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!
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!
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