Sunday 6th, Monday 7th and Tuesday 8th

Did I tell you about the hotel room that felt like heaven? We got the cleanest we had been in weeks and slept like logs! Bliss! When we finally awoke the following morning, we opened the blinds to a great view of the port of Algeciras and the rock of Gibraltar.We managed to tear ourselves away at 11am and set off for Seville where we would spend 2 nights, making use of the extra night gained form leaving Morocco early. We drove about 130 miles to the campsite which is the closest one to the City.It was lovely, we were camping amongst orange trees and it was hot and sunny. We washed yet more stuff, in fact we have used washing machines a lot more than our little scrubba bag which I was so excited about at the beginning of the trip.

On Monday we caught a local bus into the centre of Seville and spent the day in the city. What a great place.We bought a tourist hop on hop off bus ticket for the main attractions and stayed on for the whole loop.Then we got off at the spectacular cathedral  and wandered around the narrow side streets for a while.Seville has the oldest bull fighting ring in Spain and whilst I fundamentally disagree with bull fighting, decided to book a short tour to learn a bit more as it is clearly part of the culture of this area, as most souvenirs either had a bull or a flamenco dancer on them. It was very informative, the bull ring held 12,000 people and the season finishes this weekend.I would never go and watch a bull fight but could understand how exciting some people might find it.

On Tuesday, we drove around 180 miles to Cacares.Tomorrow it is a long one, around 300 miles to Aguilar de Campoo before the shortish hop on Thursday morning to Bilbao where we catch the ferry back to Blighty at 3pm Thursday.Spain is lovely to drive through, the roads are easy and the weather is still in the mid 20s here.But it definitely feels that it is last round up and that our adventure is coming to an end.

We have had a blast. We have driven 3,540 miles to date and will have done well over 4,000 by the time we reach Leeds. Gav  has learnt that we don`t need so much stuff with us and that there are places to buy stuff from wherever you are! He has also learnt that it is possible to fix your own vehicle when the RAC or AA are not on hand to help you when you break down.

Jen has learnt not to take so much stuff, eg her RAB jacket which goes down to minus 28 degrees (it has not even hit single figures overnight and it has been in the 30s and 40 for most of the trip); that she is confident in driving the landy anywhere,including the madness of cities such as Marrakesh and up steep and windy mountain pistes and it has reinforced that people are the most important part of places and people are friendly and good hearted. Speaking Arabic has also been really good and has helped to connect with people and have a few laughs with them.

We both agree that we have probably tried to cram too much in and needed a few less miles!

So what has been useful in terms of our gear?

We both love the fridge/freezer in the landy. We are sitting here drinking ice cold beer and have been able to keep food really cold and fresh throughout the whole trip.Similarly the inbuilt water tank, water filter and tap have been invaluable.We have always had safe water wherever we have been, as the filter ensures that all the harmful stuff does not get through.The wolf packing boxes have also been great, we have been able to access our stuff fairly easily throughout the trip, even when the bits we have needed have been in the very back behind everything else. We will do a more thorough list when we get back as there are so many other things we have found useful and others not so!

So life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out and loudly proclaiming "Wow, what a ride!"

Friday 3rd and Saturday 4th October

I am writing this from a 40 euro hotel in Spain that feels like heaven! We are 2 days early in Spain so let me back track. Moulay Bouesselham was lovely and we spent yesterday catching up on washing and generally just chilling out.The site is on the lagoon so we got our binoculars out and saw some oyster catchers and we planned to get a boat and see the flamingos tomorrow. The camp was next to the little harbour and we watched the local fishermen prepare their boats for fishing nd then return with their catch.We went into the little village in the evening to eat, it is full of small restaurants selling the days catch and frequented mostly by local people.It is a popular place for Moroccan tourists in the Summer when the population swells from about 1,000 to 95,000.

So all was going well and we were looking forward to the boat trip to see the flamingos and Gav had also sorted out a 3 hour fishing trip with one of the fishermen on his little boat. That was until last night. Egypt has the Pharoes revenge, India has Delhil belly.Morocco has Moroccan misery and it hit me full force last night. Without going into too much detail, I had to visit the bathroom about 8 times during the night which involves unzipping the tent and climbing down the ladder, then rushing over to the campsite bathroom which has a variety of insects in it, all by head torch! I ended up taking a heavy duty bin bag up into the roof tent just in case, much to Gav`s disgust, thankfully it was not needed.We both woke up on Saturday morning like broken people! Exhausted, mosquito bitten and me with a dicky tummy. Gav suggested that we get the ferry today and head back to Spain a couple of days early.OK!

We packed up and headed off the 70 miles or so to Tanger port  from where the ferry returns to Algeciras. We got to the port, did all the paperwork and had our passports checked by an official whom I greeted with "Salaam alakyum". "Is that all the Arabic you know", he challenged? I proceeded to recite the 30 or so words/phrases I had learnt and been using the last few weeks in Morocco, he was delighted! Except I have been going around saying "I am an Englishman" for the past few weeks, using the masculine rather than feminine version of the word! We just missed the 1.00pm ferry, and saw it slowly sailing away as we drove onto the dock.We had to wait another 3 hours before the next one and then it didn`t sail for another hour.Spain was 2 hours ahead so we would arrive about 9pm. And then Gav made the suggestion that we book a hotel in Algeciras to get a good nights sleep, a proper shower and loo and some food. Well I did a little jig in delight.Whilst I love our landy and sleeping in the roof tent, I was a broken woman from last night (!) and I never thought a hotel room would be so appealing! So we found one near to the port and here we are grinning like Cheshire cats!

