sensible choice, the language is really tricky, where we are now, Arabic is first language and then French – so our attempt at French is not good. Nevertheless we have ended up at a cracking campsite and have a much more formal plan with which we both feel a little more relaxed. We also bumped into some Austrians we had met at our first campsite – I don’t think regularly speaking German is helping my French! Never mind. We have decided to take a Spanish approach to the heat and are going to stop between 1-3pm for a prolonged tea drinking session, just as the locals do. We now understand why!

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Day 8 - Friday 7th October

We found a café in Er Rachida and became friends with Hamid who is Moroccan originally but has lived in Cardiff for 33 years but was back visiting family. It appeared he relished English conversation as much as we did. We experienced out first taste of Moroccan tea – so so sweet, and it was no surprise to find out the Moroccans have a high diabetes incidence. We chatted, found a decent loo and set out again for a natural river source which a campsite had been based around. We found the track and headed down into the gorge where the river runs in rainy season, only to find what I can only describe as an oasis- lush palm trees, a comprehensive irrigation network and many many locals. We were befriended by Abdul and Mohammed, a father and son combo who owned a shop at the campsite. We had more sweet tea, were given an excellent business pitch for carpets but underneath there was clearly some genuiness. He offered to take us for a walk, so why not – as it was a day of embracing Moroccan culture, we headed up the irrigation channels into real local territory. Saw the old Kasbah which became defunct as an increasing need for road access became key. Palm tress and dates, dates, dates galore. I’ve never seen them on trees, but they're bright yellow and very tasty. Donkeys everywhere and then up the cliff and back to the village. We went to Abdul’s house for…more tea and decided to get him to arrange our desert explorations. Although very touristy, the prospect of fending off touts in the desert heat, and bartering over tea instead was much more appealing. He agreed to accompany us off road, show us the routes and then arrange a camel ride to a burbah camp in the desert overnight, dinner and sleep there and then camel back for breakfast. Good bartering had by all and a deal was made. We set back for some dinner, and we discovered Liam was beginning to struggle with local delicacies. Very romantic. In bed very early – but siestering accepted as the new travel regime.

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Day 9 - Saturday 8th October

Up early for morning tea with Abdul. I’m now drinking Liams so diabetes will surely hit soon. Abdul wanted to do some trading for some shampoo and paracetamol (his ultimate trade was spaghetti but with the current stomach upsets, British food is our commodity here). On further discussion it turns out Abdul trading means you give him things and money in order to get products – we kindly declined. We headed off down some beautiful roads with Abdul in the back and saw some villages and scenery we would never have had the opportunity to see without him. We headed along a market road, which I can only describe as someone telling you to turn left down a closed market street in Camden on a Saturday morning. Amazing, goats, bread, fruit, teapots, everything – but Liam finally got to use his bull bar for something useful– Moroccan pedestrian nudging. Very effective. We headed out in the vast desert plains, in sweltering heat – who knew shoulder blades would sweat – and got our first view of the sand dunes – brilliant. We arrived in the local town and saw some local tribal music, with unfortunate enforced tourist dancing. We were defiantly in the desert – huge vast sand dunes rising up into the distance. We found the hotel where we would “pause to make relax” and were amazed – must be 5*. We got a tour and then of course…more tea. We chilled by the pool for a bit and then got on the camels. Well, that’s an experience. The getting up was as unnerving as I expected but the ride was more turbulent than anyone could have explained. Liam’s stomach that had resolved with “pause to make relax” was no longer relaxed – just what you need in the middle of the Sahara – more romance. We trekked for about 2 hours to the middle of absolute no where as sunset came. We headed into a local burbah camp and it was brilliant – you’ll need to see the photos to understand. We had….more tea…. And then dinner – beautiful food all round. Then out came the drums. The camp we were in is very set up for tourists but we appeared to be spending the evening with a Moroccan stag do from Cassablanca which actually added to the evening. Lots of drumming – I had a go – lots of tribal dancing, not accompanied by us and lots and lots of tea. The stars were spectacular, initially the moon was so bright we had moon shadows but when it set we saw more stars than I though possible – it looked unreal. The only unfortunate thing about the moon going away, no light – and although we had a comprehensive medication pack with us, no tourch – so the toileting was interesting!!! The night has to be made for me by seeing 3 shooting stars :) Bed was on a little mattress under a camel blanket – we smell really good.

