A jaunt down south

[Badger110]

3500 miles later, we have returned from our trip with a few pics and footnotes

 

The journey was to be from Plymouth to Santander via the ferry, drive through Spain and then a ferry across to Morocco.  It turned out to be a little longer as we took in Portugal as well.

On the ferry ready to depart

Arriving in Spain we headed west to find the elusive Picos de Europa mountain range and stop off for the first night, bumping into our 1st and only likeminded truck

The roads were certainly a haven for bikers and the feelings of jealousy were in full affect until it started raining...but we enjoyed what we saw and then headed down into Salamanca via Leon.

 

 

Spanish architecture is quite something when it comes to church's & cathedral's.

 

 

 

 

We had a good day visiting Salamanca which is quite an old town with plenty to see, they had a large square where we took lunch, food was ok, bit touristy for my liking.

 

As we weren't far from Portugal, we figured a quick pop over to view the country and to get another flag for the truck

 

The quick trip turned out to be a rather long trip to Sintra, home of the Palace of Pina.  This former home of the royalty of Portugal is a moorish based palace which in the google search looks a lot better than in person but does have some very impressive stonework.

The nearby Castelo dos Mouros turned out to be more interesting as we didn't have to queue for an hour and the views were pretty spectacular from it's derelict walls. 

 

 

Whilst travelling down through Spain and Portugal the exhaust was blowing a bit and the truck was a wee bit sluggish on the long winding uphill mountain driving we were doing, so we stopped off on the coast at a campsite and i set to work figuring out what was going on.

 

Stripping the exhaust manifold out ( after removing the prop shaft to one side, chassis brace, exhaust, turbo, airbox and pipework ) it was blowing on the EGR cooler.  Unfortunately i was only armed with gasket sealer which did have a high temp ( 500C ) stability but i wasn't holding out much hope. 

It was blowing from here;

 

I cleaned up the area, gasket sealed it and then we went for a swim...surfers paradise!

 

After a dip it was decided to make our way down south as we had to be in Almeria the following evening to catch the ferry to Morocco.

 

In hindsight we should've left the sealant to go off a bit more before starting her up, but it would've made no difference as we later found out when we got home, but that's another story and it won't be the last time i'll be under the bonnet on this trip either

 

Heading off into the evening sun we made our way south on the long high mountainous motorways of Portugal

 

Next stop was Almeria and the ferry port to Morocco. We found a local campsite on the beach so we could stock up on supplies, take a swim in the Mediterranean ....which was short lived as it's full of jellyfish which sting quite badly...at least we got wet

Ferry across to Melilla which is a Spanish town on the moroccan coastline, arriving at 6am, we were through border control by 8.30am and into Nador ( Spanish side very slick and quick,Moroccan side quite relaxed and slow! )

 

 

If you've never been to Morocco, there are a few things needed when you arrive.  Firstly is money. Moroccan currency is only available in Morocco, so you need to find a money exchange which normally is fine, but not when you land on a Sunday morning!  Anyway we got it sorted with not a bad exchange rate and then went looking for our next important item, Sim cards to use within Morocco.  We found a roadside shop in Nador and spent 30 minutes of sign language, broken french, drawings and 4 different people trying to help and we were set up with a 10gb data and 500 minute Sim card for less than a £10.

 

As shown in getting a sim card, the people of Morocco are very helpful and will go out of their way to get things done, as we were to find out.

 

After leaving Nador we headed off down south, with no real destination on the first night, we were happy to drive and soak up the new surroundings.  

 

We stopped off for some lunch and as is typical in Morocco, it doesn't matter where you are, someone will turn up.  We headed down to Missour, along some of the older style roads of Morocco which are gravel tracks with virtually zero traffic

 

and then we stopped off for our evening meal in the mountains you saw in the previous picture

 

After this point, it got a little weird.

