Had 2 nights in Marrakesh stayed at the Blue Sea Printemps a very nice hotel it’s in the new city quite a walk from the old town, taxis are reasonable so thats the way to go. Went to the Berber Market and old media,  great for spices, you have to barter it’s a laugh really and you always get down to half I did well with a couple of pashminas. Went for a horse driven buggy around the city very good. We found an amazing restaurant near the hotel La Trattoria the food is exceptional and the service a bit pricey but as they say you get what you pay for certainly recommend it and will be going on to TripAdvisor.

Today we headed for Rabat then decided to go further towards Tanger even on the autoroute everywhere takes forever we have ended up at a place called Asilah found a decent hotel, just had dinner I had mixed fish absolutely gorgeous. The town looks great and the waiter has told us where to buy Morrocan wine which is good and buckets of olives so will be getting those tomorrow. Never know may even get a swim,

From booking the overland tour to Morocco we were looking forward to the adventure, sadly it has been fraught with complications and quite frankly is badly organised.

The journey from Santander to San Roque was madness, luckily the roads are good and even though we all ended stopping in a Brothel it was clean and we all laughed at it. The next day we all drove like crazy to be at San Roque for 4 PM, getting lost in Devils didn’t help and what we saw of it looks beautiful we arrived at San Roque ahead of time, the campsite was okay, some of us wondered what the urgency was as the supposed briefing was brief and we were told we would have to be up early to get the 06:00 FERRY not good, it poured it down with rain so getting the tent down was a nightmare.

None of us thought we would be driving all day after crossing into Morocco, before we got on the ferry, Simon in his Disco 2 was having problems, Ian and I soon realised that Barrie of Waypoint was not really the caring sort, as soon as we got to Tanger Med a garage was found his altinator was bust and had to have a new one, we wouldn’t have left him but we did to drive  6 to 7 hours to a campsite that was like being on the M1, there were dogs barking all night let alone the donkey’s, for lunch that day we had a sandwich on a piece of rubbish strewn ground, disgusting. Simon arrived very late and caring Barrie hadn’t bothered to tell the campsite that there would be a late arrival, he slept outside the gates.

Next day it was raining again breakfast was cereal and once again we were racing through beautiful scenery lunch another sandwich he following camp as noisy as the first. The following day another vehicle broke down worse problems an electrical fault and they have had to abort the tour that evening we had to decide to drive through a boulder strewn pass, we both said no and suggested that Barrie give us another route but no he said Lillian was fine and it was no big deal to us it was horrendous and Lillian was hauled over boulders after lunch which was a nice sandwich for a change Barrie went ahead, oh my god the mud down steep inclines it was scary and in the end 3 of the vehicles were strapped and brought down.

That night we said we didn’t want to do that again, I was told it’s an overland expedition we then bush camped and all though cold was good, except breakfast was cold beans and sausage he had the cheek to say that he didn’t have time to make coffee especially as we had all made our own. Further down the road,  Stuart said over the cb that he was low on fuel, with 3 miles left we stopped and Barrie syphoned some out but we didn’t get any lunch he hadn’t got any bread we could have had salad but that wasn’t suggested we continued on, then Ian had a problem with Lillians gears but seem to sort out.

The next morning Stuart was reminded he owed 120 dirhams he said Josh would deal with it,  then over the cb, he said it again how disgusted we were. We were still racing through beautiful scenery it’s stunning but no time a few minute’s to take photo’s that’s all.

The next day Lillian succomed and Stuart and Josh had to tow Lillian to camp on the way we had to stop and our leader said I could help but I’m not going to, duty of care does not exist for him despicable for a operator, on arrival at camp it was decided we would go directly to Zagora, Stuart and Josh helping out with the tow, Lillian is still at the garage. Last night at dinner Ian and I were totally humiliated Barrie told us that it was customery to offer Stuart diesel money, we already had but for us to be told was disgraceful please.
We won’t be rejoining the tour it was one insult to many,  I shall now be updating my trip adviser report

The adventure through Morocco has not been easy but the people we have met are so kind and helpful which is more than Barrie of Waypoint Tours. We are travelling on our own and even though the drive to Marrakesh is a long one the scenary is amazing.

