And Finally

Once again a list of things needing to be sorted on Bertie - he is starting to get on a bit! - although nothing major thank goodness. Once fully unloaded we'll put him back into storage whilst we get sorted then have a couple of days dedicated to a thorough cleanout.

We've once again enjoyed the break, just a bit saddened at having to come home early in the circumstances. Morocco is changing quickly, although to be fair it is a vast improvement over our first visit 6 years ago but it is still possible to find the true country, you just need to go out into the sticks a bit. We weren't, however, much impressed with the Rif region, a new place for us. Travelling on our own, after seeing off the small, was perhaps not the best idea but of course this wasn't the original plan, circumstances again changing matters. We'll still go back however.

So to our next trip. We had pencilled in a return to Norway and the south west coast, which we missed due to technical problems, in a couple of months. However it may be quite a long time before the coronavirus situation is resolved so for the moment it's wait and see.

Thanks again for reading this drivel!

Sunday 22 March 2020 - Gravelines to Home

Yesterday was a nice day but cold and breezy, we didn't feel much like going out even if there wasn't a lock-down in France, prohibiting all but essential journeys although dog-walking was okay. So we spent the day catching up on paperwork, reading, hobbies etc. Then an earlyish turn-in as we planned to be moving very early on Sunday.

So up at ridiculous o'clock to the dawning of another bright and breezy day. A couple of vans had come onto the aire last night with the same purpose as us, waiting for the 24 hrs after dog-worming. We tried not to disturb them and after a quick breakfast set off round to the tunnel.

The signs said a train every hour and our boarding pass was issued for the 9.20 however there didn't seem to be an actual schedule running, everyone was just put on the next train, not that there were many. Just half a dozen motorhomes and three coaches, we didn't see any cars boarded. Drove straight through, French not interested as usual, although they did a drugs/firearms sweep, and the UK passport control was the usual friendly face.

The train departed at 8.55 local and we noted that the ride seemed very harsh for the first half of the crossing - square wheels? Whatever, we disembarked onto UK territory at last at 8.30 local and joined the M20 motorway for the long haul back home. Due to the implications of the coronavirus, we'd agreed with Mum that we wouldn't be calling in to see her as normal so just pressed on.

Unlike Spain and France the UK was not (yet) in lock-down and we were surprised at how much traffic there was, although it was quieter than usual, even for a Sunday. Stopped a few times, at Birchanger for a comfort stop and cuppa, another loo break at Peterborough then a lunch break at Markham Moor. Mid-afternoon Jamie started whimpering and whining so we pulled into Wetherby to give him a run and a much-needed poo - which he hasn't done since his worming so he probably needed it quite badly!

Weather stayed nice for the trip and we finally pulled up at home at 4.55 pm, deciding on a cuppa first before tackling the chore of unloading. Just the essentials tonight and we'll do the rest tomorrow.

It's very nice to go travelling, but it's oh so nice to come home!

Friday 20 March 2020 – Le Crotoy to Gravelines

After a much-needed rest we awoke to rain showers and a grey blustery day. Our plan today was to see the vet, change the tunnel booking then find somewhere to wait out the necessary 24 hours we needed after Jamies worming treatment. So we were a little alarmed on checking the Eurotunnel website to find all departures were sold out – that simply cannot be! However a telephone call, with a not unexpeceted longish wait on hold, reassured us we could have virtually any time we wanted so chose early Sunday morning. This means we've got the full day to drive home and maybe stop off at Mums too.

So after breakfast we drove the ten minutes to Rue to find the vet was open. The girl covering reception was not at all helpful, saying we needed to telephone for an appointment but all three vets were there and after explaining our crossing was on Sunday morning they told us to bring Jamie in and they would see to him there and then. Could have been a problem with our tunnel booking......!

Aldi have a store almost next to the vet so Bren popped in, after having to queue outside, for some little extras to tide us over for the remainder of the trip home. Then a decision; should we go back to Le Crotoy for another night or head on to be closer to the tunnel. Choosing the latter we took our usual D940 route along the coast, being stopped once by the police who waved us on when we said we had a tunnel reservation back to Angleterre.