We had driven through plenty of villages previous to this on our first day here, but it was getting dusk and as we approached the next, quite large, village we were met with stony silence.  The locals who were out in quite large numbers in the middle of the village began yelling at us in Arabic, or possible Berber. Seeing a large crowd of young blokes who were giving us the evil eye, we slowly drove through the village to be met by a lot of screaming kids who started throwing stones and yelling at us.

Figuring this wasn't the place to stop and ask to use their village green to camp for the night we headed out of the village and further into the mountains.

 

At this point, it should be noted that there are always Pros and Cons to how you decide to travel.  We are pretty relaxed with our travel plans, ie we know where we want to go and we tend to figure it out when we get there.  This is great for our way of life, but it does throw up some curveballs when it's getting dark, you're in a strange country, you've just had an unnerving experience and have no where planned to stop. 

 

The flip side is, that's part of the adventure

 

Part 2 coming up

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Stellaghost]

Cannot wait for part 2 looks fabulous 

Regards Stephen 

[Arjan]

Sounds & looks Good !!!!!

[Mo Murphy]

Morocco is awesome, glad you enjoyed it and thanks for sharing 👍

Mo

[Badger110]

Part 2; 

The trials n tribulations of Morocco.

 

Day 1

Before i left i had downloaded the up-to date maps for morocco and they were brilliant in showing us how to get to places, but we were to learn what a ' road ' can be in Morocco

There are 2 types really, tarmac and pistes.  The former is self explanatory ( classed as A,N and sometimes R )  the second ( R and P ) vary greatly depending on the environment, usage and lord knows what else. 

We were directed along the R601 which is classed as a piste ( gravel road ) and we soon learnt another good lesson...just because a road starts off with good intentions, it can quickly go pear shaped and turn into something else entirely

Halfway from Beni Tajjite to Tazzouguert the road disappeared ( literally ) and went into an off road descent down the side of the mountain ( we were at 5000ft + ) along a road which was made up of large rocks and broken dreams.  Walking ahead of the truck i found a large pool of oil on the rocks with a trail leading away further down, it looked like someone lost their diff earlier in the day

A few times we got lost due to it being night time and not seeing where the ' road ' actually was, but we got down in the end and onto the tarmac version of the R601 and headed into Boudenib to finally get to our destination at about 11pm.

Francois, the owner of the Rekkam campsite met us and we crashed in one of the huts instead of the sleeping in the truck as i was knackered and needed a good nights sleep after our 1st hectic day.

 

Day 2 began with an awesome breakfast at the campsite and because we were further south than i expected on day 2, i figured it'd be a good opportunity to take another look at the exhaust manifold.  I was getting fumes in the cab the previous night and the truck was sluggish the previous few days when going over the mountainous regions of Portugal into Spain. 

Francois gave us an area to work in and then i repeated the previous time in Portugal of stripping everything out to get to the egr cooler side of the exhaust manifold.  

We also took this opportunity to remove the gearbox tunnel and seat box lids to check for areas which would allow fumes to get into the cab if the fix on the manifold failed again as well as try an keep the heat from the engine bay out of the cab. 

Nikki took the seats out ( i'd put Mazda RX8 seats in before the trip ) and set to work removing the interior whilst i worked on the engine bay and after a day of doing this and taking time out mid day as we were both suffering from the heat and headaches.  We had everything just about back together and were looking forward to our evening meal with the owners and another couple from France who spoke no English and tested our basic school learnt French to the limit when it all went abit pear shaped.

Tightening the oil feed bolt into the turbo, it gave up the ghost and snapped.

Bugger.

It's a terminal bit of kit that bolt..if it's not working then the black stuff won't stay in the engine for very long and your turbo won't run for very long either.

Thinking on my feet i found an M10 bolt, drilled a hole in the end and fitted it hoping it may be enough until i could find a replacement.

Those without eyesight issues due to age or too much self indulgence as teenagers will notice the threads are wrong, but at this stage i was in a unknown country on my 2nd day and i had to try anything to make sure we could still get about, so i was willing to risk it.