OK, so the intrepid travelers have buckled a little, left Morocco a little early and booked into a hotel but it feels good! So on Sunday we will drive to Seville and spend a couple of nights there, visiting the city on one of the days.Then it will be full speed ahead with a couple of days to get to Bilbao on Thursday for the ferry back to England.

Tuesday 1st, Wednesday 2nd and Thursday 3rd October

The good news is that we are still mobile! The temporary repairs on Ruby have held out and on Tuesday morning we left Marrakesh and headed towards Essaouira on the Atlantic coast. Sadly as we were leaving, an ambulance was being called as one of the British motor homers had had a stroke.

We drove 110 miles to Essaouira, a fishing town with fortified walls,a fishing harbour and a long expanse of beach which is popular with surfers, and kite surfers because of the wind and fabulous waves.There are also camels and horses on the beach which you can hire for a ride.We parked up in the harbour and had a wander around,it really is a great little place.We started at the harbour and the small fishing boats were coming in with their catches, wow what catches they had! We saw all sorts including a giant tuna, octopus,swordfish, huge crabs and sharks.Everyone had their job to do, the fishermen unloaded the fish, someone else washed them and loaded them onto carts, they were wheeled away and then sold immediately either on the small stalls set up daily at the harbour or in the fish hall just a bit further down the road.In beween all the action huge seagulls feasted on the left overs.Essaouira also has a lovely Medina, with narrow alleyways selling a variety of stuff and numerous small restaurants selling the fish which was caught earlier in the day.

After a good wander, we went to the campsite about a mile out of town and got our roof tent out.It was in a great location but not so great facilities.The loos and showers had cockroaches the size of small mice running around inside them.It was a very quick dash to the loo and I have not showered for 2 days!

The following day, I woke up with a cold so decided to stay put at the campsite whilst Gav took his rod and went off to the beach to fish.He returned a few hours later with no fish and soaked up to his waist! He had got cut off by the tide and had to wade through a channel to get back! We returned to the harbour and Medina late afternoon and it was really atmospheric as dusk fell.

So after 2 days in Essaouira, we drove along the coast road today and covered about 350 miles reaching Moulay Bousselham by early evening.Moulay Bousselham is a little fishing village with a sweeping beach, great little fish restaurants and an internationally important bird reserve.The camp site is on the edge of the blue lagoon which is part of the Merja  Zerga national park which attracts thousands of migrant birds including wildfowl, flamingos and waders making it one of Morocco`s prime bird watching spots.The local fishermen double up as guides and will take you out on their boat for a tour, so that`s what we shall do tomorrow or the following day.

Monday 30th September

What a beautiful place to wake up in, amongst the hills. We had woken a couple of times in the night, this has been a daily occurrence as there are numerous noises in the night.The wild dogs start barking around midnight until 6am, donkeys bray at regular intervals in the night as though they are being murdered, cockerels seem to have little sense of time and start at 4am and the call for prayer is very loud ,from many different mosques at about 5am.We are very used to it all and if woken, go back to sleep. We also gained an hour today as the clocks went back,that`s 2 extra hours this trip.

So, my turn to drive.The plan was to drive about 210 miles to Essaioura on the coast,well that was the plan.We are actually back on the campsite in Marrakesh.All was good for the first 80 miles or so. There was a protest march just outside of the campsite, all women and children, taking up the whole of the road. I slowly drove behind them and they were lovely and friendly, shouting and waving at us until an elderly lady made sure we could pass through.

I got to Marrakesh and drove straight through the centre, it was crazy! Traffic is all over the road, whilst there are lanes, they are not used in the conventional sense i.e. 1 car in 1 lane! I really got into using the horn, as the locals do.If someone does not immediately go on the green light everyone peeps them, so when in Rome...... So we got through all of that, with a few close shaves and a few expletives. Then the dial on the radiator heater started to head towards over heat and we had to stop, our first mechanical problem which would lead to the engine blowing up (I think?!) if we carried on and ignored it.So we stopped in a petrol station off the crazy roads. We got out our Haynes manual, opened the bonnet and looked underneath.We were leaking from the left hand side. OK, so what next? Phone a friend! We called Bob at the garage in England , described the problem to him and he was brillant as always and told us we had a problem with the heater matrix and we had to disconnect the 2 pipes running into it, thereby bypassing it, connect the 2 pipes together with a hose connecting kit, and refill the radiator with water and antifreeze. "A hose connecting kit," we asked? "Didn`t I give you a hose connector kit?" asked Bob?! Oh well, who needs one of those when you have gaffer tape and other stuff! Gav was a star and I tried to help.We got out the tools and spares which were at the very back of the landy so everything needed to come out and he set to work trying to disconnect the pipes and reconnect them together.He was deliriously happy to use his toolkit and the hammer got an outing, when in doubt give it a smack with a hammer! A lovely  petrol attendant tried to help and we had quite a laugh trying to communicate.