Wissant is our preferred stop as it is only 15 mins from the tunnel and very quiet, but today it was too quiet, ie closed! Hmmm, being now unable to use the carpark at Citie de Europ and all campsites and official aires apparently closed, we resorted to those we knew could not be closed off and settled for Gravelines, a little past Calais and about 30 mins drive from the tunnel. A miserable run in pouring rain along the motorway, our consolation being that Bertie was getting a good wash at last, and we arrived to find an empty but open aire.

So now we're sitting watching and listening to the rain but at least we're warm and dry and can relax for 24 hours; we've got all we need now. Just every now and then Jamie wants to go out but that's okay and the weather forecast says this should clear up this evening and then stay dry for our trip home.

This is probably our last post before returning home. It's a shame that the trip should end in such a sudden and unexpected way but we feel, in the circumstances and judging by all the news reports we're seeing about Covid-19, that we have done the right thing in timely fashion. But at least we're in a position to do things for ourselves, unlike the thousands of holidaymakers “trapped” in Spain, threatened with being thrown out of their hotels with few aircraft available to bring them home.

With this and Brexit it's beginning to look like travel and tourism will wear a somewhat different face in the future.

Thanks for reading this load of tosh. We haveno idea of where or when our next trip will be!

Thursday 19 March 2020 – Verteuils sur Charente to Le Crotoy

An early start to a bright day making travelling in the sunshine more pleasant. Usual morning routine before we were under way 10.00-ish back onto the N10 where once again all we had for company were trucks. Needing fuel we paused at the Auchan hypermarket in Poitiers, where police were stopping cars but just waved us through. Surprisingly the fuel consumption was not as bad as we had feared as we were pushing somewhat harder than we normally do.

But what was annoying was the tyre pressure monitor system kept warning us of a deflating tyre even though we stopped to check all was okay. So when we stopped for lunch we changed the battery, thinking that would cure it. No such luck this time, however, and as the readings were fluctuating wildly it was obviously a sensor fault. We finally just switched the whole thing off!

We were making excellent progress, helped of course by the complete lack of traffic – it felt really weird to see absolutely no-one around. Late afternoon we felt we had come far enough so planned to overnight at Pont de L'Arche, where there is also a vet 50 yards from the aire, but on arrival found it closed. A dilemma; should we try to find another locally or push on to Le Cretoy which we knew was open. With an expected journey time of an hour and a half we felt happy enough to press on and shortly passed through Rouen then onto the motorway as it started to get dark, not helped by the sky clouding over.

No problems though the last half an hour seemed to drag but we arrived just before dark to an almost empty aire – this place is capable of holding 100 units but tonight had just three so plenty of choice! We'll overnight here then in the morning pop along to Rue where hopefully the vet is open and we can get Jamies Pet Passport certification then re-arange the tunnel booking.

Journey today 359 miles, not bad! We've seen very few motorhomes, just a couple of Brits and Germans plus a couple of Brit registered cars. We did see a Swedish m/h – boy has he got a way to go!

Wednesday 18 March 2020 - Ampudia to Verteuil sur Charente

A cold and foggy dawn greeted our early start and with no clarification on the border situation we decided to carry on as normal and see what happens. So breakfast and service the van before heading off into the gradually lifting murk. Everywhere very quiet although we did spot a few shops open, as were all the fuel stations and we rejoined the autovia near Palencia to head north once again.

Planning to stay with motorways we refuelled a little earlier than we had hoped but felt it wasn't a good idea to take any chances just to save a few pennies. Anyway we noticed that fuel prices seemed to have jumped 10c per litre, although that may have been because we were on a motorway where it's always dearer anyway.

So past Burgos and on to San Sebastion, noticing few cars but an ever increasing number of trucks, far more than we've seen before, however having decided to push on somewhat faster than usual it was no bother. What was more alarming was a couple of gantry signs telling us about restrictions at the border with France. But at least the sun had come out as we started the long descent off the Spanish plateau down to the coast.

A shortish section of toll road then we paused for a comfort stop before passing through a couple of toll stations - when suddenly we were in France! There were many trucks stopped at the border but the three gendarmes took no notice of us at all and we weren't going to stop to ask questions! So, for us at least and for the moment, the border was open.