During dinner Francois messaged a few garages he knew to see if they had a bolt and we waited until the morning before trying the crude bodge. 

Day 3

It worked and then again it didn't.  It did manage to keep most of the oil going where it should, but wasn't a sure fire winner for my liking so i tried again to reseat the bolt.  From here on, it got worse as the bodged copper washers were becoming too bent to even provide a seal and so we took ourselves to one side and thought of the circumstances and what to do.

Francois had a chap in a town a few hours away who thought he had a bolt but we'd need to get to him to check. This threw up some issues as we had no way of getting there. 

We went off on a walk into the town of Boudenib to find a taxi company and this was when, once again,  we were shown the kind nature of the Moroccan people.  

Approaching the local petrol station we found a lady who spoke a little English ( Females from the age of 12 to 30 mostly speak good English in Morocco due to the education system, Males aren't as good ) and we explained we needed a taxi because we needed to replace the broken bolt.

 

At this point, and has happened in other area of Africa & Asia, when something is interesting, a crowd will gather.   Soon we were surrounded and one guy who had just turned up beckoned me to follow him to his truck where he had a rummage to find a suitable bolt but not finding anything.  Next thing he gestured me to get in and off we went on a journey around the town looking for anyone who may have a bolt to match mine.  Unfortunately we weren't successful.  We were taken back to the campsite by another chap ( after not finding a taxi either! ) but we did find a local car hire company who were open later that evening, so we planned to go back.

 

We got to the hire company ( a local guy with a car...yes that's the crux of the hire company )  later that day and had a discussion and brokered a deal to have a car delivered to the campsite the next day.

Feeling we were heading in the right direction, we headed back to the campsite to meet Francois and his wife who had been away all day.  Explaining what we were upto he got on his phone and rang the local car hire, cancelled it and told us to take his truck in the morning and go and collect the bolt!

Settling down to another night at the campsite we were welcomed by the sight of a group arriving ranging from a few 110's, Discos, Rangie and a land cruiser ( the latter i was seriously considering selling the truck for when i got home! )

It turns out the group were part of Kudu Overland led by the man who owns the company ( Phil ) and as luck would have it, knows just about everyone in Morocco who can sort a truck out!

Before dinner that night, arrangements had been made to collect the Landy, get us over to Zagora, where a garage would fix the truck and we would be on our way.

We dined that night with the new group and got ready for the journey the next day which, in hindsight, i hadn't realised was going to be a lot further away than i expected

Day 4

In the morning, we had our last breakfast with our hosts and waited for the recovery to arrive.

Typically of the country, it turned out to be just about up for the job

 

 

A slow 400km journey ensued with the driver, myself and Nikki in the cab and his mate shoved in the king cab back amongst the odds n sods.  

We arrived at our destination 6 hours later, the town of Zagora and the crew of the garage wheeled the truck in and i began explaining the situation

 

 

Here's Aziz the owner who has pretty much seen and worked on just about any vehicle that comes through Morocco

 

You tend to find in these places that business's work on commission with each other, for instance, we were shown a hotel which shares the profits with the garage as they have supplied the guests. Works for us as we know the place is good and the price for dinner, breakfast, large room with aircon and ensuite for less than £40 is a bargain.

So we went to bed after a good meal 

 

whilst the garage worked on the truck into the night to get the bolt, replace the exhaust manifold gasket, remove a broken stud from the exhaust and sort out the oil levels.

 

Part 3 coming soon.

 

 

 

This is a rather sad shot of Landy not being able to move due to the broken turbo bolt.

 

I will neither deny or confirm an apparent video and photo evidence of a Land cruiser having to tow the Landy to get to this position but i will leave you with something i heard quite a lot over the following days...

' A Land Rover will get you into the desert in Morocco, but a Land Cruiser will get you back out again ' 

 

 

[Peaklander]

I have just read to this point, after thinking that you must be back by now. It's a very interesting read with some early challenges but that 'live' photo of the meal is spooky!