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Day 10 - Sunday 9th October

Awoke at 5am to see sunrise in desert – absolutely beautiful, and it happens so quickly. The donkeys were incredibly noisy overnight and Liam decided to keep regular watch on them overnight thanks to a disagreement with local cuisine. For those of us happy with excessive sweet green tea drinking the beds were very comfortable. The return 2hr camel trek was camel like, our backsides are sore! It is not a smooth ride. A spectacular breakfast on return, including some hidden away British tea bags – bliss. Liam looked better! We decided to chill for the morning at the hotel the camels leave from, as it has beautiful toilets and a relaxing pool we can enjoy. There are huge numbers of chaffinches which provide regular entertainment. We ordered lunch; plan was a cheese omelette and a banana which Liam managed to get across as a banana omelette – brilliant! We now sit on our low sofa surrounded by musical instruments working out if Liam’s innards can cope with Moroccan road travel this afternoon….watch this space.

 

We risked it, on the promise by locals it was a max 2hr drive. As we had promised ourselves we would never drive in the dark due to the huge number of scary drivers around in daylight we set off in the afternoon…after 3 hrs of travel and a police stop we were still traveling…in the dark. Liam felt rough and I was playing hunt the Arabic signpost in the dark! Many drivers over here don’t use lights as apparently they don’t want to wear the bulbs out! Never mind we found the campsite and collapsed for dinner – nice and simple quick dinner and bed. Ah, the roof tent had slipped with our off roading fun so we had to unbolt the blessed thing before we could open it. Smashed a plate too and dropped nearly everything in the sand, but finally finally bed.

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Day 11 - Monday 10th October

Woke up to the traditional calls of the mosques, its quite normal now. Would feel odd without it. A beautiful morning, and turns out we had camped next to two huge German lorry conversions who travel a part of Africa every year. They were amazing. Liam looked better and a hearty breakfast was had by all. We relooked at the map and decided to risk the cross atlas route we had not taken before. Our theory was it was probably mostly tarmac by now and the other route was a bit dull. We headed off and up the Todra Gorge – it was beautiful. Sky high walls with a palmary smack in the middle, overlooked by a dusty eroding Kasbah. We meandered up the gorge and soon lost the tourists and headed up, and up and up. We went through multiple villages with very very friendly children. Liam’s land rover book had said, be warned, and we had taken the rear ladder off in preparation. But wow, can those kids can run – they see you, run across the field/down the hill at a lightening pace and then seeing it’s land rover try to grab onto something to join the ride. Mainly they want pens and sweets, the older one’s cigarettes, but we have gone for the route of smile and wave rather than encouraging the begging culture. It depends which book you read on whether this is right or not, apparently one of the expedition companies literally throws pens and sweets out the windows as they drive by but I don’t feel overly comfortable with that. Some of the kids though are just cracking and you wave and smile and their happy with that. We climbed up to over 3000m and had lunch. Leonard had done well with only one brief pause to prevent excessive overheating. The additional fan button on the mud console is getting heavy use. The temperature difference was huge, although bright sunshine we were able to drive all day – a first without unpleasant sweating. The rocks were like nothing I’d seen before, it was like a sample rock in a museum of layered sandstone (I think) with all the different colours – except each sample was now a mountain, reds, browns, greens, greys – everything. We began our descent, passing only a couple of cars. The road was beautiful tarmac all the way and we descended into more paddy fields, crossed goat herders, camel trains and orchards of plums and apples. We decided to aim for Lake Tislet and arrived in good time. The lake was postcard worthy and we spent time drinking tea and taking photos. We decided to opt for camping at the auberge rater than wild camp so we knew we weren’t trespassing but have chosen to wild toilet rather than use the ones provided. Liam has also put me off the shower experience so I’m going to continue smelling for now. Very windy here and a bit of a shock after the 35 degree days we’ve had. I had to find a jumper = most unusual. We have decided for an early night and maybe hit sunrise and continue early over the Atlas Mountains. The mountains have been a refreshing change after arid desert but it’s odd how the change in altitude at each village requires slightly different building materials, from red to much sandier higher up. Beautiful, just beautiful. We were working out our timings this morning and appear to have lost a day, never mind – its lovely not being too dependent on time.

