Mark and Lorna's European Adventure

Sunday 21st March

Headed down from the campsite and parked on a bit of land just on the coast, outside of Tagazoute, which used to be a campsite. Motorhomes still gather and park up, but now for free. Although every once in a while the police will come along and move everyone off. We were planning to stay there for the evening, to save some money and have a free night.

At the spot we bumped back into Stan and Barbara, in their old library bus converted motorhome. They told us they had been stopping here for a week or so, but in the last few nights there had been a couple of motorhomes which had items pinched from them at night. Apparently in both cases the motorhomes had been left unlocked at night while they went to see friends in another motorhome. This though was enough to put Lorna off staying here. For the day though we sat and baked in the sun by the sea. Later we headed back to the campsite, there we got out our tagine set and cooked our first tagine. It didn’t turn out that great though, we will need to work on that, practise makes perfect and all. Also we didn’t really know how to cook one!

Monday 22nd March

Decided to get on and head back into Morocco, to see more of this beautiful country. We planned on the Draa Valley and then on to the Sahara dunes. First of all we needed to sort a couple of things out, the kitchen tap had stopped working last night and some liquid for the cassette toilet was required! On top of this the windscreen seal needed refitting, so we would have to take it back to the garage in Agadir. The window wasn’t sitting properly, due to one corner of the frame being out of place since the impact of the crash. The garage resealed the windscreen and added some strong silicon rubber seal to the one corner to hold it in place. This still, we were told was a temporary fix until we could get the front body work put back in shape. Although it would be most likely we would need a replacement front part! We might be able to find a second hand one in Germany, but at what cost? For the present moment and foreseeable future we would have to see how this temporary job did. We then headed around Agadir and the few motorhome places in search of a tap and toilet liquid. The latter we really should have stocked up on before departing for Morocco, as we hadn’t really seen much of it about! Still all a learning curve I suppose this life. After heading back up the coast we found a comprehensive motorhome parts garage next to a very big campground. The type of place people come to and don’t really leave the walls of the campground! Not the sort of campsite we particularly had any interest in. Anyway, we found a tap and got fitted a solution to the problem of our kitchen light not working. They simply wired up a small bulb, so at least we had some light, as the light unit had apparently had it! The toilet liquid on the other hand they were out of stock of, but should have some in a couple of days. We would really have to wait for this, as the trip we had planned would be too long for what remained of the bottle we had, that is none! Still it was by now already late in the day and there are much worse places to wait. We headed back and parked up again in the free parking beside the beach, before Tagazoute.

We had seemed to have done a lot of waiting in our Moroccan trip and there was still so much more of the country we wanted to see. There was also so much of Eastern Europe we wanted to see and only so many months in summer. Come October we had to head back to the UK to get our MOT for Hymer. Also we had to get across Spain, France and Italy to get there, any of those would also be worth a look around. Still the sun was shinning and it was hot next to the beach where we were. Also we were becoming rather found of Morocco. Later in the day, going through some paperwork I realised that our green card for the motorhome in Morocco, would expire on the 1st of April. So we would either have to get it renewed or head back! For now though we enjoyed the sun.

Tuesday 23rd March

Woke up and decided we would leave morocco when our green card expired. We really needed to continue our journey, there was a lot we had planned on seeing this year. Although at present we really just wanted to stop and explore more of Morocco, but the green card seemed a signal to continue our journey. Europe though seemed to not appeal as it would seem rather dull after Morocco, but heading over to Eastern Europe would be more interesting. We decided that we would come back again next year to Morocco for some winter sun. This time we would do the original journey we had planned through the valleys, mountains and touching on the desert.

When we first arrived in Morocco, this was our first Islamic country and really I suppose the poorest country we have visited. So it was all very strange and I suppose as it was different it took time to adjust. This wasn’t helped with the crash, I think after that we were ready just to get straight back out of Morocco. This country though seems to get under your skin. It is so vivid and interesting on the senses, and the ragged charm has great appeal. The landscape too, seems to constantly change the further you drive. Also we found the people further south are really welcoming and friendly. The weather being good is always a great bonus as well. Either way we would wait here another day before we could pick up our toilet liquid. Then start the journey back upwards, also we couldn’t really leave Morocco without visiting Marrakesh.

Next year we would stay in places longer and see more. Although we had planned to visit a lot this year, next year was a little more unplanned. There would be countries we would of missed and places we would probably want to go back to, either way we would still be travelling. There would also be more emphasis on earning money, so we would have to stay in places longer. This year while we still had a little saved, we would try to see as much as possible. Before earning money came more heavily into the equation. At present we have really just been constantly moving, never stopping anywhere that long. Always knowing, that we have a lot to see and get around this year while the funds were there to do so. As fuel costs, it is always cheaper to stay put somewhere a while but then you don’t get to see as much. Also for me, realisation is hitting in that back in Europe I will have to find some work. I need to top up my funds to continue around Eastern Europe in the summer carefree.

I think at present, I am finding the constant moving detrimental to pursuing creativeness. I feel that I am not having the time I desire to be able to sit, contemplate and pick up my guitar or my pen. I thought when setting out on this adventure, I would finally get the time to pursue all the creative idea’s I have floating around my head. I feel that I need long periods of submersion into whichever project I want to pursue. Which I feel at present can only be gained by spending time in one place. Otherwise there is always something to be done or place to go to. It is surprising how much time in the day is spent travelling, stopping in places for food shopping or fuel or just to find somewhere to stop and let alone all the daily routines.

Time is the master of us all.