Lillian is now fixed, Azim the Mechanic in Zagora is amazing if you ever need an ace mechanic in Morocco and can get to Zagora find him everyone knows him.

The hotel in Zagora was simple but clean, the food good and the staff were helpful.

Marrakesh is a busy city don’t hit at 4 PM in the afternoon it’s horrendous even with a helpful Morrocan, the hotel Blue Sea Le Printemps is lovely as are the staff, we are going to the spice market this morning. Last night we went to the Lake Trattoria oh my goodness what a meal, truly one of the best I’ve ever had.

I’ll check in later with more news and comments especially about Waypoint Tours.

This adventure is totally beyond us it’s more extreme off roading poor Lillian has had to go over huge boulders, slid down mud that even the others found challenging luckily our group are fantastic people. The scenery is amazing, even though we are driving 8 to 9 hours a day. Alas now we are in Zagora and Lillian has to have a new gear box we are safe but don’t know if we’ll continue into the deep desert our group are totally supportive but we will keep you posted.

Lillian is cozy on the ferry, we’re waiting for departure. then we head off to the bar to meet the rest of our fellow adventurer’s. We did meet some of them whilst waiting to embark, and all ready for the adventure.

I’ll post as often as I canso you can follow our adventure

It’s just 2 weeks until we set off to Morocco, Lillian is ready, she has had her service and is good to go, Trundling Jack is sorting out his must have tools, another job Trundling Jack has to do at the weekend is fit the CB Radio and fit Flatdog’s jerry can holder.

I’ve been busy sorting all the documents and organising all the equipment we need to take. I came up with the idea to put our clothes into vacuum bags I’ve got some that you roll to expel the air, we’ll see how that idea works, my thought was at least I wouldn’t be rummaging in a bag, I’ll report how successful the idea was.

When we arrive in Santander we then travel down to San Roque, we’ve been advised by Barrie of Waypoint Tours  to drive a few hours then use one the roadside hotels, must be the Ex Travel Consultant in me I like to know what’s available, Google is such a handy tool and I found ViaMichelin, a great websites, easy to use, gives route options, mileage, cost of the drive and above all hotels with approximate cost and a booking facility, I’m sure European Adventurers know about ViaMichelin but if you don’t well that’s the tip.

No doubt I’ll find plenty to do in the next two weeks, I’ll keep you posted.

Source: Morocco Adventure

Lillian our Discovery 2 at Flatdog

It’s always busy at Flatdog

A very damp Robin Hoods Bay

We thought a good idea to test Lillian our Discovery 2 on a decent trip before we head off on our Trundle Through Africa next year,  we had a search and found Waypoint Tours, the reviews were excellent and we don’t think we will be disappointed as Barrie at Waypoint is very efficient and keeps you up to date with all the travel arrangements, he also sends great footage of ongoing tours mostly taken by Overlanders and we will be using our GoPro, hopefully I’ll be able to post our footage too.

It’s now just a few weeks until we head off to Morocco with Waypoint Tours, Lillian our Discovery 2 is ready for the adventure mainly due to the amazing guys at Flatdog, should any of you adventurer’s out there want great work done by even greater guys then head off to Gainsborough to Flatdog, you can’t get better service and nothing is too much trouble for them.

We tested the ARB Roof Tent at Robin Hoods Bay earlier in the year, it’s definitely waterproof as it poured it down, the ARB awning was more than useful, we bought ARB chairs really comfortable, all our other camping equipment worked well too with no disasters.

We leave from Portsmouth to Santander then travel down through Spain, from there I will post our adventure we hope you enjoy our High Atlas and Sahara Adventure as much as we’re going too.