I was tasked with going into the garage to buy some more blue anti freeze.Interesting.I can say blue in French and so my starting point was going into the garage and shouting "bleu".OK, puzzled looks. So next to mimic anti freeze. I acted out freezing, "brrrrrr" and hugging myself and then saying "non".Got there in the end!

So with the pipes disconnected, reconnected and held together with jubilee clips and gaffer tape (as we had no connector hose!!) and the radiator refilled, we let the engine run for 10 mins and were relieved when there seemed to be no new leaks and the temperature gauge was back to normal. Given the time, we decided to go to the campsite we had previously stayed in in Marrakesh, check the landy again tonight and in the morning and, all being well, set off for Essaioura tomorrow. So we had to go back through the the chaos again as our camp site was on the other side o the City. When we got there they were surprised to see us again but very welcoming. We opened the bonnet to find that where Gav had taped the 2 ends of hose together looked a bit fragile so out came the tools again and we cable tied, jubilee clipped and taped the 2 ends together and now we think it will do the job! Just as we finished, the British camper vans we met in Fez turned up in convoy, they have all been poorly for the last 2 weeks and hardly eaten.We also met a Dutch man here in a landy whose girlfriend is in hospital, being flown home tomorrow because she has been bitten by a fly in the desert..Everyone has their stories to tell and we have been lucky so far, touch wood!

The Brits Moroccan guide has given us his mobile number to call if we have any more mechanical problems along the way tomorrow, but we have tools, gaffer tape and Gav, Bob on phone a friend, what more could we need?!

Saturday 28th and Sunday 29th September

Saturday was spent in the souks in Marrakesh, somewhere I have been twice before so it was not such a shock to the system.It really is full on sell in there and they are experts at the game. The sellers can see exactly where your eyes are looking and pull the item off the shelf, hook, rack or whatever it is displayed on to show you and to tell you that they will allow you to have it at a very good price.They speak a variety of languages and know something about everywhere. Last time I came they were saying their prices were as good as Asda price, this time they were proudly announcing that they were as cheap as Primark! The souk is off the main square,Djemaa El-Fna ,and is a maze of narrow lanes selling an array of stuff-leather, wood, spices, carpets, silver etc. We already have a lot of stuff from abroad, so only wanted one or two things therefore had to avoid being enticed into hundreds of shops with the plea "looking is free"!

I have learned a few Arabic words and gestures and people are delighted when you make the effort. One gesture is touching your heart after greeting someone, although I seem to have taken this a little to far and pat my heart vigorously, with a lot of enthusiasm (what a surprise!) after I have greeted someone. Gav commented it looks like I am having a coronary, indeed, I have seen a few worried looks.Another phrase which I have learned is “Thalla Frasek” which means take care of yourself. It took a while to get the pronunciation, but now I have I am using it all over the place. Quite often, I get kissed on the head after I have said it, followed by more heart patting!

The people are lovely. Everywhere we drive we are greeted by waves and huge smiles and shouts of “bonjour” (French is the second language due to colonization). On Sunday, on a long drive which covered some really high mountain passes, we had to pull over to let someone pass, with the massive drop on our side, and 2 of our wheel teetering precariously close to the edge,the driver of the other car wound down his window and said "hello, how are you?". "Fine" I yelled and urged Gav to hurry up and get past him! Sometimes pleasantries come second to safety!

On Sunday we left Marrakesh to take the pistes to Cascades d`Ouzoud, about 90 miles away, but the route we took was a lot longer. We started off in Demnate, before heading into the mountain pistes of Ait Blel and Ait Bougomez valleys. The views got more spectacular as the miles past, with small houses and mosques clinging on to the sides of the hills. The roads were steep and windy, with huge drops at times.One of the valleys is also known as Happy Valley and used to be snowbound and inaccessible for 4 months a year until 2001.Some roads are still only accessible here by mule or 4x4.Villages are built from rock and clay quarried on the spot, it is stunning but very remote.Villagers have to work hard to put food on the table and send their children to school.To ensure the well being of future generations, locals have undertaken ambitious initiatives to end illiteracy, food insecurity and poverty-including girls` schools, organic farming cooperatives, woodworking collectives and tourism initiatives.

We are now camping at the Zebra campsite, near the Cascades D`Ouzoud.It is owned by a really interesting Dutch couple who traveled around Africa for 4 years before settling here in Morocco. Tomorrow we head towards the Atlantic coast and the town of Essaouria, where Gav plans to catch our tea as it is a fishing town. There is chicken in the fridge if we need a plan B!

Wednesday 25th, Thursday 26th and Friday 27th September

We started the day by driving through the Todra Gorge, the scenery was spectacular. The massive fault dividing the high Atlas mountains and the Jebel Sarhro is at some points just wide enough for a river and single file trekkers to pass through. High walls of pink and grey rock close in around the road and it can often get clogged up with tourists and souvenir sellers later in the day so we went early and almost had the place to ourselves.

We then drove to Dades Gorge, which is used on the art-deco posters of Morocco showing a red and white kasbah in a rocky oasis. There were also some amazing red rock formations with palm trees below.

We then decided to press on towards Marrakesh and drove to Ouarzazate, in total driving 187 miles today. The original plan was to head back into the desert at Zagora to see Erg Chigaga, however we had already had a great 2 days already in the desert at Merzouga and wanted to see other things.

