Greetings from Morocco

We are parked up this evening on the Corniche in Rabat, it's a secure car park with views across the river to Sale. The Kasbah des Oudaias towers over us to one side and behind us is the Medina.

We caught the 10am ferry from Algeciras on Tuesday and almost as soon as we turned out of the port Gibraltar was off our port bow and Africa was on the horizon. We were advised that the arrival procedure in Morocco was a slow process to say the least and this proved to be true. As we rolled off the ferry we showed our passports, drove half a mile through the police checkpoint to the customs area where we lined up in disorderly queues. Eventually an official comes over and tells us to walk back the 200 yds to the police checkpoint with a passport, not both passports, just mine. Then the official returned and took away the paperwork relating to our importation of a vehicle. And then we waited, and waited. All the time the process was accompanied by much shouting and arm waving. Our paperwork had to be stamped and we ascertained that there was only one official with the stamp. Eventually our guy comes back and asks if I have a scooter - no. Firearms? -no, automatic pistol? No!! Ok, you can go. Well, 10 yds anyway to another guy who wants to see our paperwork and then finally waves us away from the port. The whole pantomime took just over an hour.

We took the motorway south with Paul and Chris leading. Well, they had the map so it was only fair really. We stopped for diesel, about 70p/litre :) and then after stopping again for lunch we set off for Moulay Bousselham, a small village at one end of a large lagoon. The weather was ok when we arrived, best described as sunny intervals, so after parking up on the campsite we explored the town and had our first view of the Atlantic crashing against a wide sandy beach. The village had a half dozen restaurants and coffee bars and a population of 1000 which, incredibly, swells to 65000 in the summer! Then it started raining. Heavily. I feared for our electric supply as our cable was attached to a dodgy socket with no cover. Sure enough the electrics went down but came back later in the morning when things dried out a little. We spent yesterday at the same place as one of us wasn't feeling too well (24hour man flu) and then set off early this morning for Rabat. We had no sooner parked up and stepped out of the vans before Abdul arrived. To cut a long story short Abdul became our guide for the day and a good guide too. He showed us around the Kasbah, the Medina, the markets, advised us where to eat, sorted out our new SIM cards and generally knew his stuff. I suspect we paid him more than we should have done but he was an knowledgable guy and I don't feel too ripped off, just a little, so that's ok. To be honest we could have explored the Kasbah and Medina ourselves but we wouldn't have seen half the places he showed us or seen all the different kinds of markets that there were.

We were all pretty footsore after the tour and returned to the van to find another half dozen French, Spanish and Italian vans parked next to us so this is obviously a popular spot, which is understandable considering the location and the views and at 50 dirham, about £4.00, for 24hrs it's a bargain.

Tomorrow we are heading off further down the coast to El Jadida, a town occupied by the Portugese from 1506 until 1769 and which is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The bad news is the campsite is described as dirty and badly maintained. To be fair this doesn't bother us too much. We are pretty self reliant as far as gas and electricity goes so all we need is somewhere secure to park up. Also, the guide book we are using is five years old so things may have improved.

A few pics for you -

Leaving Algeciras:

The Rock:

Africa at last:

Our campsite in Moulay Bousselham from the village above:

View from the Kasbah

Inside the Medina

It's worth mentioning the driving conditions here in Morocco. The motorways are great, especially if you like people randomly crossing the road in front of you and police cars performing u turns across the central reservation. Best to keep an eye out for the sheep grazing alongside as well 'cos they're not fenced off. Once off the motorway things become a little more entertaining. The dogs by the side of (and crossing) the road don't seem to bother about the vehicles passing by unless you make eye contact. Then they chase you! Rabat is the first city we've had to drive in and I was "convoy leader" today. No map, no GPS, I didn't break any traffic laws and I know Paul and Chris are impressed that I guided them here smoothly. They're just too polite to make a fuss and embarrass me. Actually I did have a top class navigator who despite the sun shining on the iPad guided me through the trickier parts of the city. Thanks Phil x

 

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