Distance: 7,453 miles / 11,994 kmTime: 223 daysFuel Consumption: 13.2 mpg / 21.4 l/100kmCountries: UK / Spain / Morocco / Portugal It was always our intention to have a shakedown trip before setting off on our African adventure. And we have learned a lot: about ourselves, about Big Bertha, and about overlanding. On reflection, BB is too big from an […]
It’s not Marrakech! When we arrived in Morocco, we had a rough idea that we would travel a conventional route – down the coast, passing through Casablanca, Essaouira, Agadir, Marrakech, etc, and back up on the other side of the Atlas mountain ranges, which split Morocco in half. But, as we wanted to test Bertha in the desert and we […]
Mark White, an old Moroccan hand, whom we met whilst camping in Tinghir, advised us that, should we ever get the chance, we should attend a Moroccan Tbourida (or Fantasia). We did our research and saw that an inter-regional competition was scheduled for April 27 & 28 in Meknes. We were camping nearby in Azrou and so we arranged for […]
Rather than taking the conventional ‘Route National’ between the Dades and Todra gorges, we decided instead to take the long way around and head up the Dades gorge, into the mountains, visit Agoudal, and then back down the Todra gorge. It turned out to be a spectacular journey with some magnificent wild camping at high altitude with stunning views. Our […]
We emerged from a minor road skirting the Anti Atlas mountains at the town of Agouim, with two choices of how to get to Skoura. We could turn right (road to Ouarzazate and Skoura – 110km) or turn left (road to Touama, crossing the High Atlas range, then to Demnate and back across the mountains to Skoura – 400km). We […]
Our Moroccan trip was always intended to be our shakedown trip and this included assessing Big Bertha’s off road credentials. With that in mind we set of on one of Morocco’s classic off road overland routes: Merzouga to – Tagounite – a 244km 4 day/3 night adventure. Almost immediately we had our doubts – guys on motorcycles kept stopping us […]
The town is peaceful and laid-back; The people are friendly and welcoming; The bread is warm and fresh from the oven; It has a “Land’s End” feel to it (surrounded on three sides by Algeria); There are more palm trees than cars; The Palmeries are cool, green and lush; The Ksars are maze-like and built in the traditional way; The […]
When we started this blog, we were thinking that only friends and family would read it, but we have realised that it is quite a good way to meet other people who are travelling or want to travel. So it was that Salima got in touch with us, when we pulled up in her home town of Bouarfa. We arranged […]
First time in Morocco for me (Francine was here in the early 90’s) and it has not disappointed. Aside from the reasonably priced fuel (75p/litre for diesel, compared to 135p/litre in the UK), food costs are not at a huge discount to Europe, and there is certainly nowhere near the choice compared to a Spanish hypermarket. Although Francine thinks there […]
We have found the perfect way to avoid being given the hard sell by carpet shop owners in the Medina. Take your own carpet in with you! Whilst having lunch just outside the Medina a mat seller wandered over and Dave bought a very nice woven mat (as we were looking for a door mat for outside). When he carried […]