 

Moroccan Driving

Liam is now a masterful Moroccan driver and even overtook on a bend today – very local. It was safe, promise. We are obvious tourists for many reasons but most pointedly I think for our lack of internal decoration. The Moroccans love fringing – tassels, feathers, fur, dangling items, curtains and sometimes extra cushions. But no Moroccan would be seen dead in such a functional vehicle as ours. Maybe we could introduce this tassel trend to the Salters fleet to give it a more international feeling…The cars are mainly Mercedes and Citroen Berlingos and Lorries. Bicycles and mopeds are the flavour of the day in towns, and one moped is easily suitable for a family of four. Toddlers are often used as ballast to offset the vegetable load from market. We assume from our observations that 2 wheeled vehicles are exempt from any road traffic regulations.  The limitations of seats also do not affect 4 wheeled vehicles, roofs make excellent extra seating. Ideally once piled as high as the original vehicle with straw, luggage or furniture. The Moroccans do love a fridge moving!

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Day 12 - Tuesday 11th October

We awoke to the sound of Spanish motorbikers heading off and were convinced we’d overslept massively. However they were just spritely, it was 6.30am. It had been a chilly night, but overnight peeing was enhanced by the beautiful sky. The morning view didn’t disappoint and breakfast was one of our most picturesque to date. We were provided with some traditional maize cakes and sesame cakes in addition from our lovely host and set about filling in the paperwork. Apparently the Moroccan police are quite strict on the accounts so you have to put in all sorts of detail. However working out which coloumn was which took much gesturing, guesswork and what I can only describe as franglais. The lady was absolutely delightful and we vowed to send her one of our pictures when it was developed. We headed off along the mountain road and down into the valley below. The road was the ipitamy of a twisting turning road, clinging on to the mountain side and requiring all your wits for oncoming traffic. The valley showed more agriculture at its best with complex irrigation networks and families working the fields. Just when we thought we were down, we headed back up over our final atlas mountain, another mere 2000m to another spectacular viewpoint. We wove down, accidentally looped a village and headed out onto a main road! The view was surprisingly dull after the excitement of the mountains and the heat picked up. Then up, up and up. We were back in 35 degree plus temperatures and were sweating so much that tissues in our pockets were wet with sweat. We had set ourselves a goal of a café back off the main road which was only 10km horizontally. However what our large scale map didn’t show was the 2400m mountain to go over. So up and up and up we went in the blistering heat, finally finding a hidden gem of a café. In the middle of a valley by the first ever Moroccan reservoir was a hidden, grassy green terrace and café – omlettes all round. We chilled in the shade and decided pudding was needed. Liam set off for the menu – le carte. The waiter man kindly obliged the mad foreigners request, and bought him – a map. Liam then returned to his default French – the dreaded banana (after the banana omlette saga in Merzouga). Finally we had a menu. Liam appeared perplexed and had taken head of my warning to be suspicious of fruit juices in case they are mixed with local water. However our interpretations of “Jus Banane” varied, I naturally assumed this would be a banana milkshake (correctly), Liam appeared to want juice a banana and add water. As I lost the plot, Liam went off to order only for the gentleman to state they had no bananas. Would we like an orange juice, which Liam asked if it was a milkshake. This is why Liam is not in charge of catering. I lost the plot entirely. We ended up with tea and a hot chocolate. We headed off over the dam having taken a photo and not read the “no photographs allowed sign” and had a stunning view of the reservoir. We headed over to Ouzoud where the famous waterfalls are and found the most fantastic campsite “Campsite Zebra” run by a Dutch couple who sold up everything they owned in 2001, then drove to South Africa over 4 years and then settled here. The site is amazing with crystal clean toilets, showers and stunning views. We decided to go for their own cooking and had a delicious beef tagine with apples – tasty. We also befriended the cat “Spooky” who was a slim line Pebble. We spent the evening chatting with the Dutch wife and an Italian couple who were also staying, exchanging campsite recommendations and things to see. A cracking evening all round.

