Morocco and Gibraltar

Caught the ferry to Ceuta, open return ticket for 264 Euros. Open, because we intended to stay for a

On leaving the ferry we had to go through the border crossing into Morocco. It was chaotic to say the least. With men dressed in pyjamas hassling you and directing you to the passport kiosk. For a generous tip they offered to take you. you can do it yourself. Which we realised afterwards, when Dave had left me in the car by the customs house. And the guard was shouting to me to drive the car forward. We were now in the way and ordered to drive through. Unfortunately, Dave had wondered off with the keys….ooopppss!!.

The sun was hot and they had one poor Moroccan who had his worldly belongings piled high on his van take the whole lot off, only to get to the last stick of furniture and then the custom man just walked away.

After finally getting the passports stamped and the paper work done for the car, we spent the next 10 minutes producing our passports and paper work to half a dozen different customs and police situated a few metres apart from each other. They were that close they could have talked to each other.

Having eventually left the border we travelled through the Rif valley towards Tetoan and then on to Chefchouen. We didn't stop for at least 6 hours. Driving through the shanty like villages and having to avoid running over numerous people jumping out into the road trying to sell stuff. !!!!! The main road can be described at best, as crap, with no gutters, curbs and potholes big enough to swallow the land rover. We spent the vast majority of the time half on and half off the road due to oncoming traffic, who had complete disregard for lane discipline. Having endured many hours in the sweltering heat on crap roads we arrived at the Hotel Rif. Our first taste of Moroccan camping, on a tarmac car park, with electric. For only 70 dhn ,we thought we had a free breakfast. This was lovely, with fresh orange juice and butter, cheese, olives all from the local farm. Then we were asked to pay for it, to which Dave said 'I was told it was free for campers'. The manager came out with a big round loaf and said 'this is what is free.' …….Lol.

Having had a reasonable night's sleep and a hearty breakfast, albeit one we had to pay for we said our goodbye's and started on our drive towards Fez.

Although it was still only 9 in the morning it was already getting hot and it was soon up in the high 30's, with no A/C it felt a lot hotter. Once again on roads best described as 'shocking ', we started weaving our way towards the city, albeit quite slowly.

On reaching the outskirts of Fez, we were met with what could best be described as a scene from Monty Python's 'Life of Brian'; the roads were chaotic, horse's and carts, bikes, donkey's, pedestrians….the odd camel….all fighting to get to nowhere in particular! We slowly made our way towards the city centre where the traffic seemed to be getting worse and worse. Whilst stationary at a set of traffic lights, we were approached by a guy on a scooter who asked in perfect English 'Are you looking for the campsite?' With a grateful nod of the head we accepted the offer to be taken to the Camping 'International' on the outskirts of the city. Trying to follow a scooter through the melee that is Moroccan driving is another story altogether!!!

Having followed this guy for what seemed an eternity we finally reached the campsite, where, it turned out, we were the only ones camping on it!!!! Still, the pool was good.

Having sat and pondered our situation, and the fact we were tired, hot, fed up and not overly impressed by the Country as a whole, (or should that be hole?) we decided we should move on towards Rabat. We once again dove into the madness that is Moroccan driving, and headed for or next stop…Rabat, another city much like Fez, hot, dusty, grimy and not much to offer in the way of campsites.

Now, having spent nearly all my working career behind the wheel of one form of transport or another, I think I'm more than qualified to comment on the standard of other people's driving!! And the general consensus is , Moroccan's can't drive!!!! Point in question, single carriageway, one lane each way, me on the right obeying the speed limit (or should that be 'going as fast as we dared on a road full of potholes!!') when Feck Me, there in front of us, two trucks and a car, 3 abreast, Heading straight at us!!!!!! There was nothing for it, head for the hardcore that was to our right, or be the spread in a Moroccan truck sandwich……so without further a do, with lights blazing and horn blaring I dove to the right. Now I'm sure little Mohamed, when he woke that morning had no idea how close he was going to come to actually meeting Allah before that day was over, so to him , I apologise, also, the numerous small buckets that were full of freshly picked fruit that, I'm sure he toiled for hours to fill that, were unceremoniously scattered in all directions as what looked like a big green monster from hell itself bore down on his makeshift stall……to them, I apologise, to the t*** who's wing mirror exploded on impact with mine as I only just had time to move over…..tough s***!!!

Having finally come to a skidding halt amid plumes of dust, puréed fruit, splintered plastic and glass I looked across at Dawn…..she was stock still, ashen faced and still staring straight ahead! I chanced a look in the mirror and as the dust was settling saw little Mo dusting himself off whilst straightening his pj's and gingerly going to retrieve his flip flops and the remains of his fruit buckets from between the rutted skid marks I had left.

Nobody else had bothered to stop!!!

Well that as they say 'was the straw that broke the camel's back', the heat, the dust, the crap roads, the crap driving, the crap campsite, the sounds an the smells, the shanty towns and the general 'feeling' of the whole place became to much to bear…..so, the decision was made……head north!!

Most of the drive back to the ferry was made in silence (I daren't take my eyes off the road) and we were both disappointed and were probably thinking we should give the place another chance and I'm sure that Morocco is a very nice place, with lovely sights and friendly people, but that's not the Morocco we saw……we must have gone to the wrong bit!!! We arrived back at the border at around 11 at night, not wanting to face the hassle of crossing then, we found a hotel, had a shower and a drink and went to bed.

We were back at the port before the first ferry was due to sail back to Spain. Whilst waiting for the place to open we got talking to an Italian motorcyclist who had been down to Western Sahara on his Honda and were exchanging tales of woe with him, he had a few photo's of the aftermath of a coming together with a sleeping camel in the middle of the road and he had the 'gravel rash' to prove it, he had been very lucky and had only had to payout for a new front rim and have his forks straightened!!!!....His handlebars were still bent though….lol..

Having arrived back in Spain we decided to pay Gibraltar a visit, and sorry to say this was another disappointment!!....Imagine if you will……Southend on Sea on a sunny bank holiday….having had to pay a fiver to park and then walk to the 'rock' as the traffic to get on to the place was a nightmare we were greeted with the sight of big beer bellied cockney's in union jack shorts, baldy heads, tattoo's and wife beater T shirts, all effin and jeffin and supping cheap lager and moaning about the heat…and it was only half past ten!!!A quick cup of coffee and a visit to the duty free shop saw us walking back to the car.

As we still had five or six days before we were due at our next Helpx near Le Vigan in Southern France and as it was nearly one o'clock we decided to find a campsite a couple of hours drive up 'the Costa's'. We drove along the national roads as opposed to the motorways (as you have to pay) and were greeted with plumes of smoke in the distance……this turned out to be a brush fire that was raging on either side of the road that we were apparently going to drive up, still unperturbed we pressed on. We were quite lucky , as we turned left at a roundabout the police closed the road behind us, we were the last vehicle they let through!!

We spent the next five days covering the 1000 miles along the coast, camping in Marbella, Valencia, Barcelona and in the Southern Pyrenees.

few weeks. Lol.