There is no doubt that Morocco is a beautiful country with breath taking scenery, and photos cannot capture that beauty, However here are some of images and a final report of our experience with Waypoint 4×4 Overland Tours.
We started our journey in Portsmouth and there met Simon, Stuart and Josh, great people and always there to help,
Lillian in Portsmouth
After the crossing with Brittany Ferries from Portsmouth to Santander, we travelled the length of Spain to San Roque. I must add that Brittany Ferries has room for improvement, the dining options are limited on the service, the choices are the restaurant, the food is nice enough, but quite expensive and the service is somewhat erratic. There is a sandwich type option in the main bar area, which is actually the better option than going to the cafeteria on the top deck, not only is freezing cold up there, the food is more than disappointing we had Beef Stew on the outbound crossing, only the word Yuck can describe it, Large pieces of tasteless beef, in an ever less appetising brown watery gravy, Ian was lucky he got a piece of carrot. I would advise go to the restaurant we did on the inbound crossing. Breakfast definitely go to the restaurant outbound and inbound, even though we got rationed bacon on the inbound, and my mood not good I told them and we did get more.
We met out intrepid leader Barrie at 18:00 can’t say we were impressed even then, but thought better give him a chance.
Arriving in Santander late afternoon to start our race through Spain to San Roque, we had a bit of a scare looking for Lillian on the ferry, we couldn’t find her, we were definitely on the right level, others were looking for their vehicles luckily another passenger alerted us to her whereabouts, good old Brittany Ferries had put a line of lorries at the side and obscured vision, nobody around to tell us that. We were one of the last off and just hoping that Simon in Tugboat a D2 and Stuart and Josh in Blast a D4 had waited for us, They had missed the meeting place but had turned around, so we all met up, Blast took the lead he’d got a built in Sat Nav, so saved me mucking about with the Garmin, we had all decided to drive 3 to 4 hours then look for somewhere to stop, That was easier said than done, we tried a few places all full, spying a place, we didn’t argue with 45 euros even though it said 35, we dumped our stuff and headed to the transport café, Tugboat was still saying why 45 he goes to the sign and reads 35 euros for 4 hours, Yes it was a brothel a very clean one though, complete with a mirror over the beds, what a laugh we had.
Lillian, Tugboat & Blast, Carrefour Seville
Next day, we had a long days drive to get to San Roque before 16:00 we had been instructed we had to be there by then. Blast decided that at some time during the day that we need look for a Carrefour to stock up on Beer and Wine, which we all said great idea, we sped through, stopping for coffee and near Seville Blast said over the cb Carrefour, leaving the Auto Piste, we found the Carrefour easily only to find it closed, next stop McDonalds for a burger, now the fun following Blast, we all left, Seville is absolutely gorgeous but on a Sunday afternoon not good, eventually we got back on the Auto Piste
Arriving in San Roque, we couldn’t find the camp, Barrie didn’t answer when Tugboat & Blast called so we took a gamble on a Yachting Club sign and hey there’s the camp. Had it been me I would have had the kettle on for weary clients who had been on the road since 06:00 and it was now 15:30 but not Barrie of Waypoint, he walked passed us all saying going to shower, customer service is not his forte. After a supper of a beef burger in a breadcake, he gave us all our ferry tickets emphasising that the ferry tickets were open tickets and valid for a year, we now know why. I do think his system of arranging the tickets is flawed, how I wish I told him so. After the somewhat very brief briefing we were told that we would have to be up at 04:00, WHAT ! His explanation was that the ferry was full due to a National Holiday, hence my comment how he arranges the tickets, that could have been avoided with planning, and he runs several tours a year.
The next morning it was pouring with rain, trying to get the tent down was a nightmare, Simon was a gem and gave us a hand, Entering the ferry terminal at Algeciras Tugboat had a problem, he ended up being pushed onto the ferry, the ferry guys tried charging his battery to give him enough power to get off, Off the ferry in Tanger Med it was evident Simon was going nowhere, Mark another group member, sourced a garage, Barrie didn’t seem to perturbed and eventually Simon was taken to the garage, apparently a group decision had been made that we should leave Simon and he should catch up later, Ian and I were not included in that discussion and I said we didn’t agree, it made no difference. Simon was to follow, Barrie had given him the route.
We set off for camp having been told it was a long drive, we had a schedule to keep apparently, the only reason we were on a schedule from the beginning is that Barrie had decided that we were completing a full circle, High Atlas, Sahara & Anti Atlas, compromised from the start the tour should have been Anti Atlas and Sahara, this remains an irresponsible decision, the distances to do all three sections are immense and as we were to find out 8 to 9 hours a day driving, stupid, stupid.
Lunch break, so scenic
Barrie announce we were stopping to get bread for lunch pulling over on a piece of waste ground Ian and I thought we would go out of the town to one of his nice lunch spots, WRONG we had the sandwich lunch on the waste ground, not a decent bush in sight for bathroom break, just a dirty filthy wall the back of a café, that absolutely stunk.
Arriving at camp that evening after a long drive, we were told we would have another ;long drive again the next day, Simon was expected after midnight, had it been me I would have told the camp I had a man out on the road and to keep the camp open, once again Barrie’s Customer Care was shining through he didn’t bother of course and Simon slept outside the camp in Tugboat. It was still raining and with another long day ahead, we set off. We went across a meteor sight it was really lovely and we had a few minutes stop, some of the plants were interesting to me as was the composition of the meteor rocks.
Meteor Site
Meteor Rock and Plants
Tyre Pressure Time, & great views of bums !
Josh, being the perfect Son
The scenery is so different from area to area and the villages to.
Stormy Weather, hope it warms up soon
Going through the Cedar Forest,, spectacular
Lunch Time
We soon had another casualty the Mitsubishi down with an electrical fault, he had no speed, and need a specialist repair, so Tony and Brenda made the decision to abort, it took them two and a half days to get to Tanger Med in recovery mode.
Stricken, Mitsubishi
The next day was our fateful day, however some of the scenery is wonderful, enjoy !
Muddy Track
Getting the straps ready for the mud
Mud !
Some of views are spectacular and because of our race, many of them have been taken from the car window all are in the High Atlas
Looking on in wonder no doubt
Todra Gorge, just gorgeous
Market Festival, wish we could have stopped
High Atlas Village
The Draa a vast expanse.
The Draa Valley is lovely, and our final destination as it turned out with Waypoint, it was sad for us that we didn’t finish the tour with our new friends Stuart, Josh and Simon, but three days in Zagora was an impossible task for Ian. We have our thoughts and Stuart and Josh have brought up to speed on the rest of the tour, they were more than unhappy but like us it was a pleasure to meet each other, Ian and I have a lot to thank them for and I know if it had been them we would have done the same for them. Great Guys.
I will complete the rest of our trip in a separate post with more photo’s and comments on our time alone in Morocco.
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Trundling Jack and Jenny 