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Day 13 - Wednesday 12th October

We had a leisurely morning in the shade as temperatures rose early. Basic Landover maintenance was carried out including a free inspection by Spooky who clambered along the axels, whilst the dog lay next to Liam underneath. We found the owners fab photo guide on how to find the waterfalls. We set off down a definite local path and got our first glimpse of the falls – beautiful. We meandered up and down the steps in the sweltering heat taking photos from all angles. In the bottom pool were some ingenious locals who had strapped some oil drums together put a floor on them and some picnic chairs (covered in appropriately goudy Moroccan tassels) and charged to take people into the mist of the pool. We declined such a kind offer, sat in the shade and discussed Chinese communism – I think the sun had got to us. We gradually pootled up the hillside and completed some successful haggling – we felt local! We wandered back up and collapsed to find the campsite busy! We felt like old hands and ordered our dinner and then started chatting to all the arrivals. A lovely Swiss biker guy called Reto, travels every year in Morocco and gave us some advice on campsites. He also used to be a tour guide in Fez and gave us all sorts of useful advice. We spent the evening chatting with German, Dutch, Swiss and Spanish (limited conversation but improved with free Spanish nutella!). The local boys who worked at the campsite then got drumming, and I was persuaded to join. Much better than my previous effort in the desert. We got more advice and crashed in bed happy and exhausted.

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Day 14 - Thursday 13th October

We woke early, to find everyone else up! We hit the road with some local recommendations of a shortcut and I got behind the steering wheel. Great fun, you head towards the oncoming vehicle until Liam is freaked out that he’s on the collision side, then pull into the ditch, and the oncoming van does the same – I loved it. We again headed up, up and over the mountains, finding the most picturesque pee spot to date. As we descended an overpowering smell of hotness entered the car, so we pulled over for the regular edition of “name that smell”. Liam of course won with Brakes. Our right front brake had overheated somewhat, so we had to cool down and then slowly meander down the final few hundred metres. As we drove through a village, again we had to stop – right near a school to provide local morning entertainment. Pants, a plastic hub cover had come off – but Liam had a truly Blue Peter moment. So we replaced said cover with…a drinks bottle lid – genius! Worked like a gem. We then headed onto what we knew would be a dull drive. It’s the equivalent of driving the A3 for 5 hours, thrilling and bloomin’ hot. We finally though found our Swiss advised campsite – which turned out to be the campsite if you’re a French couple who own a huge campervan. We crashed and scoffed on ration packs as lunch had gone by the wayside. We then decided to explore Azrou, the nearest town, obviously to greater our cultural, philosophical and historical knowledge of Morocco, but mainly as we had been told there was a good bakery. My goodness was it great! Croissants and Doughnuts – you’ve no idea how excited we were. We returned home to one of our finest dinners, beans and baguette followed by doughnuts – delicious. The unusual campervan next to us was clearly having mechanical difficulties with their brakes, so we sat and listened to various french mechanical discussions. It was only when I glanced up from my dinner I noticed in the passenger seat, a fury face looking back at me. There are cats at every campsite in Morocco, and this fluffy white and tortoiseshell moggy was taking my position – she was removed.