The main road north to Bordeaux is partially tolled but whilst it is possible to avoid them we felt we might be pushing our luck so stayed with it. Just short of the city we paused at a rest area for a quick cuppa and some planning, where we saw several police motorcyclists pulling French cars in to the aire for a check - but again they completely ignored us. So we just pushed on, aiming to get as far as we could this evening.

Passing Angouleme we felt that we had come far enough for today (it was almost 6.00 pm) so Bren sorted out a few options for a stopover and we picked a small aire a little off the main road which looked nice - some of our best places have been discovered like this, and Verteuil sur Charente was another. Except it was almost full and we had to ask a poorly parked Swedish van to move over a little so we could squeeze in. A good spot to settle for the night and wind down from our long, long drive today, 445 miles which is a record for us!

We've made it safely into France and so far it seems all we need do is keep going and maintain a low profile. We don't need any shopping just yet, although we'll probably need to make at least one stop, so our plan now is to head for northern France, maybe finding a vet for Jamies Pet Passport stamp, then book an earlier crossing with Eurotunnel.

Tuesday 17 March 2020 - El Real de la Jara to Ampudia

Some good news - we found the cassette cap that disappeared down the toilet disposal!

But now an update as to our progress.

After more rain we left El Real early this morning with full water and empty waste tanks and got straight on to the A66 autovia heading for Caceres, Salamanca, Valadolid, and Burgos. We programmed as far as the French border into TomTom but didn't think we'd actually get there today. Called at a Carrefour in Merida to refill the fuel tank then just settled down to a steady run, mostly on cruise control.

We paused for lunch at Hervas on an empty service area with the sun now making an appearance. The road was empty today, just a few big trucks, several motorhomes going our way and a handful of cars. It looks very much like the Spanish are doing as asked and not travelling unless absolutely necessary - everything except foodshops and garages are closed although it looked like many factories etc. were still working, though we don't know of course under what conditions.

Under way again and we espied snow on them thar hills - then around Bajar we were in it, the road having been ploughed thankfully and drying out rapidly in the warm sun. Although we had hoped to get past Burgos, it was really too far and after Valadolid Bren started looking out for somewhere quiet again to stop for the night. We have previously used an aire at Ampudia, just short of Palencia, and knowing it would very likely be empty we altered TomTom who took us almost straight there - first Terry missed a turnoff then the coordinates were wrong, but we knew where it was so no problem.

We are still around 3 1/2 hours from the border with France and have no positive information that we will be allowed to cross. The news sites are hopeless and our other information sources as yet are only offering opinions on what they've read - nobody has yet reported crossing since Macron "closed" the border. Even that is questioned as it appears he meant the EU Borders, not national, and EU nationals (includes us at the monent!) are to be allowed to cross, subject to the host nations own rules of course.

To that end the French have published a form which everyone on the move has to complete and explains why they are not at home - we can't print it out of course but apparently hand-written versions are allowed. So we've just spent an hour downloading and writing those out. Not that we've any confidence in them but at least we're trying.

So we're going to have an earlyish night for a quick start in the morning. Hopefully our next report will be from somewhere in France, but we've sort of resigned ourselves that if it all goes pear shaped we'll just deal with it and try not to get upset. There's still some nice places in Northern Spain we can have a look at.

Monday 16 March 2020 – Algeciras to El Real de la Jara

An earlyish start to a cool dull morning with a strong breeze. Over breakfast we consulted the various news sources to find the chaos over Coronavirus escalating, encouraging us to cut short our plans and get on up the road. Some things were, however, non-negotiable and after breakfast we went over to Carrefour just after it had opened and got ourselves stocked up. Wanting a few other items we then drove over to Mercadonna to find a queue outside – our needs were not important enough so we dropped that idea, as well as the washing expedition, and headed for the aire at Castellar de la Frontera to see to the van.

That plan was thwarted too, though, as the police had the village blocked off and turned us away; we know not why, maybe the French had invaded and it was full or the town council had just decided to close it down. So that'll have to wait and we thus headed back to the motorway to start our trip homewards, pausing at the fuel station at Los Barrios to top up the gas bottles – at least they were open but very much in “night service” mode. No access to the shop and the staff all wearing masks, as were all the staff at Carrefour incidentally.

