DAY 14, SAT 17/02, Marrakech. 0 kms. Total 2551 kms.

Just been chilling in the camp this morning and doing some washing & talking to Claire and Leon. Heading into Marrakech this afternoon/evening by bus as it comes alive in the evenings around the main square. Looking forward to it & maybe even treat ourselves to our first real taste of Moroccan food as this didn’t happen in Fes. Will let you know how it went in the next update. 

Well we finally left the camp site around 3pm and headed into Marrakech. Wondered around the souqs briefly but as we were not on the shopping vibe we didn’t spend too much time browsing. They were beginning to all seem much the same – selling the same stuff – just the setting was different each time. With our carpet safely tucked under our roof top tent mattress we were not shopping for anything else. Most of the evening was spent around the main square which turns into a bit of a carnival atmosphere with food stalls, story tellers, snake charmers and musicians etc. Had a great meal in the main square (our first meal out in Morocco) & then in was back to camp with our taxi driver driving all 13kms one handed while he talked to his dad on the mobile phone, letting go the steering wheel to change gears. I kid you not! All in all a great evening, great experience & good cheap meal. Well impressed with Marrakech.

DAY 15, SUN 18/02, Marrakech to Essaouira. 190 kms. Total 2741 kms. Camping Sidi Magdoul.

Only left Marrakech campsite around lunch time after nice breakfast of fresh pain au chocolate pastry’s from camp site café. Had a bit of a get together with Dutch couple (Leon & Claire) to discuss plans and possible meet up points and dates for Mauritania, Also managed to get some good info off of Darrin for Mauri & Mali. Short drive to Essaouira where the wind was pumping. Good news though for the kite boarders and windsurfers. (with 10kms of hard beach sand at low tide and pumping Atlantic Coast wind this is a Mecca for kites and windsurfers – Dodgy Dave and Andrew H would have been in heaven!) Went for a quick walk along the beach towards town but halfway there our ears started hurting from the wind so we turned back. Slept in the back of the landy tonight as there was no ways we were putting up the tent in that wind!

DAY 16, MON 19/02, Essaouira. 0 kms. Total 2741 kms. Camping Sidi Magdoul.

Didn’t really leave the camp site much today. Wind was still blowing but I decided to do a bit of maintenance on left rear wheel hub which had developed a bit of a leak. I thought it may be hub oil seal related. Definitely wasn’t brakes as these had all been done before we left and they were all clean after closer inspection. Leak was coming from inside near stub axle – brake cylinder, shoes and drum were clean and dry. Managed to remove hub assembly but was not sure about replacing and removing oil seals. Managed to rope in a local mechanic (for a small fee of course) to assist with replacing oil seals. He didn’t think I had correct seals as replacements and I wasn’t sure either. Managed to nick an outer 2nd hand seal from an old land rover hub as a replacement but wasn’t sure if it was any better than the one I had in there to begin with. Ended up leaving the other inner seal as is and added a bit of grease/silicone for bearings and seals etc… (Matthew, full technical email to follow re the above) Anyway, so far “repairs” have held up well with no sign of return of leak. Slept in back again mainly due to laziness but luckily we did as it bucketed down with rain during the night. The next morning we were driving through huge puddles ankle deep.

DAY 17, TUES 20/02, Essaouira to N’th of Sid Ifni. 331 kms.  Total 3072 kms. Camping Legzira

As we hadn’t seen much of the town of Essaouira itself yet, due to wind and mechanical problems we decided to spend the morning in town before hitting the road. Beautiful, calm and chilled out sea side town with awesome little harbour, souqs, medina etc. Thoroughly recommend this place. After a couple of hours wondering around we treated ourselves to a fresh, inexpensive sea food lunch just behind the harbour before hitting the road south. Drove along Morocco’s famous surfing Atlantic coast and saw a particularly famous Moroccan point break going off. Ahh… for a surf board. Due to our late start we drove until slightly after dark (again) and thanks to gps point we found the camp site just north of Sidi Ifni. Just an exposed cliff where campervans park overlooking the Atlantic (only 15 dirhams) with just one toilet and water tap (no showers). Very basic but very nice – if the wind had not still been howling. We couldn’t even really leave Cathey as it was so windy so just a light snack for dinner before our 3rd night kip in the back in a row. Becoming quite used to it now – who needs a roof tent? Filled up almost all our 80 l of water carrying capacity as it would be 3 nights bush camping before reaching Mauritania.