On Thursday it was my turn to drive and part of the journey was to climb the Tizi n` Tichka pass (over 2,000 metres high) which connects Marrakesh with the pre Saharan oases and is a steep and windy road in parts, I couldn’t wait! Before that we decided to take the scenic route around Ait Benhaddou, a UNESCO protected 11th Century kasbah, which has been used in various films including Gladiator, Jewel of the Nile, Lawrence of Arabia and Jesus of Nazareth. We then went off road after Telouet as it ran out of tarmac, it was great fun bouncing along over the stones and pot holes, it then became tarmac again and began climbing and winding. We stopped just before it rejoined the main road for lunch at a lovely auberge run by a French woman and her Moroccan husband, Elizabeth and Hossaine. They had only been open for a few months and were building up their business, with plans for art sessions, carpet making sessions, guided walks, cookery etc.

Then on to the pass! We had already ascended quite a bit so we were fairly near the top. I must admit though,I grabbed the steering wheel tightly and tried not to look down to my left as we negotiated the steep and windy roads with massive drops. As we approached the pass tens of people would wave at us or even try and stop the landy to sell us fossils! At one particular scary bit when I had at least a 1,000 metre drop immediately on my left and I had slowed down, a fossil seller came up to the window desperate to sell. “I don’t want a sodding fossil, I’m trying to concentrate on this bloody road” I muttered, which made Gav chuckle.

We rolled into to Marrakesh late afternoon afternoon after a spectacular day’s driving with a spectacular driver! The camp site is lovely, so we have decided to take a day off tomorrow (aren’t they all days off I hear you cry?!) We have covered over 2,000 miles in 2 weeks and are ready for a day of doing little but relaxing and enjoying the tremendous weather which was 38 degrees when we approached Marrakesh.We have been to Marrakesh before so don`t feel the need to dash around and sight see, but we will go into the City on Saturday for the souks and continue to fine tune my bartering skills. The internet connection is slow tonight so no captions on the pics below!

Monday 23rd and Tuesday 24th September

It was great waking up in the desert, the colour of the sand changes at different times of day, it is almost orange first thing in the morning. We saw the sun rise over Erg Chebbi, the big dunes and also the return of around a dozen people on camels who had spent the night with nomad families in the desert, they looked exhausted. Their camels then trooped off to rest until the next load. The sky was blue and it was going to be a scorcher, at least 40 degrees, what better way than to spend it in the Sahara Desert?!

The owner of the auberge and camp site was going to be our off road guide for the day. His name was Mubarak, aged 35 with three children. He lived on site with his family, and was a great negotiator, although I proved a worthy opponent and he called me a Berber woman because I was so good at negotiating him down in price! However I always end up making sure they get a fair price and also tip well! Bartering is a way of life here and the people really enjoy it. I know some people who are not used to it find it tough, but it gets easier with practice. It involves the seller telling you an astronomical price, you feigning absolute disbelief, and telling them a low price, them feigning disbelief and so the interaction commences. It can also involve a calculator passing back and forth as you both furiously tap numbers into it and laugh at the number the opponent has entered. This time I have my own calculator, I have moved into the premier league of negotiating and the sellers love it!

So off we went, off road, into the sand and pistes of the Sahara desert. Before we got her, Ruby had one very careful owner from down South somewhere, and spent her life on a farm pootling about.

Today Ruby’s life has changed irreversibly! Not only has she only been done for speeding in the desert yesterday now she was careering around it through the dunes, almost flipping over a couple of times and she really bloody loved it! What a GREAT day! Gav did all the driving, Mubarak sat in the front to guide and I was in the back shrieking and laughing and rattling about! We covered about 70 miles, across various types of terrain of which actual soft sand was only a small part. A lot of the ground was hard packed sand with sun burnt stones on top, still great fun to drive on and you had to go fast to stop the vehicle shuddering about.

We wouldn’t have had a clue by ourselves, we soon lost all sense of direction as we hurtled one way then the other. Gav kept having to go into 4 wheel drive and back out again as the terrain changed. It took him a while to get used to driving on soft sand and we would be slipping and shuddering all over the place. Mubarak has a great laugh, he shrieks with laughter and it is very infectious, so whilst we were almost flipping the landy over in the sand, we were all laughing like fools! At one point through gales of laughter, Mubarak shrieked “ the car is doing a sand dance” as we rocked from side to side. Gav really got into it though and it began to feel a bit safer.

As if this wasn’t enough excitement for one day, Mubarak decided to take us right across up to the Algerian border. It is marked by a long line of dunes. We then reached an official checkpoint which had a chain and no entry sign across it, with no officials in sight. So did we turn back? Noooo.We drove up to the official building until some officials (not sure if they were police or army) came out.

We had to show our passports and they wrote our names etc down. For a brief moment we actually thought we were crossing into Algeria, but apparently not. They then shifted the no entry sign and chain and let us through! Mubarak took us to a nomadic family who lived in the desert. It was fascinating to see how they lived and there was a wedding in progress.We spent half an hour or so there and got our kite out and flew it for the children who were mesmerised. Then we made our way back to camp. We covered 75 miles off road and both loved it. When we got back to camp we took everything out of the landy and I have a little hand held hoover with which I vacuumed everything! There are so many little gaps in an old land rover that the sand had reached literally everywhere.