From there it was back on the road, which was very very quiet. From what we'd gleaned all the roads were open but the gantry signs all had the message that travel without justification was prohibited. We were passed by a couple of police patrols but there did not seem to be any checks being made – or maybe they saw a UK registered vehicle heading north as justifiable. Hopefully this won't change for at least the few days it'll take us to get clear of Spain.

We've decided to go up the western side of the country using motorways all the way and only stopping for rest. We paused for lunch just short of Seville at a service area and identified a couple of small quiet aires where hopefully nobody would take any notice of us and we could also service the van properly. So after negotiating a surprisingly busy Seville we thankfully arrived at El Real de la Jara, a small town with an out-of-the way aire with services and, apart from an empty caravan, nobody on it.

Having serviced the van, dropping the cassette cap straight down the disposal (grrr, but we have a spare) then Terry dropping his smartphone and smashing the screen (it's still usable though), we took the decision to call it a day here – it was gone 4.30 pm – and try for an early start tomorrow to get as far as we can. We've managed 177 miles today which, considering all our errands this morning, we're quite happy with.

But now it's raining and gone very cool.

From now on, the blog is really only going to be a report of how we're getting on. We'll keep it up but might not be posting every day. Thanks for viewing it.

Sunday 15 March 2020 – Martil to Algeciras

We had heavy rain and a thunderstorm during the night and it was still grey and threatening when we got up. A very early start for us with a quick breakfast and servicing limited to emptying the loo before we headed off to try our luck at getting into Spain. A very quiet drive up to Ceuta and, after asking to see our ferry ticket, the police let us through to the border. Despite there only being a handful of vehicles, almost all motorhomes/campers of some sort, it took well over an hour for us to be processed with each stage wanting to see our passports – we must have shown them half a dozen times to various people – before we were allowed to proceed. We were even checked by a sniffer dog as well as all the lockers opened. When you consider they did this in less than 10 minutes at Tanger-Med you can see why the Ceuta crossing is becoming less popular.

There was, however, one light-hearted moment; as we were getting our last check completed so a couple of elderly Arab gentlemen were giving unholy hell to the border guards at the barrier alongside us; obviously restrictions were affecting the locals too. Brens comment of “someone isn't very happy” was greeted by a wry smile from the guy dealing with us!

Then came the Spanish border; via Tanger-Med we've barely been stopped after disembarking but not here. Once again a search, passports thoroughly checked and for the first time for us Jamies Pet Passport was fully scrutinised, registered and a microchip check was run, before we were allowed to proceed into the town.

Ceuta is a typically scruffy border town but having no great desire to explore anyway we took a quick photo of the only thing worth looking at, then went straight for the docks with a little diversion caused by roadworks and no signs. There didn't appear to be anybody at the check-in for Balearia but Terry walked up anyway to find a guy there who got straight on his radio then accepted our ticket with no question. He told us to hurry up as it appeared they had just finished loading but were holding the ship for us so, once again encountering a passport check, we dashed round and were on the 11.30 am ferry to Algeciras.

The ship was barely one third full so we had a much-needed coffee then found comfortable seats for the one and a half hour crossing, unfortunately having to leave Jamie in the van without having had any opportunity to “exercise” him since we left the site. He had water and a few snacks of course so we just had to cross our fingers and hope............

A smooth crossing and we were soon disembarking, Jamie having been very good (!), with no more checks and headed straight out towards Los Palomes and the motorhome parking outside the ticket agents office (who was closed). Once we'd stopped for a few minutes we were somewhat overwhelmed, not knowing quite what to do next, apart from letting a by now anxious puppy out for a wee! We'd managed it!

Our planning hadn't got us any further than this point so we had some lunch whilst gathering our thoughts. First off we needed to shop, which wasn't possible today as it was Sunday then, although not desperate, some washing as it had been awhile since our last opportunity and the basket was overflowing. At some stage too we needed water and gas for the van. We also had to consider the increasing chaos caused by the Coronavirus panic, with countries locking down, businesses being closed, campsites not accepting new residents etc. etc. Eventually we decided to remain here for the rest of the day, start early again tomorrow and stock up for as long as we practically could, then pop along to the marina aire at La Linea to use the launderette there. From then we would play it by ear, but always in the backs of our mind accepting that our holiday was over and we should be heading home by the quickest available route.