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Day 15 - Friday 14th October

Our friendly Swiss had told us of a campsite in Fez and although he was a day behind us with his journeying he stated that he would show us the tricks of Fez if he bumped into us. We therefore decided to take the pretty route to Fez and hope we catch up with him in the coming days. We drove to Voulobilis, an ancient Roman ruin and were able to literally climb all over it. The intense sun did get the better of us and after having as much historical fun as we could take we were off again. We found a shady patch and settled down for lunch – bliss. We then knew the challenge of Fez was ahead. We negotiated the many, many roundabouts well – even with the hindrance of a motor biking tout who tried to lead us to his campsite at every available junction. We also found a Moroccan supermarket – Marjane – brilliant – formal pricing, no battering. We stocked up on random bits and pieces feeling very European. We were defiantly in Northern Morocco. Reto’s instructions were great but we accidentally ended up going in the wrong entrance to the campsite, along what can only be described as a pavement. We pulled up only to find Reto standing there! Much jubilation, Fez would be easy. He’d also bumped into another English guy he’d met from a previous trip. English suddenly became the first language – very refreshing. A yellow Landy also turned up with a guy who has traveled round the world several times and the obligatory technical exchange between men then occurred. I looked at the storage set up. Ours is better :) We then ravished up a meal of tuna and headed off for what turned out to be great fun with Reto, his German friend Thomas, English Malcolm and his wife Lynne. Great time had by all, and we planned as a group to hit Fez in the morning. I thought we were being weedy but everyone goes to bed early here but gets up early – perfect for Liam :)

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Day 16 - Saturday 15th October

Rise and Shine for Fez. Reto stated that life was more fun on the bus, and as we boarded on a bus that had a formal ticket office on board, we were inclined to agree. We traveled as far as the bus would take us and then got in a petit taxi. An experience in itself and our first experience of Moroccan driving. Terrifying but fun! We pulled up at the main gate, and after some brief instructions, and some frankly life saving tips we set off as a four…into a coffee shop. We needed to settle out nerves. I had tried to memorise the guide book map of the medina and this apparently meant I was in charge of leading. It started well down what was a very pleasant open street (2m wide – open in Morocco), we saw all sorts of things, the butchery section – rabbits, chickens all ready for slaughter, fruit, musical instruments, electronic goods…everything. I found the musical instrument shop like a moth to a flame and was promised I could return there later. We had a mission…to find the tanneries. My memorizing had so far gone well, the mosque, courtyards and water clock – Liam even said I could have a 10dh tip – most flattering. However as we went deeper, it gets narrower and as you get closer you get more hassle, not much but enough to make me rebel against their directions. We were lost – but did find the lovely metalworkers courtyard, followed by the carpentry section and leather section. We finally found the dyers souk with some teamwork and it was pretty impressive. We then walked further towards the tanneries, only one kid bugged us, and Liam with his natural talent for children told him to get off in no uncertain terms. Another tout also got the wrath of my tongue for being annoying – he had rebranded himself a guardian rather than a guide. Business strategies are used even here. Finally in the midday sun we found a roof terrace to look down on the tanneries - stinking place for dying the skins – it was a site but it was also rather depressing – the dyes are now chemicals rather than natural substances and the waste water isn’t considered. We found the back street tanneries and this was certainly not what our “guardian” wanted us to see. However I think this is realistic of the actual repercussions of tanneries – polluted water which people then have to use. Anyway, off the ecological shouty box, we were desperate for lunch and so headed back up all the hills to the sanctuary of our initial café for lunch –mmmm. Reto reappeared and we went shopping, excellent haggling by us if I don’t say so myself. I nearly bought an oud for less than £100 but did stop thinking about the actual use I’d get out of it... a tambourine will do! Liam did well considering it was a shopping experience but the heat felled us and we managed the bus back. We spent our final evening with Reto, Thomas, Malcolm and Lynne educating them in British tea and shortbread fingers whilst appreciating the calm of the campsite.