[miketomcat]

Very interesting keep it coming.

Mike

[Badger110]

13 hours ago, Peaklander said:

I have just read to this point, after thinking that you must be back by now. It's a very interesting read with some early challenges but that 'live' photo of the meal is spooky!

I know! All food is pretty much served in tagine's and is very hot...the live photo illustrated that quite well

[Badger110]

Day 5

We picked up the truck and headed south to pick up a route i was looking to travel from Mazouga to Foum Zguid along the southern border with Algeria which is a well know route in the past for anyone wanting to get their wheels dusty with the ' proper ' desert driving of Morocco.  

Being stuck in Boudenib and then trucked over to Zagora we missed the start of the route, but i figured i could pick up the last 160km of it from Mhamid as the last populated area before heading into the dunes of Chegaga and the Iruqui national park.

We had also missed out on Mazouga which is another mecca place to visit as it provides the high sunlit orange dunes we all come to believe is what the Sahara is and is a stable photo opportunity for anyone coming to Morocco.

Not to be deterred we set off into the Sahara

 

 

 

coming across some minor sand storms

 

and a rather lonely Landy...

 

 

After a few hours driving we stopped camp for the night by the only tree we'd seen all afternoon.   

 

I would make the excuse it was to set up the hammock, but in all honesty there is something human about settling next to something in a vast empty area, it must be the hunted part of our brains that feel safer with an object on one side of us.

 

Settling into the evening the stars became visible on a new moon night, which massively highlights the Milky way.

Sorry to say there are no pictures of that as i hadn't learnt the new point n click camera i had and to be honest, i was happy just to lay there and go to sleep looking up at that sky.

 

The desert at night is a very very quiet place when the wind drops.  

 

Another part of the adventure

 

Day 6;

 

Nikki was doing some driving when we stopped to take some pictures of the wildlife 

 

 

we heard a large banging from below    Getting her to drive around i then took a look underneath and noticed the exhaust was banging on the chassis...which is odd as it's bolted to the engine in 2 places at that point.

 

This means the engine has somewhat...er...dropped   A lesser man would be looking at Nikki and stating something along the lines of female drivers, but i'm a wise man and was aware of the rough driving i had done the day before, sometimes at speed, so i said, let's take it easy and we'll pop back to the garage on the way back. 

 

Given the wobbly engine, we were independent and weren't expecting anyone else this way for a day or 2 ( Phil and his group were due this way ) we decided to skip the larger dunes and instead head along the basin of the park and tackle some lower dunes to get a little sand in the cracks as it's so eloquently put.

 

Stopping off for a recce we went for a wander to get some perspective and feel the sand between the toes 

 

Spot the Landy...

 

 

Spot the Landy again...

 

It was 43C that day so we weren't out in the sun much, but we figured we'd have a go at driving some small dunes and consequently got stuck.

 

 

which if i'm honest looks nothing on here, but does show that even the smallest mistake can turn the day into a cluster..thing

 

At no point was Nikki or I worried about any situation we were in, we always carry enough supplies and equipment.

 

Freed up we moved on and drove the remaining 60km to the town of Foum Zguid and stopped for food at great roadside restaurant.  

We were served great food, given frozen water bottles and helped the owner name his cat Tom.  Promising to spread the news of his kind nature, we were back on tarmac and heading back to Zagora and the garage.

 

Rolling in a 7pm to the garage, a quick chat to Aziz the owner and we headed back to the hotel to get a shower and some more food.

 

Aziz came to get me with a engine mount in his hand and the broken remains of the engine block still bolted to it.

Bugger.

 

Apparently, the engine mount was only held in with 2 bolts instead of 4...which is worrying as i fitted the engine back into the truck awhile ago and i'm certain i wouldn't have missed out 2 rather important bolts.  