Later the Brits we met onsite at Martil turned up having crossed with a different shipping line a bit later than us - they had been told that the ferries from Ceuta were stopping after 7.00 pm tonight. It very much looks like we've escaped by the skin of our teeth again, only last year was weather related of course. During the afternoon and evening more motorhomes arrived who we suspect were doing a similar thing to ourselves.

Saturday 14 March 2020 – Moulay Bousselhem to Martil

Up earlyish to another grey start and to get Plan B underway, however a check with Balearia now showed no scheduled crossings until 28 March. But the midges were a real nuisance so we'd move anyway and let the day take its course.

We took the motorway all the way to Tanger-Med, a nice fast road and the tolls are not expensive. But we weren't really surprised to find that the port was indeed closed and we were not able to find any information either, so we took the road up and around the headland towards Tetouan, pausing for some lunch and to sort out a stopover. The obvious place was a campsite at Martil, the holiday part of Tetouan, so we broke new ground and dropped down to the Mediterranean coast of Morocco.

Our route took us past Ceuta, a Spanish enclave on the Morocco mainland, which with it's own ferry connections to Spain was the original place to cross but was again a target for illegal emigrants trying to get to Europe. As such there was a high security presence with several Auxiliary Force vehicles taking up observation positions along the way and a police roadblock on every access road to the town.

Hills between Tanger-Med and Ceuta

Ceuta

Entering Martil

We continued past; now this was totally different to anywhere else we'd been in the country, definitely a holiday resort coast lined with hotels and holiday complexes, some of them even having been built! We suppose we shouldn't have been surprised to find it was very much in the Spanish style but was very quiet, being out of season. We found the campsite easily enough and squeezed into one of the last remaining pitches, meaning to stay two or three nights to catch up on washing before heading off further south.

A little research seemed to indicate that the ferries were still running from Ceuta, although a new ticket would be around €200 – not for us. But later still we heard from a fellow Brit onsite that the ferry companies were honouring Tanger-Med tickets on the Ceuta route, but no-one knew just for how long.

Plan C was thus formulated. We'd get up extra early tomorrow, forget Sunday Breakfast and make our way up to Ceuta to attempt a return to Spain. If it failed then we would have lost little and would return to Martil, but we were starting to get a little worried about the actions of various governments, including Spain and France, introducing lockdowns. Was travel going to be affected? We felt we would rather be stuck in Spain or France.

Friday 13 March 2020 – Moulay Bousselhem

As forecast it was a dull start to the day and never got much better than hazy sunshine, but still warm. We spent the morning generally cleaning and tidying up but unfortunately the midgies were at it again so more anti-histamine, which had the effect of making Bren sleepy and after lunch she totally crashed out whilst Terry walked the dog.

The news, of course, was full of the Covid-19 virus which was quickly labelled a pandemic and several countries were introducing lock-downs. Later, doing some research, we discovered that Morocco had closed it's borders with Spain with no flights or maritime connections. This was a bit of a blow and we tried to get clarification but of course could get nothing further, apart from opinions, doom-mongering etc. Our shipping line, Balearia, was still showing scheduled departures but as we watched these were being reduced to just one or two a day. Surely they'd let us out?

So we thought we should move on up to Asilah tomorrow and see what further information we could get. However a German couple arrived very late and parked next to us; they had apparently just come from Tanger-Med and had been told no more ferries for three weeks! Now this was becoming a little serious – that was okay as far as our Moroccan visas were concerned but our motor insurance Green Card only had 10 days left on it so we foresaw an impending problem. You cannot extend a Green Card and as they are a manual document they are posted to your home address, although we have heard of the insurance agents emailing copies. Not sure how that would be received in the event of a document check – although we've never had one it would be Murphys Law that we would be asked for our papers.

Plan B was therefore formulated – we would drive up to Tanger-Med to see what we could find out but if it was a no-go would continue round to Tetouan and extend our stay in Morocco by visiting a few places we hadn't yet seen, including ironically Chefchouan.