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Day 17 - Sunday 16th October

We rose bright and breezy and started our farewells. Malcolm was high on coffee as always and we shared our mapping techniques. We took the obligatory photos and I even got to sit on Thomas’s huge bike – graet fun! We then headed off into the chaos of Fez to try and make it out the other side. As we overtook a donkey on a roundabout it hit us, we were well settled in Africa! We drove through Fez and then I suffered a navigational error but did show Liam a village we wouldn’t have seen otherwise. Anyway, we glossed over that and headed along the N4 towards the coast. The scenery drifted away into flat land interrupted only by a sandy village. We saw our first mini collision, an absolute madman overtook a lorry and when seeing the oncoming vehicle, instead of pulling back in behind the lorry, created a third lane of traffic, clipping the oncoming vehicle and loosing a wing mirror. No one stopped. Just morocco. We paused for lunch at a layby and Liam had one of his most ditheriest moments, we had chosen the most exposed pee spot in the world. As always once he had finally chosen his destination the what had been a quite road turned into a bloomin’ motorway! We arrived at the coast and made our way into Asilah and had a look around. Due to the desolate road on the way, my bladder had strained for 5 hours so we dashed into the nearest café. We explored the old medina which was surprisingly Spanish in looks, with loads of murals everywhere. We found a little outpost into the sea and watched the local boys jump off a 30ft high post into the water. We meandered back and decided to treat ourselves to a hotel, mainly as all the campsites had closed for winter. We chose one recommended by the guide book, £20 for a double room….basic though reflects the quality. Nevertheless we had a bed and a balcony! We found internet and made home contact by which time it was dark and the last prayer call had happened. We popped back out into the main street, Asilah was alive with locals. Apparently Sunday night Asilah is the place to be, millions of home fronts had turned into tiny shops selling, Almonds, hats, trousers, fabric, souvenirs, cigarettes, jewellery – you name it, they had it. Local women were getting henna done in the most beautiful designs, I decided work wouldn’t appreciate that. We meandered around and then found a local fish restaurant for dinner. Sardines for me, and the classic seaside dish of spaghetti bolognaise for Liam. We were knackered and headed home through the main square which had had a power cut, leaving the locals to shop into the night.

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Day 18 - Monday 17th October

We rose bright and early and found the hotel doesn’t really do hot water. So we left and decided to have breakfast on the road. We found a little viewpoint and had crunchy nut cornflakes looking out onto the Atlantic. We carried on, towards port and hit the chaos of Tangiers. Ah, how we missed the 5 lane roundabout in the centre but we approached it with our new Moroccan style and just went for it, we came out on the correct exit, more by luck than judgment! We meandered down into the port and realized we would just miss the boat, however we managed a slick pass through customs, although I saw a Moroccan police man with only his Y-Fronts on, and Liam is still not convinced that the Landy has been signed out the country correctly – we’ll find out next visit.  Anyway we cruised through, dismissing the touts and found the ferry sitting there – we drove straight on. How could we have been so short-sighted, the ferry leave Morocco on time – no! Half an hour late is on time for them! We cruised out of the bay waving, rather sadly at Africa behind us. The weather was clear and you could see Spain before leaving the port. However the sea between Africa and Europe was “choppy” to say the least. As we lurched left and right, up and down, various members of the ferry looked rather peaky, and a couple of Spanish parents learnt the valuable lesson don’t give your toddler cheese and onion crisps before crossing open water. We arrived in Tarifa and went through what appeared to be a very structured customs area -  European culture shock was clearly going to occur. We headed out into Tarifa and decided to celebrate with a bit of shopping. Liam was tricked into thinking it was food shopping, I had other ideas, I had noticed some very cool surf shops on the way in and had a plan. Anyway….one rash vest and a pair of flip flops for Liam later, we made it to a supermarket. Fruit and vegetables – so exciting! We stocked up and headed up the road to have ham and salad baguettes looking back at Africa, whilst in the safe knowledge we weren’t going to poison ourselves on a lettuce leaf – delicious. Somehow some doughnuts had fallen into our shopping basket – whoops! We found our Tarifa campsite and settled in. We showered, rediscovered our normal skin tones and laid on the beach. It was beautiful, blue skies, a bit chilly at 27 degrees, and watching the windsurfers career at astounding speeds across the bay. We managed to make Sykpe work and rang home, very exciting – Grandma seemed pleased we were alive despite us not taking her advice to pack firearms!! Dinner, teeth brushing with tap water (wild!) and bed :)

 

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Day 19 - Tuesday 18th October