DAY 18, WED 21/02, Ifni to Naila/Park Oisaux. 335 kms. Total 3407 kms.

Drove via Guelmin, where we met 2 friendly locals, one Mauritanian & one Moroccan (living in London) who gave us some tips for traveling onwards to Mauritania and Mali. Beginning of Western Sahara so we needed to hand over a fiche or 2 (sheet with all our personal details printed on it for police check points) Stopped at Sidi Akhfenhir late in the afternoon to pick up a permit to camp for free at Park Oisaux/Naila, right on the edge of a lagoon. This is done at the tourism/administration office in the town 21 kms before the turn off to Naila – diagonally opposite to the right of this way point: N28°05.783’  W12°02.898’

Beautiful campsite (free, but no facilities so take everything you need) but again wind was blowing fairly strongly so kipped in the back after dinner and finished off the last of the duty free beer from the ferry to Spain which has lasted well but it is a few dry weeks coming up.

DAY 19, THURS 22/02 , Naila to Between Boujdour & Dakhla. 517 kms. Total 3923 kms. Bush camp

Long day driving through Western Sahara. Stopped in Laayoune for cheap fuel (less than 30 pence (GBP)/litre) and filled up Cathey to the gills – 140 litres so were pretty heavy  including almost full water tanks. Drove for hours and hours through nothing – except for the odd police check point, load of camels, and eventually pulled over behind some dunes/hills for a quiet and still windy bush camp. 4th night in a row in the back – who needs the roof tent? Tomorrow 1 more days drive to near the border and we should be in Mauritania the day after…..  

DAY 20, FRI 23/02, Between Boujdour & Dakhla to 60 kms North of  Mauritanian Border. 513 kms. Total 4436 kms. Bushcamp.

Woke up early as we had another long days drive to just before the Mauritanian border. Wind was already howling with sand blowing everywhere. Managed to just about get some water to boil for a quick tea and coffee before hurriedly packing up and getting on the road. Slight hangover this morning from finishing the bottle of wine last night (we are now sans alcohol for Mauritania (except for a few bottles of whiskey for emergencies that are well hidden! Mood was NOT improved by the wind, beginning to get a bit tired of it. Gues we will need to go inland before that happens. Turns out we weren’t searched at the border anyway – oh, for a cold beer now) Did a bit of a detour into Dakhla to stock up on some essentials. Shopping wasn’t great but it made for a bit of a change in the otherwise quite monotonous scenery as it sits on a spur of land jutting out into the sea with a huge enclosed bay. Also a bit of a budding kiteboarding scene! Check out N23°55.285’  W15°46.022’ if you interested. Believe me there is no shortage of wind in this place. Been pumping solid for 5 days straight.

Shortly after leaving Dakhla we had a bit of a moment crossing the Tropic of Cancer (for the 1st of 3 times on this journey) Inga mentioned after looking at the map that we might soon be crossing it. I checked the gps and turned out we were 800m away. Had a little countdown. As we reached it we noticed a small pile and a short line of stones on the ground signifying this imaginary line that somebody had placed there (no big sign) Wouldn’t even have noticed it unless we had been looking out for it.

Stopped at last town 85 kms north of the border for last cheap fuel in Western Sahara (N22°03.280’  W16°44.825’) and topped up the tank so we are almost fully fueled for Mauritania as it is almost double the price.

Drove another 20 kms before pulling over to camp behind some rock formations. Drove around them for a while trying to shelter from the wind but it was not easy. Managed to manouver into a sort of sheltered spot as best we could. Just did a quick diner on MSR primus stove (didn’t want to waste LPG gas in the wind again) and piled into the back to bed fairly early. Big day tomorrow – Mauritania awaits!   

COST SUMMARY

MOROCCO: 

Camping:          15 dirhams (no showers) – 100 dirhams (expensive!) including showers; average: 30 odd – 60 odd dirhams (plus 8-10 for hot shower)

Diesel:              7.27 – 7.44 d/l

Supermarkets:  Acima Fes very cheap and unbelievably well stocked (only in Fes?) otherwise Marjane

WESTERN SAHARA:

Camping:          Free/Bushcamping

Diesel:              4.18 – 4.51 d/l, Laayoune cheapest, more expensive as you go south

Supermarkets:  none