So all 3 of us were all cleaned up and feeling pleased with ourselves. Not for long. Almost out of the blue a small sand storm hit! I have never experienced anything like it, it was massively powerful and we almost lost our camping chairs and table and had to quickly put down the awning as it was about to fly off! Sand blew everywhere, it got in our ears, up our noses, I think you get the picture! All that hoovering to have it all blown back in again! It passed after an hour and we got a good night sleep.

On Tuesday we 120 miles or so to Todra Gorge.We plan to drive through it tomorrow to Dades Gorge, which sounds an exciting drive. As a last note, Gav has just shouted from the roof tent ,which he is hoovering following the sand storm ,"Can you pass the fabreeze please, I just want to give it a little squirt"!! Made me smile anyway!

Sunday 22nd September

We decided to push on today and push on we did, driving 267 miles to the Sahara desert where I am currently writing this blog.I am amazed that you can get the internet in the Sahara desert, is that progress or not?

Last night was windy! Because we are in a roof tent we feel the wind, so I woke up in the night feeling like I was in a washing machine being rattled around! I soon dropped back off to sleep though and we got up early as we knew we had a long drive ahead. We bumped into a couple of Spanish lads who we were in the queue with for the trip over to Tanger from Spain.One speaks no English so I tried to explain to him about the wind last night using the power of acting.I blew very loudly a few times whilst shaking my head from side to side, to try and explain the sound of wind and how it blew the roof tent.I am not sure he understood and I think will be giving us a wide berth from now on!

We drove a few miles from the campsite into the Cedar Forest, famous for its Barbary apes.We then took an off road track through the forest which was brilliant, Gav was in his element driving off road.We saw loads of the apes.We were a bit nervous of them at first  as some were big but they were more nervous of us. All we had for them was our Carrefour apples so they dined in style, we cut up 4 of them and fed those who appeared from the trees.

My turn to drive and after driving through Midelt, we were in the anti Atlas mountains, driving on windy roads and gorges.Once I got used to it I loved it, it was really picturesque and not much traffic on the roads.We then swapped again and Gav drove us the rest of the way into the Sahara desert region towards Merzouga.With about an hour to go, we got pulled over by the police and Gav was told he was speeding! Apparently he was doing 69 kilomteres per hour in a 60 zone! Our old defender landy got done for speeding, we almost felt quite proud she had it in her!! Gav handed all his documents over to the stern faced policeman and got charged the tourist fine of 300 dirhams (about £25)The other policeman who stopped us couldn`t apologize enough, introduced himself and his colleague by first name, gave us 4 dates to eat and offered us a cigarette!

We arrived at our campsite which is on the edge of the dunes and is spectacular.There are camels a few metres away chilling and we have seen a few people heading out on camels to catch the sunset.It really feels like we are wild camping in the desert as there are dunes and sand all around us.It is now absolutely pitch back so our head torches are out and I have a scarf over my head to keep the pesky insects away.  The sky is incredible, inky black with sparkling stars.The dunes are called Erg Chebbi and they reach heights of up to 160 metres.They are a shade f rose gold in the sun, changing to orange when the sun goes down.This is meant to be the best area in Morocco for spotting desert birds including desert sparrows, Egyptian night jars, desert warblers, fulvous babblers and blue cheeked bee eaters! I will take my binoculars out tomorrow to try and spot some of them.

Tomorrow we have hired a guide to take us off road, a mixture of sand and dune driving and on the pistes, all around Erg Chebbi, we can`t wait.We will have to take some air out of our tyres to drive on the sand and have a compressor to do the job.
Time to sign off now as bats are circling my head!

Saturday 21st September

After waving off the dozen or so British camper vanners, it was our turn to leave to make the short hop down to Azrou.Because it was only a short journey, we decided to sight see along the way so we went to Moulay Idriss and Volubilis.The weather was glorious again,it has been mid to late 30s every day in Morocco and hit 42 yesterday! We did our vehicle checks, as taught by Bob,

The road to Moulay Idriss was fairly straight forward and we were delighted when we turned off the main road onto a minor road.It felt we were actually using the landy for what it was intended for, going off the beaten track! We drove for a few miles to Moulay Idriss to find absolute mayhem in the streets as it was market day and there were people everywhere, all over the roads.
Well only mayhem to us, it was just another normal market day for the people who live here. Moulay Idriss is a picturesque whitewashed town sitting astride 2 hills and is one of Morocco`s most important pilgrimage sites. It is named for Moulay Idriss, a great grandson of the prophet Mohammed, the founder of the country`s first real dynasty and Morocco`s most revered saint.
Gav drove brilliantly through the throngs, I think I would have been a nervous wreck, as he had to avoid people, donkeys, trucks etc etc. It seemed to go forever and prompted Gav to say, "is this a never ending market?". We then drove a further 5km to the Roman ruins of Volubilis, the best preserved archaeological site in Morocco and declared a world heritage site in 1997. It was really well preserved with some excellent mosaics.