We’d forgotten about the time shift and that sunrise was so late here, couldn’t believe it – Liam’s morning ablutions were all out of sink in the dark. Plus the new added trickery of his flip flops made for a less than delicate exit from the tent. There also appeared to be a large amount of sand in the tent – hmmmm. Liam had somehow picked up a cold – the shock of 27 degree heat had clearly hit his immune system hard – so I spent the day being Dr Helen whilst he collapsed in the tent. I went for a walk, sat and had lunch overlooking the bay and becoming a master of advanced crosswords until Liam appeared decongested thanks to Sudafed mid afternoon. He still had an appetite, no major medical ailment then. We went down to the beach, saw some highly inappropriate bikinis on some highly unusual body shapes and played chicken in the waves. Great fun!! We returned back and decided to try our “day of fun in Tarifa” tomorrow as Liam seemed better.

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Day 20 - Wednesday 19th October

Liam awoke slightly better, although was still snotting very loudly everywhere. Delightful. We had a delicious breakfast, quakers porridge is one of the best things I have bought with me. We then headed into Tarifa. I trapsed Liam the full length of Tarifa town (approx ¾ mile) and to be fair to him he looked rough and I left him sitting on a bench looking wearier than Grandma after a trip to Aylesbury. The port was beautiful and I returned Liam to the car whilst I did the shopping – croissants and a purple top later I thought it was best to return sire to his bed. We headed back to the campsite where liam collapsed for a large period of time. I completed further crosswords, even manging 25% of a cryptic crossword (are you proud mum?!). I finished several books and went for a walk at the seaside when Liam reappeared. Sleep and a ration pack and he was back in action. I had been saddened by our lack of sandy beach play equipment so we sacrificed one of our large water bottles (the one who had lost its lid to the rear wheel in Morocco) and turned it into a bucket to make sandcastles. We therefore made a fort, with dam, market square, footpath and weary looking Kasbahs to give it a moroccon feel and were then subjected to erosion due to a progressing tide. Liam collapsed in the sun and I watched wind surfers travel at huge speed in and out of the shore. The speed they built up was impressive and is something we’ve agreed to return to try out. I also went paddling which I think turned into wading, but I had fun none the less. We returned to base for dinner and Liam slept – I can say that with confidence because he returned to his british past time of snoring like a trooper. However on this occasion I left him to it – sleep was clearly what he needed.

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Day 21 - Thursday 20th October

Man flu appears to be settling – however I have explained to Liam although I care greatly about his health condition if he could not get a raging cold and mope around looking like death after we’ve been to a country where our practice nurse had stated categorically “if you get unexplained flu like symptoms – you must see a Doctor to check for malaria” he could do my psychological well being the power of good. There’s only so much I can cater for medically and if he hadn’t improved he was at risk of being put on the only medication I hadn’t tried, which unfortunately are laxatives. Somehow, he’s rapidly improved with that threat. Anyway, we packed up and headed away from Tarifa a little sad. Tarifa is beautiful, it has an old prison poking out into the sea, fairly deserted sandy beaches that look like their from a postcard, few tourists really, lovely town, good food and stunning weather. My feet even have a flip flop mark! We headed back up the motorways listening to various podcasts and audiobooks, whilst we disagreed about musical tastes. Our music tastes have very few overlapping albums, but our choice of podcasts is very much one mind. We decided to return to Merida campsite and pulled up mid afternoon. We had ice creams (mainly on my request) and then met an ex-Thames Valley Policeman and his dog who were on their way down to Southern Spain for Winter. The dog was a beautiful collie who liked cats, so whilst he reminisced about old Oxford criminals I watched with amusement as Mya the dog and the local campsite cat became great friends. We settled ourselves down and Liam even became interested in National Geographic magazines, we whiled away the evening talking about everything, it was lovely, maybe we should get rid of our tv.

