Here are the some details of our trip to Morocco.
We stayed for 10 nights.
The open return ferry ticket cost £99, which we purchased from one of the ticket offices in the terminal building at Algeciras. People offered us tickets at the roadside on the approach to the port but we turned these down. The crossing to Port Tanger Med took about 1.5 hours. On both crossings there were no other UK registered vehicles or motor homes of any nationality only lorries and cars.
Night 1
The campsite we chose for the first night was closed because the Kings of Morocco and Saudi Arabia were staying close by, so all the cabins in the holiday complex were being used by their security staff and the campsite was closed to other users. We got lost going to the next campsite, and as it started getting dark (yes it is true that Moroccans don't put their lights on at night), we stayed at the first motel we passed which cost about £32. Not the start we wanted!
Night 2
Camping and Caravanning International, Moulay Bousselham, on the coast south of Larache, Next to a lagoon with a nice view and close to the village. It cost about £5.60 for one night and was over priced at that! Went into the shower/toilet block and never ventured back in again! There is another campsite close by, so try that one, it can't be any worse.
Night 3
Camping Ocean Bleu, Mohammedia on the coast north of Casablanca. Nice site, clean facilities with a restaurant. It is now being surrounded by newly built hotels and apartments but is still worth a visit. £5.25 for the night. Had a nice chicken Tagine.
The beach at Ocean Bleu.
Night 4
Camping International, Safi. We were the only people staying on the site along with about twenty Peacocks who surprisingly didn't make any Peacock type noise. The only noise they made was when pecking the dead flies off the front of the Cali. £5.60 but only cold showers available and the toilets were clean.
Our fly pickin' Peacock buddy.
Night 5
Camping Des Oliviers, Ounara, inland from Essaouira. Excellent site £5.60.
Night 6
Camping Ourika on the outskirts of Marrakech. Good site next door to a massive Pacha night club - in the Ibiza style. £8.40 only us and bloke from Estonia on a motorbike on the site. Toilets and showers were excellent.
Nights 7 & 8
Camping Zebra, near the Cascades d' Ouzoud. Stunning terraced campsite with fantastic views run by a Dutch couple. At last we have found the "Holy Trinity" - sit down toilet with a seat and paper, the first this holiday hurrah!!. Had Tagines both nights which were superb. 2 nights camping, 2 evening meals for 2 people and fresh bread each morning was £41.
Night 9
Camping Azrou. Nice clean site in amongst Cherry Trees.£4.15. Light the wood burning boiler if you want a hot shower!
Night 10
Camping Achakar, Tanger. This was supposed to be our first nights stop so we thought we would try it on the way back, not all that good but passable only cold showers. £6.65.
All the campsites used came out of this book
http://www.vicariousbooks.co.uk/camping-morocco.shtml
Roads
Toll Roads are up to European standards and very cheap but people walk across them, Taxis and Buses drop off and pick up. Other roads vary from good to bad in an instant.
Driving
The standard of driving in Morocco we found to be atrocious and was very worrying. The roads are shared by such a wide range of users from donkeys to 40 ton artic trucks. Taxis running red lights; people riding mopeds the wrong way around roundabouts; two people on a moped with the passenger carrying a live sheep across his shoulders; donkeys and carts; mules and carts; sheep, goat and cows herds; kids hanging on the back of lorries, you name it we saw it. Driving was our biggest threat to life.
Police
Most villages and towns have a Police check point on entering and exiting as do some roads and junctions in the middle of no where. The Police are armed and they have "stingers" to stop those who don't comply with their directions. We were stopped three times but when they talked to us and saw that we were not locals they waved us on our way with a "bon voyage". We saw a lot of mobile speed cameras, either hand held or tripod mounted, so don't speed!!
Paperwork
Immigration formalities were carried out on the ferry crossing by plain clothed Policemen, ask for the forms when you buy your ticket. Your passport is stamped and you are given a number, a sort of ID number that is sometimes asked for at campsites.
When you buy your ticket also ask for the forms for the temporary importation of your vehicle. This is a triplicate form that needs your vin number etc. Top copy kept by the Police on entry, two copies returned to you (don't lose them). Second copy handed in on exit and final copy is stamped to prove you have exported your vehicle and is yours to keep.
Insurance
Vw insurance and many other high street names won't cover Morocco. Comfort Insurance do by way of a "Green Card" which cost £25 and gives you your entire Fully Comprehensive policy, not just Third Party. Third Party insurance is what you can buy on entering the country.
Vw breakdown / recovery insurance, which we have because our Cali is less then 3 years old, is also not valid for Morocco. Also most of the high street recovery companies don't cover Morocco, again those nice people at Comfort can sell you a policy that covers GB, Europe and Morocco for about £50. In Morocco you have organise and pay for breakdown / recovery get receipts and claim it back on your return home.
http://www.comfort-insurance.co.uk/
Money
In Morocco the currency is the Dirham, which is only available inside the country and cannot be taken out of the country in any quantity. There are cash machines and a Bureau de Change immediately you have come through Customs. The cash machines give you 200dh notes, worth about 20e or £17.50, which we found nigh on impossible to change with everything being so cheap. So the routine was get dirhams from a cash machine outside a bank, then go into the bank and change it into small notes and coins.
Diesel
Lots of filling station to be found and all had an attendant to fill you up. You paid the attendant in cash (two stations we tried didn't accept cards) and no receipt was ever given. One we stopped at had green handles for the petrol and red for the diesel, not the usual black so we didn't fill up just in case. Diesel was about 58pence per litre.
People
Very friendly and helpful although a bit "in your face" at times. A polite "no thank you" with a smile and they would leave you alone. At most tourist hot spots you would be approached by Guides offering their services to show you around and explain the history for a fee of about £13 an hour on a "one to one" basis.
Toilets
A lot of toilets were of the "squatting" type which I personally find un-useable, fortunately nearly all of the campsites had sit down toilets as well, we also had on board facilities.
Eating out
Cafes every where but no bars due to the lack of alcohol.
We found eating out difficult due to the cafes being full of men, not a woman in sight, making it uncomfortable for Mrs Snowy. Fortunately we had packed plenty of dried/ tinned food, good job we did!
Shopping
Food shops in the villages and towns consisted of a room or a lorry type container with a counter across the door way restricting access and vision, so unless you knew what they had and could ask for it in French it was very difficult to buy anything. We were looking forward to buying fruit and veg in the markets but it was all of really poor quality and I mean really poor quality, all the good stuff must be exported and they have all the rubbish, we didn't see not a single Date! even in a new Carrefour Supermarket the oranges we bought were dry inside and the tomatoes were so over ripe they burst, but at least they sold booze!
Total mileage in Morocco 1452.
looks amazing.