Under the stress of lots of bouncing around and up n downs, it had decided the engine block wasn't man enough at 2 points hang onto the engine mount anymore and given up.

 

Don't worry Aziz tells me, i'll sort it...

Next morning, he had done just that and we were heading into Day 7 with new bushes in the hockey sticks as well.

 

It's all part of the adventure

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Stellaghost]

Problems aside what a fantastic adventure, also credit to your good lady, I don't know many that would rough it in a landrover camper let alone in a strange country after one of your earlier unpleasant experiences, keep the updates coming, thoroughly enjoying these posts regards Stephen

[Mo Murphy]

I haven't seen a photo yet of the man who used to materialise out of the ground in the middle of nowhere with his rug and bits for sale, when you stopped for more than 15 seconds.

Tell me he's still there ! 😁

Mo

[Badger110]

1 hour ago, Mo Murphy said:

I haven't seen a photo yet of the man who used to materialise out of the ground in the middle of nowhere with his rug and bits for sale, when you stopped for more than 15 seconds.

Tell me he's still there ! 😁

Mo

 

Dude, you know he's still there...and everywhere else as well!

I get proper excited when they turn up selling stuff or try and coax you into the shops...most are harmless around the south and east, the higher populated areas of Fes, Marrakesh and Casablanca tend to be bit more persuasive.  

I've found i thoroughly enjoy haggling to see how less they are willing to accept ...my personal best is 9000Dhr for a rug ( about £750 ) down to 400Dhr ( about £32 ) and that was including a few turbans and bracelet 

Where did you go in Morocco @Mo Murphy ?

[smallfry]

Did you find out why you were run out of town at the other place ?

[Mo Murphy]

Well it was a while ago, 13 years ! IIRC we crossed to Ceuta drove south through the 3 Atlas ranges and down into Morocco. We did the dunes at Erg Chebbi, Todra Gorge, Cathedral Gorge, Cirque du Jaffra and other places that I can't remember. The Atlas Mountains and the cedar forests are truly magnificent !

I remember the begging by the children, pens and sweets mainly but for food by the small shepherds and shepherdess' high in the mountains.

The other chaps went the following year too down the West coast though I missed that trip.

Mo

[Badger110]

1 hour ago, Stellaghost said:

Problems aside what a fantastic adventure, also credit to your good lady, I don't know many that would rough it in a landrover camper let alone in a strange country after one of your earlier unpleasant experiences, keep the updates coming, thoroughly enjoying these posts regards Stephen

 

She's brilliant and handles the money, paperwork and cooking whilst i manage the directions and maintenance.  It always works well if you work to your strengths and support each other.  

There were a few times i was doubting my ability when things went wrong with the truck, but she just laughed and told me i'd get bored driving if i wasn't fixing it

The final part of the trip was mostly road trip though, we got up in the morning on the 7th day and it was time to drive all the way back up to Melilla to catch the ferry on day 9.  Using the paved roads all the way back up the country taking in the beautiful views from the Atlas mountains as we headed north is sadly in my memory only as i was driving and although we had been in 43C weather a day or so ago, it rained and became rather foggy the higher went ( 7500ft ).

 

We stopped at a great hotel ( luxury accommodation, dinner and breakfast for a night, £45 ) and met a great guy who worked there and spoke great English.  We chatted about Landy's and how his village still use them extensively in the area ( i never saw any! ).  

 

Nikki happy to be clean and being served food!

 

That night, a couple of French riders turned up on their mid 90's African Twins ( carbs! ) and one had an issue with it cutting out.  The next morning i had a chat with him and we fault found it to be the main battery cable was coming loose and disconnecting, so a quick fix for him, mending his broken crash bar, photo op and away we went onwards

 

Geology is not something i know a lot about but the make up of the mountains and landscape in Morocco is pretty stunning when you see the different layers and how they have moved over the millennia.

 

Also, and this is not photshopped, is this shot taken from the truck of a bird's nest on a minaret.  For scale, that minaret is about 60ft tall!