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Day 22 - Friday 21st October

We set off not so early due to oversleeping. Liam had developed a weird throat clearing cough for most of the night which had gradually driven us both mad, so we overslept to make up for it. Once packed up we set off for our 400 mile journey up through Spain. The Spanish, like the Moroccans, have the major traffic lights in towns that have a digital countdown of how long you have for each colour at the lights. The best bit though is the animated little green man to say when pedestrians can cross. It starts at the beginning of the 45 second phase as a little green led man walking in profile – looking a bit like a lemming. However in the last 10 seconds, the little green man turns into an olypmic sprinter to ensure meandering Spaniards get the gravity of the situation and there near approach to being run over. We pootled up through spain on good roads with very little traffic and pulled back into our campsite in Haro. It seems so long ago since we were last here, the leaves have all started falling and the colours are completely different – lots of lovely autumnal colours. More shockingly though is the significant drop in temperature – At lunch I progressed back into long shorts and on arrival in Haro  it’s freezing – I’m back in shoes after 3 weeks L so sad. Jeans and bodywarmer were quick to follow, although apparently the temperature is 18degrees. We’re in for a shock when we get home! Tomorrow is ferry day – excited to see everyone back home, but sad that this trip is over.

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Day 23 - Saturday 22nd October

Blimey, what a night – Northern Spain is freezing. The fuel temperature gauge read 4°C and that was at 9am. We’d both spent the night in more clothes than we had all holiday, I had a fetching pair of leggings, t-shirt and jumper and was highly chilly. Liam went out for his customary 3am bladder weakness and was super quick which always gives an accurate temperature representation. We awoke, incredibly reluctant to move from our tepid sleeping bags into the freezing atmosphere. However the tent had done well, Liam pointed out it would have been far worse in a ground tent. We pootled around the campsite and I finished off my last porridge. We went to explore Haro which was very pretty. Saw the Saturday market, complete with bargainous snails and then found some lovely little shops. Weirdly though a lot were closed for 11am. We picked up some bread and then started our final assault north. We decided to take a more scenic route to avoid the toll road, and tailed an English campervan up through Vitoria. We sauntered through the final mountains and into Bilbao. Bilbao has one of the most excessive traffic light run one way systems in the whole of Europe, we were never lost, but it took far longer than needed thanks to the Spanish refusal to allow left turns. We were heading for ikea! We had seen it as we’d come off the boat and decided a dinner from ikea would be value for money and quick. However I had not considered Liam hating groups of people – which Ikea is rammed with on a Saturday. So we settled near the never ending tea supplies. I went and found a C&A alone as decided this may push Liam over the edge. We left in a search for fuel on our way to port, but the signs were so confusing we ended up going in a small circle, mildly infuriating and Liam’s cough was testing his patience. Nevertheless, we arrived at the port to some yet more fine examples of unusual Spanish signposting which meant a lone line of traffic trying to get to the ferry circling a roundabout trying to find the enterance. There were so many English voices – amazing. We boarded and watched a different crew loading the boat. There were lots more lorries and vans with trailers this trip and they were clearly tight for space. This would have been interesting enough, but with the addition of contradicting staff it made the whole event much more fun to watch. We saw campervans nearly hit each other, a man nearly getting crushed between a trailer and a van and some awful parking. We decided to watch the rest of the chaos from the rear deck and the lorries load. Finally we were off into the night. Liam’s cough was becoming just plain irritating, and with no cough syrup we decided to buy him a cider to see if alcohol would make him sleep better! A beautiful evening watching the lighthouses on the coast gradually becoming fainter.

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Day 24 - Sunday 23rd October

Last Day!! We awoke in the pitch black of our windowless cabin, but realized it was time for the thrilling breakfast we’d promised ourselves as a reward. It was delicious -  we sat like cats in the sun afterwards looking out on a slightly choppier sea feeling rather content. Liam treated me to the cinema to see Pirates of the Caribbean which was an experience particularly with the sensation of being on a moderately choppy boat. Very good though. We meandered on the boat, Liam went to the loo – didn’t reappear and I found him “dozing” on the bunk an hour later! Work is going to be a shock tomorrow. We’ve been watching our progress on the GPS which is very interesting, and there have been loads of cargo ships around. Can’t believe this is over, we’ve had such a brilliant time.

We’ve already started planning our next one/ones. It’s gone soo quickly and we’ve learnt so much…

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