Then on to Azrou, a Berber town deep in the Mid Atlas mountains and set in stunning scenery with views of cedar and pine forests.The forests are also known for Barbary apes which we are going to try and see tomorrow morning before driving on to the next place.The campsite is hilarious and very out of place, it has been dubbed Disney land, because of its garish buildings which mimic castles and ramparts.But it has hot showers, a real bonus this trip!

Thursday 19th and Friday 20th September

It was Gav`s turn to drive the 130 or so miles to Fez from Chefchaouen on Thursday morning. We stopped for breakfast along the way. Yesterday we had ordered a special omelet for lunch in Chefchaouen and received a fried egg, a cheese triangle and 2 slices of luncheon meat! We ordered an omelet again, held our breath and actually got an omelet this time.We arrived in Fez mid afternoon, the roads were reasonable and the scenery beautiful.The campsite had about a dozen British motor homes parked up.Their guide, Samir, came to  chat with us and told us that there were  a number of British couples on a 32 day tour of Morocco, some of whom were in their seventies.They were in Fez for the day so we looked forward to meeting them later.

We watched them return, laden down with stuff from the markets and some of the men had bought fez's and robes. Apparently they are having a Berber night before the end of their trip! They invited us to join them later on, they were really funny, I don`t think they have quite realised they are traveling in a developing country, complaining about the cold showers, the prices (?) etc! But they had great spirits and most of them had never motor homed outside of Europe before, so it was all very different for them.

On Friday we had booked a day tour to Fez. We were due to meet our guide at 10am at the campsite, so we dutifully turned up at 9.55am.The campsite receptionist looked puzzled and asked what we were doing.We reminded him we had booked the tour with him yesterday and were going to Fez.He said we were an hour early and when he showed us the time we realized we had been here for the last 4 days on Spanish time and had not turned the clocks back to Moroccan time! We went for a coffee for our extra hour and then met our guide, Ahmed, at the real 10am.He was a real character! Very philosophical, he kept quoting the philosophers,was not religious, and very critical of the current regime where Morocco is ruled by a King whom he believes is corrupt.He believed that Morocco will go the same way as Egypt, Tunisia etc and there will be an uprising (not in the next 3 weeks though, so don`t worry Mum!). He took us into the old Medina, 9th century and later the 14th Century (new) medina. It was fascinating.A warren of narrow alleyways, selling everything you could imagine.It`s an assault on the senses, a warren of narrow lanes and covered bazaars fit to bursting with aromatic food stands,  craft workshops, mosques and endless parades of people.Around every mosque there are 4 other elements:a hammam, a school studying the Koran, a bakery and a fountain. We saw the University and Mosque, the tanneries where leather goods are produced from various animal hides.It smelt so bad we were given sprigs of mint to mask the smell.Major components in processing the hides are pigeon poo and cow urine as well as indigo, saffron and  poppy to add colour. It produces some of the world` s finest leather.

After a lunch of chicken and meat tagine, we went to the obligatory scarf /bedspread shop and pharmacy where they showed us how they produced their goods and what stuff  they had to sell.The guide knew almost everybody in Fez and we ended up chatting to many people. I had lots of opportunities to practice my Arabic, and impressed and amused many people! Generally, people really appreciate you making an effort, although my pronunciation sometimes left a lot to be desired!

Later we returned to Fez to try and sort out our internet connection, as we had bought a Moroccan sim card in Chefchaouen which we had not been able to get working so far. We went to a Maroc Telecom shop and it took us 2 hours to sort out! We ended up getting locked in the shop by the security guard as it was closing time, who teased us that we were going to have to sleep in the shop! The lovely guy behind the counter eventually sorted us out and here we are, attached to the net!

So our last night in Fez, tomorrow we travel to Azrou, a Berber town in the mid Atlas.Before this we will visit Volubilis,Roman  ruins which are a UNESCO world heritage site with beautiful mosaics; and Moulay Idriss, a whitewashed town nestled in the hills named after a great grandson of the prophet Mohammed, the founder of the country's first dynasty.This is Morocco`s most important pilgrimage site. From now on the Sahara desert also looms, which we are very excited about and are practicing our sand dancing.

Monday 16th and Tuesday 17th September
We drove the 30 miles or so from our camp site to the Spanish port of Algeciras. Here we stocked up at the Carrefour supermarket including replenishing my vodka supply since boiling my last lot. We have a 60 litre fridge so can carry quite a bit of stuff and stocked up with lots of cheese, meats, salad etc. After that we went to the infamous ticket agency recommended by many other travellers to Morocco, owned by Juan Carlos Gutierrez, where we bought our open return ferry ticket from Algeciras to Tanger Med for 200 Euros. We also received a present of a bottle of cider and a chocolate cake!

We drove down to the port to catch the 2pm ferry which eventually left at 3ish. It was a great crossing and we saw a number of dolphin pods in the Strait of Gibraltar. We also saw the infamous rock, and felt very patriotic as we gazed upon it!