Thursday 12 March 2020 – Fes to Moulay Bousselhem

Yesterday was just a chillout day and as we were parked under trees it was pleasantly cool for a change. Some comings and goings early and late but as most go into Fes for the day it was quiet. Caught up on some TV for a change before an earlyish night as we planned to go to Chefchouan tomorrow

So a standardish start with the usual routine and once clear made our way to the local Marjane to stock up with enough to see us to Spain early next week then programmed TomTom. Which is when we realised just how far we had planned and realised it would be very late by the time we got there and there were no suitable stopping places in between.

A rapid rethink and we decided to forget Chefchouan for this year and instead go to Moulay Bousselham for a couple of days before returning to Spain. It was still going to be a longish drive and much of it was cross-country, but first we had to get out of Fes which itself was enough for one day. Unfortunately the best route lay straight through the various populated areas that make up Fes in general and as it was just coming on to the lunch-time rush hour it was interesting! But then we turned a corner and literally were out into the countryside – no general lessening it was busy built-up then nothing. Weird!

Now we were in the low Rif where it was quite different geologically and, we have to say, the population although still Berber Arab were a little different too. We had heard about protests that the people of the Rif felt abandoned by the government and it did seem to us that nothing like as much money had been spent here, evidenced by as much as anything else by the state of the roads. Variable with potholes is perhaps a good description so progress was not as fast as we had hoped. We also had a few problems when hordes of schoolchildren tried to mob us but we managed to get through without hurting anybody or anything – a little frightening although we're sure they didn't mean any harm.

We're back in the well-cultivated part of Morocco here and before long we were rolling into Moulay Bousselhem and Camping International, where we have stayed a few times before. A lot busier than we've seen previously although we managed to find a nice spot with an electricity post that worked – a rarity as anyone who has been before will acknowledge. However the one thing we had forgotten was that being close to a sea-lagoon it was also prone to midgies which instantly said “oh goody, fresh meat” and went straight for Bren. Nets, flyspray etc managed to keep them at bay but she was bitten several times so the anti-histamine tablets came out.

Our plan now is have a quietish day cleaning and tidying before heading up to Asilah as the last jumping off point before the ferry back to Spain.

Tuesday 10 March 2020 – Khenifra to Fes

Sorry – no map today as Nellie went on strike. Will try to sort it out later but meanwhile have asked TomTom to record the route. Now all we need to know is how to transfer it into here!

A reasonable night although not entirely undisturbed, as this is after all a 24/7 service station as well as a leisure complex. The security man turned up about 9.00 pm and we tipped him with Dh50 and he sat outside the van all night!

But as there are no services for us after breakfast we just got ourselves under way again towards Fes. The N8 is a generally good road by Moroccan standards and we made good progress through the Moyen Atlas mountains, a much smaller range than the others but just as picturesque as well as twisty and hilly. Once again not a lot of traffic outside of the towns; at Azrou we rejoined a route we used a few years ago then onto Ifrane, notable for it's very distinct French architecture as against the usual Arab “design” of brown boxes! The King apparently has a palace here and it was the one place we encountered serious roadworks where the main thoroughfare was being widened from 2 to 4 lanes and resurfaced – if of course it ever gets finished as there was a distinct lack of activity!

We'd set the satnav to take us to the Diamante Verte campsite, just on the outskirts of Fes but we'd heard that it had been closed although we couldn't ascertain that fact with any certainty; we know that there are (were) touts in Fes trying to direct motorhomes to the other campsite, International, telling people Diamante was closed. So in an effort to clear the conundrum up we followed TomToms' directions which took us on a quite tortuous route via small roads and villages before turning us into what can only be called a giant building site, and we mean town-sized it was enormous, but the road was in no fit state for us. We estimated, if it still existed, that the campsite would have been somewhere in the middle of all the building so assumed that it had probably been sold for building land. Campercontact no longer lists it (we'd used an older version for directions) so our conclusion is that it is indeed now closed.

So we reprogrammed the satnav to take us to Camping International, which wasn't far away, and found ourselves on a somewhat chaotic journey through the very busy modern outskirts of Fes, fighting for roadspace with the dozens of petit-taxis. Then at one set of lights a guy on a moped pulled alongside us and asked in excellent English if we were going to “his” campsite, i.e. International. We didn't quite admit to that but in effect he hung around us whilst we made our way and of course escorted us in when we did in fact get there – sure he was on commission! Not sure of our next plans we booked in for a couple of nights, resisting his persistent efforts to provide a day trip into the medina tomorrow; having been there before we declined and found ourselves a nice pitch.