 

Sadly i don't have pictures of the most bizarre things we saw, these include 4 chaps in the front of a transit van which is no mean feat but the best bit was the 8 sheep on the roof rack of the same van which made me laugh.

 

Further along the road my gasted was even more flabbered to find another van ( boxer i believe ) with 2 guys in the front, luggage on top including 2 cows....standing up, tied to the roof rack with 3ft side rails munching on hay. How they got them up there, we're still debating.

 

If you have ever seen a loaded hay truck in the UK and thought, bugger me, that's impressive, then the loaded trucks you see over there are typically carrying 2 payloads on one truck.  How they load it, i have no idea...how it even moves around corners, i have no idea and the best advice i give to anyone is steer well clear of one as they wobble like buggery when driving along. 

Lastly the private coach drivers are by nature, mental.  National Express sized coaches overtaking on blind bends, slowly ( not stopping! ) to let people off and on and causing anxiety attacks on anyone watching them...i dread to think what it's like to be inside one.  Again, a good idea to steer clear of these if you see them, they do not slow down for anything.

 

So we reached the border of Melilla and left Morocco wiser, financially slimmer ( quite bit in fact! ) and healthier believe it or not ( the food is great ) only after a week and a few days. Morocco's rules are relaxed and the ability to move around and explore, combined with the expanse of areas you can go, appeal to us.  We thrive on adventure, meeting people and immersing ourselves into the environment's and cultures...i proudly wear a kilt when in Scotland and happily wore my turban most of the time in Morocco ( mainly because it's a bloody great idea ).

Spain and Portugal, although beautiful, doesn't really float our boat.  One town pretty much looks like another and it's typical of a European country with rules to where you can and can't go...restrictive in the freedoms of movement which i struggle with at the best of times   The people of Spain and Portugal were lovely and were patient with our very limited vocabulary and the food is nice if you look beyond the tourist traps.

 

In Morocco we were offered food for free, homes to sleep in, families to meet and contacts should we need them.  

 

As we have found in places of the world that have very little, they want to give you the most.

 

You can't ask for much more than that really can you?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Nonimouse]

It's a wonderful place

[Arjan]

Thanks !!!!!

[landroversforever]

Looks and sounds like a great trip!

[Eightpot]

I was queing for diesel behind a van with sheep on the roof a few days ago - the inside was also full of sheep.  Also passed a guy carrying one on his lap on a scooter! (Must have been a Lambretta 😄)

[Badger110]

I’m so glad you got a pic as everyone I tell reckons I was drunk 😂

 

‘whereabouts are @Eightpot?

[Badger110]

On 10/16/2022 at 10:57 PM, smallfry said:

Did you find out why you were run out of town at the other place ?

No idea bud…we put it down to wrong place, wrong time.

 

[ThreePointFive]

Sounds like you had a great trip. Shame the car let you down a few times but at least it was solvable.

I've seen a fair number of Land Cruisers on the hard shoulder over the last year and one being towed by a Disco if that makes you feel better....

 

10 hours ago, Badger110 said:

No idea bud…we put it down to wrong place, wrong time.

 

I wonder if things would have been better or worse if you'd turned up in something looking like it was trying to capture Stalingrad.

[Eightpot]

On 10/19/2022 at 10:41 PM, Badger110 said:

 

‘whereabouts are @Eightpot?

I'm south of Zagora for the time being, heading south to senegal next month. 

[Badger110]

On 10/23/2022 at 11:46 AM, Eightpot said:

I'm south of Zagora for the time being, heading south to senegal next month. 

That sounds like quite a trip, what’s the plan when you get to Senegal?

 

Do you have a blog on the go?

[Eightpot]

We'll either carry on to South Africa or turn round at Gambia I guess, no firm plan other than not be in UK this winter 🙂

Haven't got blogs or anything, most of the time I'm just shopping, fixing, washing pants or eating, and I don't have a face for instagram 😄