After a couple of hours, we arrived in Africa at Tanger Med. We had chosen this port because it is meant to be easier to arrive into with much less hassle than other ports. We had already completed our immigration forms on the boat and been stamped into the country so this was one less thing to do on arrival. We followed the other cars that had European number plates on them and parked up at customs. There seemed to be no real order to proceedings, one man seemed to be doing all the work whilst the rest were eating, reading mags etc! We must have driven straight past the police checks because I got asked to return to the police booths. I walked back down but could see no police officers around, just this bloke who kept shouting and hissing over at me. I kept shouting “la shukran! (no thank you in Arabic) thinking he was a helper ( someone who helps you for money) and I was determined I wanted to do this myself. He caught up with me and told me he was a police man. I told him I didn’t believe him and where was his uniform and ID and that I thought he was dodgy.”What is dodgy?” he asked looking puzzled.”A bad man” I replied. It turned out he was a policeman and he still willingly stamped my forms! After getting the OK from the customs man, we parked at some portacabins just after customs to change some money into Morocco dirhams and buy 3rd party car insurance for a month at the cost of about £60.

Because we were fairly late arriving into Morocco, we changed our plans slightly and set off for a camp site about an hour away in Martil, a seaside resort. Gav drove and it is certainly an experience and you have to keep your wits about you at all times. The campsite was fine and there were other landys there, a Dutch couple who are here for 3 weeks and 2 Austrian couples in Bibmobils, a camper van back mounted on a landrover frame.

After a great night’s sleep again, it was my turn to drive the next leg to Chefchaouen,about 40 miles away. Well, sounds easy? It took about 2 and a half hours as the roads are winding, steep and crazy at times, it was brilliant! We drove through the Rif mountains, famous for production of Kif or cannabis! The guidebooks tell you not to stop for anyone no matter what as they will try and sell you some.

We arrived at our camp site which is at the foot of the Rif mountains looking over the town, it is beautiful. We walked downhill into Chefchaouen which is described in the guidebook as one of the prettiest towns in Morocco. We went into the Medina which is a mixture of bright blue buildings and narrow lanes which all converge onto the Plaza Uta el-Hammam, a great place to stop in one of the many cafes and people watch. It also has a beautiful Kasbah. There are also lots of little stalls selling all sorts of stuff, and we bought a cotton table cloth for the camping table (see pics) and Gav bought a leather man bag! We both really enjoyed walking around the small picturesque streets and it was worth the long climb back up to the camp site later on.

Tonight we hardly got a wink of sleep as very loud Moroccan music started up around midnight and finished at 6pm! When I asked this morning I was told there was a special party!

On Thursday we drive the 120 miles to Fez, where we hope to get access to the internet and post this blog. Very excited tonight as Bruce Parry, from the TV is following Rubythelandy on twitter!

Sunday 15th September and Monday 16th September

On Sunday we traveled 225 miles from Torsedillas to Merida. The weather is beautiful and the roads very quiet and we arrived at the campsite, Camping Merida, around 2.30pm.We pitched our roof tent,and relaxed for the afternoon.

All seemed fairly normal until a mobile overland hotel arrived which could carry 42 people in miniscule rooms in a trailer, stacked 4 on top of each other!They were from Germany and of a certain age. It really was like overland cocoon! Everything was so well organized, they piled off the coach and set up the outdoor seating, repacked their stuff, cooked etc.They were really friendly and kept coming across to chat and share travel stories. In the morning the driver invited us to share breakfast with them before they left like clockwork at 8.30am.

The morning after the night before, about 7.30am!

So following breakfast  on Monday with the German overlanders, we packed and set off for a 203 mile trip to Camping Los Gazules about 37 miles North of Algeciras. It is a beautiful camp site set in a national park and fairly empty even though it must be around 30 degrees.

All seemed well until I shut the back door after we had put up the roof tent. When I tried to open it again I thought that Gavin had locked it but he hadn’t, I had somehow managed to jam it shut! Well we tried and tried to open it to no avail and it looked like plan B was to dismantle the load guard at the back to approach the door from inside. Absolutely everything we have was in the back with the load guard for security but it was keeping us out! I went to the handyman on the camp site to borrow some tools, as they were also locked in the back and drew a spanner on the ground to show him what I meant. Thankfully just as we got back to Gav, he had managed to get the door open, it had dropped a bit and jammed. So we have sprayed the lock and hinges with WD40 which is the cure for everything!

So, I settled down to relax whilst Gav did all the checks (!) and I decided to make some instant soup. I filled the jetboil with water, boiled it, added the tomato soup mix and DISASTER! Gav spotted the small 2 litre jerry can on the table which I  had decanted my vodka into at home, which looks exactly the same as the small water jerry can! I did this a) to avoid carrying a glass bottle and b ) to sneak it into Morocco which is a dry country. Instead of water I had boiled around a quart of vodka. The soup tasted disgusting and the jetboil needed a good wash!

Later on this evening we met Lorraine, Glenn and Dudley(the dog) who are travelling in a campervan,they are fab and Dudley is a dead ringer for  Harvey,the dog off that brilliant advert with Harvey and rabbit!

OK, enough for now. Tomorrow we set sail for Morocco.

Gav and Jen

Saturday 14th September

It is 11pm and we have just rolled into our first campsite in Spain, having driven 173 miles from Santander.  There are fireworks going off and bands playing, not because Gav and I have arrived I hasten to add, but because it is fiesta time! We have arrived in Tordesillas. When we got here hundreds of people were walking through town with what looked like walking sticks and white dungarees, I assume as part of the festival.When we looked the festival up we learned it is very cruel, see below:

Tordesillas (Spanish pronunciation: [torðeˈsiʎas]) is a town and municipality in the province of Valladolid, Castile and León, central Spain. It is located 25 km southwest of the provincial capital, Valladolid at an elevation of 704 metres. The population was c. 9,000 in 2009.