Camping International is a wooded site with five distinct clearings each with an ablutions block, all clean and tidy if not quite up to European standards, but we've seen and used worse. Being shady we used the electricity hookup, which was included in the fees. The site was reasonably full and on a later exploration with Jamie we noticed one area given over to an ACSI long-term rally and another absolutely chokka with a large group of Dutch, obviously yet another guided tour of which we've seen several during our time in Morocco. Only one other Brit as far as we could see – where are they all this year?

A late lunch then for some reason we were both feeling very tired and just crashed out for the rest of the day, having checked that the habitation air-conditioning still worked fine. It was dark when we surfaced so a quick bite to eat and a quiet end to the day. We'll have two nights here then push on to our last intended visit at Chefchouen, the “blue” city.

Monday 9 March 2020 – Ouzoud to Khenifra

Ouzoud to Khenifra - 137 miles

We would have liked to get away earlier but, well, you have to wait for the sun to warm up don't you? So after breakfast and the domestics it was gone 11.00 before we got away. Never mind it was again a gloriously clear morning and we headed back to the main N8 road via the Gorges de L'oel Abid, another very picturesque and quiet road. Only one short section of single track “piste” around the narrow bridge (see photos). 

The N8 is a fast two lane road being the main route from Marrakesh to Fez and beyond, not too busy but enough to need to pay attention. We stayed with it for the rest of the day, passing through much varied scenery, from hills to valley plains, bustling towns and quiet villages and a very blue reservoir. We paused just past the town of Kasba Tadlil in the only proper layby we ever saw for lunch and a stretch before carrying on to Khenifra.

There is not a lot of choice of overnight stops along this route. Khenifra was about the right distance but the only really viable place was a sort of guardian parking at a leisure complex just past the town. However it had good reviews in the Campercontact app so we parked up and no doubt we'll see the security man/guardian sometime this evening for his “donation”. Meanwhile we had a quick look round, it's quite nice with some lovely gardens but what look like refreshment and food stalls all seem to be closed up, the only thing open being the small garage shop which did, however, have ice-creams!

A French van has pulled in alongside us intending to stopover too. It's not the quietest of places being close to the main road but it'll do for one night. The next nearest is an hour and a half drive away.

Sunday 8 March 2020 – Marrakesh to Ouzoud

Yesterday was really a do nothing and relax day with just a bit of cleaning and tidying and catching up with the blog, photos etc. Once again very hot but we managed to get a cool breeze going through the van and showers later were very welcome.

Marrakesh to Ouzoud - 102 miles

So a pretty standard Sunday start for us, no rush even though we are moving on today so by the time we'd had our bacon and eggs, finished packing away and serviced the van it was getting on for midday. Never mind, our target today was only about 100 miles and on good roads so we programmed TomTom who took us back around the Marrakesh ring road, quite busy even though it's Sunday, and onto the N8 which is the main route to Fez.

As hoped it was a nice smooth fast road and once clear of the city was quiet again. But before long the satnav turned us onto the R204, taking a more direct route albeit a bit slower as we were back to the “standard” Moroccan road of tarmac over a rubble base, two lanes but a little rumbly and care had to be taken with oncoming traffic, especially the coaches! Nevertheless a scenic route, initially across the valley plain but then into the foothills passing through bustling little towns and quiet villages.

We paused somewhere or other along the way for a stretch and light lunch then tagged on behind three coaches, obviously taking day-trippers to the Cascades de Ouzoud, who obligingly pulled over to let us past – not necessary but thanks anyway! Before long we entered Ouzoud and found Camping Zebra at the top of the hill into the village.

The Cascades de Ouzoud are perhaps the best known attraction in Morocco and feature in all the tourist brochures; not quite natural, the river is split into various irrigation channels which then lead to a wide swathe of the rim, producing an effect that is not too far removed from the Muslim idea of Paradise. Despite this the atmosphere remains laid back and relaxing even with the hundreds of visitors the town hosts daily.

We stayed at Zebra before about 4 years ago to visit the Cascades and there was plenty of room although we guessed there was a largish party booked in for tomorrow. But we only wanted one night as we don't plan to visit the falls again and we really only chose to stop here as there wasn't a lot of choice in the distance we'd planned – we're heading further north tomorrow.