The town is famous for its festival Toro de la Vega in which a bull is slaughtered by people on horseback and on foot. Animal Rights groups have repeatedly tried to stop this from taking place.

Most of today has been spent on the ferry, it has been a great crossing.We both slept really well last night, the drone of the engines and rocking of the boat helped.We heard a talk about marine life and did you know a blue whale has a heart the size of a small car?!

We landed around 5.30pmand eventually disembarked at 6.30pmish. We got lost when reaching the town where our campsite is and ended up driving through a cornfield with corn 6 foot high on either side of us being sprayed with water! It was very strange and a good job we both still had our sense of humour.

So we pitched our little ground tent on very hard ground and realised that the people we had seen all walking through town weren`t going home after a night out but the party was just starting! There was music, very loud firewworks and lots of fun being had! Every time we dropped off to sleep a massive banger would go off and we would jump up as it actually shook the ground! We did sleep however and at 5am on Sunday morning, the loud music started up again, the song was "work hard play hard" repeated numerous times! It was really strange as the sun did not rise until 8am so at 7.30 it was still pitch black with thousands of stars.I actually thought that we had slept a full 24 hours and it was night again! On the way to the toilet the music got too much to resist so I had a little dance with my head torch flashing to "work hard, play hard ...."!

So we are up and ready for the off.Another 230 or so miles today and we should be there mid afternoon.Remember to work hard and play hard, that might be my anthem now for the trip as it is permanently etched in my brain!

Only a short one tonight because we were up at 4am through excitement so we are tired now and have already had a little nap in our bunk beds on the ferry!

We have covered 317 miles today at around 50-55 miles an hour, so it took us around 8 hours with a couple of stops.Ruby is packed to the rafters, although we have fitted everything in, including the kitchen sink! Gav has got a new panasonic toughbook for the trip (fab) BUT managed to blow a fuse in the landy when he plugged it in to charge.So we need to find somewhere that sells fuses in Spain as that is the one very thing we have not packed!

We are now on the ferry to Santander and it takes around 24 hours.We have a great little cabin with bunk beds, I have ended up with the top one although it has a safety rail so there should not be any mishaps.We have bumped into some fellow landy owners who are on a tour with Waypoint tours to the Pyrenees.There is a lovely couple called Looby and Steve who are driving their landy called Leonard! They began travelling later in life but wow, they have made up for it since! After the Pyrenees they are due to go by themselves in Leonard to Algeria, which will be an adventure! They have heard of our friend Bob from Footloose and apparently  he is known as "mad Bob" because of how he drives his landy, did you know that Bob?!

Above Gavin looking pensive in the queue at the Port in Portsmouth

Right Jen grinning like a fool waiting in the queue at the Port in Portsmouth!
We have a bit of stuff in nets over our heads, in this one you can see our high vis jackets, a legal requirement in Spain.

Our cabin and Gavin grabs the bottom bunk!

Jen prepares to get up top!

40 winks after tea

Sailing out of Portsmouth

So a full day on the ferry tomorrow,apparently there will be good opportunities for whale and dolphin spottting, so we have our binoculars.We are due to disembark in Spain at 5pm.We then have about 170 miles to drive to our first campsite.This is not a holiday you know!

Buenas noches

The eve of our trip to Morocco and we are both very giddy! We have been packing boxes; for the trip we are using wolf boxes which are very sturdy and which pack and stack well into the back of the landy.In total we have 8 large boxes and 4 small ones, super organised Gav has numbered them all.I am also under strict instruction to put things back from where they came so we don`t end up in a muddle! I  have one small box for my clothes and have reached the limit in terms of what I can cram into it.We have bought a scrubba bag which means we will be able to wash clothes whilst we travel. It is a simple device, a waterproof plastic sack to which you add your clothes, water and detergent , then seal and let the air out through a valve, and squeeze the clothes against the nobbled side of the bag. I will post a pic once we give it its first outing! I never thought I would get excited about a bag to wash my clothes in but I bet I will be very grateful after a few weeks surviving on one very small box of clothes! So what else are we taking? Tools, spares, kitchen equipment, some dried food supplies, loo rolls, bog in a bag (probably more about that another day),maps, books, kindle, cameras, netbook. toiletries etc etc.

Last week we spent a couple of days with the brilliant guys at Footloose garage to learn some basic mechanics. Previously I have never even changed a wheel in my life. Well, I changed into my pristine boiler suit and got stuck in, it was brilliant! I learnt to grease the nipples on the landy (honestly!), change a wheel (very heavy!), learn what we need to check daily and weekly and how to have "mechanical sympathy"! Bob is our main link at Footloose and our friend, he is fab. He also taught me how to feel whether oil is good or not. I am now much more confident, educated and ready to take on the challenges of a month`s trip to Morocco.

So tomorrow we are sailing from Portsmouth to Santander at 5pm.Because we travel comfortably at 55 mph, we will set off at 7am and take a slow drive down. The plan is to drive through Spain in 3 days before taking the ferry to Tangier in Morocco.

There the adventure will truly begin!