From our pitch at Zebra Camping

So settled in and booked a meal in the restaurant to save cooking later (never seen Zebra Tagine on a menu before!). Managed to make our weekly phonecall to Mum; using Skype costs only a few pence, plus the wifi of course, rather than £1.40 a minute on the mobile! Not quite as good quality but adequate to keep her happy – we text everyday, again via Skype but she likes to hear our voices.

Once again we've got a very loud French motorhome parked next to us. They're currently on the phone to someone, which isn't needed as they're loud enough to be heard in France from here!

Friday 6 March 2020 – Taroudant to Marrakesh via the Tizi 'n Test Pass

Taroudant to Marrakesh - 146 miles

A relatively early start for us into a dull morning but which was forecast to clear later, which turned out to be accurate. No servicing here so after breakfast we set TomTom for Marrakesh and followed another excellent road out of the city, pausing to refuel as we were down to half tank.

As the sun came out we turned onto the N7, initially an excellent road, towards the High Atlas mountains that were just appearing out of the haze and clouds. The guide books told us this was not a road for the faint-hearted so initially we were surprised at how good the road was, but of course it wasn't long before it was back to the more normal metalled single track road as we started to climb. Thankfully there was next to no traffic; although this is a main connecting road there is a weight limit on it so no large vehicles can be expected – just as well as it soon became a real twister with blind bends and some steep inclines, lots of 2^nd and 3^rd gear work with the speed never getting above 20mph for many miles, but Bertie never missed a beat.

As we climbed higher and higher so the scenery became more and more stunning and Bren took many photos. As always pictures do not do it any justice, you just have to see it for yourselves. (Please excuse the odd wing mirror or teddy bear/flag in the picture, mostly taken on the move and editing them out would have detracted from the view).

Mountains appearing out of the mists

This is the N7 - a Route Nationale!

Along the way we passed several villages (what on earth do they do up here?) and a few enterprising locals had set up small cafes and stalls – several were signed “nice views” and indeed there were but we didn't take advantage. The summit is 2100m, or just under 7000ft amsl. About 5km from the top the road suddenly deteriorated into no more than a rough track, single file with passing places and no safety barriers! Fortunately nothing came the other way and we reached the summit, with it's somewhat under-patronised restaurants and souvenir shops, safely before finding a much better road heading down.

Once again very twisty and long descents, taken slowly to save overheating the brakes which is easy to do with almost 4 tons of motorhome! Still more superb scenery, the camera clicking away, and about halfway down we stopped at a spot where we could get off the road for lunch, overlooking a river which supplies a reservoir and a small hydro-electric plant further on. 

As we descended so the road became much better and became two-lane although there were still rough patches we had to look out for. Traffic seemed to increase too as we encountered several small lorries, some grand-taxis and lots of mopeds, the staple transport for Moroccan man/teenager/boy. No helmets either! Towns and villages became more frequent and finally the road once again became smooth, straight and level as we covered the last twenty miles or so into Marrakesh.

Now as if the mountain drive hadn't been enough, we had to deal with the late afternoon rush hour in and around this major city. Fortunately TomTom was on the ball and we're sure a few drivers were somewhat taken aback at how nimble and quick a motorhome can be – we can match the best (or worst!) of them. For our overnight stop we'd chosen a site just to the north of the city we'd used on a couple of occasions before and the satnav took us unerringly there, arriving shortly after 5.00pm. We chose a pleasant pitch next to the swimming pool, noticing a number of improvements and additions to the site, and decided to book in for two nights after a long and tiring drive.

We think that this was perhaps one of the best trips we've ever had in Morocco but, and it's a big but, it's as promised, not for the faint-hearted and only in a vehicle that is capable of handling the terrain. Bertie managed very well, although it sounded like he was rattling himself to pieces, but anything larger would have been a real handful, and we'd also not recommend it either for those drivers with less than full confidence. But the experience was fantastic.

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After the debacle with the dashcam a few days ago we made sure it was running but sadly when we later tried to download the trip we found the files all mixed up. We've downloaded what we can and hope to make up a video of much of the days travel.