Sitting and looking out to sea, I am not missing the daily routine a working life gives you. We have our own routines now and just being able to relax and enjoy the day is the best thing in the world. We are still tourists wandering and viewing life.

Wednesday the 24th March

In the last few days here on the beach, we have been speaking a lot with the lovely Stan and Barbara. They have travelled a lot, even recently embarking on a backpacking tour of India. They now live full time in their converted library bus and in the past have just headed back to England for the summer to work. To earn enough to then spend the winter in warmer climates, this seems a good way of doing things. It is surprisingly little how much money is required to live in a van, bus or motorhome. Fuel and food being the two main outgoings, rather than bills. Although money is always needed in savings for spare parts and emergencies. There seems to be a fair few people living full time and it seems that without being in a working society you also don’t have the pressure’s it comes with. The constant need to spend money on material objects and then a fair amount on going out, to make up for all the time one looses at work.

Anyway, Stan has given us some toilet liquid they didn’t require anymore. They have a system by which air circulates in the cassette toilet, to stop the build up of gases and of course smells. Also it helps to break down the….., how should I put it? Well you probably know what I mean! So anyway, we would now have enough liquid to last us the remaining time in Morocco. Then when back in Europe we could pick up some new liquid, that for us does what Stan’s air system does.

We decided on heading back up the coast to Essaouira to have a proper look around. On the way we would stop back in at Imsouane as Mike, we had met earlier in Morocco, was there. Stan and Barbara were also heading up that way so off we went. We arrived back in the lovely bubble of Imsouane, and parked up next to Mike, Stan and Barbara arriving later next to us. The rest of the day and night was spent cracking open some wine and chatting away with Mike, about what we were experiencing travelling and the reasons maybe we were travelling. The exact details escape me now of the conversation, but it was a good one!

Thursday 25th March

The last few days I had been itching to learn to surf, although I had bought a kayak before we set off. The kayaks as yet hadn’t been used much, due to the fact of not having buoyancy aids. Now I was wondering whether a surfboard would have been a better option, would have certainly been cheaper. Also would of taken up less space on the roof, as well as not acting like a big beacon to tell all we were coming! Morocco would certainly be a good place to maybe sell the kayak and get a surfboard.

Mike had a board so offered to show me the ropes and get me started. I really enjoyed it straight away, although I was just lying on it and paddling like a loon. Trying to catch a bit of white surf to push me along. Later on in the day I started trying to stand up, but was far too slow. I seemed to spend a long time in the water back and forth trying to just get the timing of the wave right. By the end of the day I was knackered and still not able to stand up. Now though, I knew enough to be able to practise myself with a board. I was hooked on it straight away and knew I would defiantly be surfing again at some point in the near future, for the present time I will keep hold of the kayak. When we get back to Europe, with it’s many lakes, there will be no excuse not to get it out. Also I still need to actually learn how to use the kayak properly. While learning to surf though, I had managed to break one of Mike’s surf fins. This he took very well and said it would give him something to do tomorrow, fixing it. Still I felt bad for giving him a damaged board back after he had shown me how to surf!

In the evening the three of us headed out for some food, as the surfing had made us all tired and hungry. We seemed to spend a great deal of time wondering around the few establishments of Imsouane deciding on what to eat! Tagine was everywhere, as is the case in Morocco, but this would take up to an hour to cook and we were hungry now. We settled on a café that would cook up some meat skewers, so sat down to a mint tea while we waited for the food. We then waited and waited, realising although we had seen food cooking a while ago, and there was still movement in the kitchen, nothing had materialised. The only thing that had was the smell of hash being smoked, so we probably assumed this was why things were taking there time! Lorna also pointed out it looked like the main man had been running off to different shops to get the ingredients. When we finally got our food it was not the hottest and Lorna’s vegetable kebab had turned into another meat one. Still it all tasted good and was cheap, we were far too tired and hungry to complain. When I went inside to pay, the owner seemed to have other ideas and proceeded to bring more mint tea out to us. He sat with us and drank mint tea, as is the custom in Morocco. We all knew at this point why our food had taken so long, as friendly and hospitable as he was, he was defiantly very stoned! Sitting with a cat on his lap muttering away to us, he was lost in space. By this point we were all very tired from the day and a little cold, so really wanted to head back. I asked him how much we owed him and he seemed to go off into a trance! He came back after a while with the figure, so we paid him and left him in his little bubble.

Friday 26th March

Said our goodbye’s to Mike and briefly to Stan and Barbara, although they were also on the way to Essaouira. We had got to Imsouane with very little fuel left, hoping we would of past a petrol station on way, but didn’t. There was another town not too far away that we knew had a petrol station, so we thought we had enough to get there. Also the fuel gauge on Hymer is a bit unpredictable, anyway it wasn’t at red yet. The warning light comes on early and had already come on, but this tends to happen when the level is at a quarter anyway. So we never really know exactly when it is critical. So as we left Imsouane and came up the hill we stopped dead on the road, we had run out of fuel! We were still far away from the petrol station and a good walk back to Imsouane. I took a couple of 5 litre empty bottles of water and started heading back, with the idea and hope someone may sell us some diesel in Imsouane. No sooner had I started walking when a pickup truck with two Moroccans in stopped, they said there was no fuel in Imsouane and they would drop me at a village down the road where I could buy some and then I could get a taxi back. I squeezed in the front and had a very fast journey down the road with them, the conversation a little stuck due to the language barrier. But I was very thankful for their help and they didn’t even think twice about helping. We arrived at a small village, having picked more people up along the way. There they took me to a small car parts shop, where I handed over the two bottles and he went off into the back. After a short wait I was handed back two full bottles of clear green diesel. I paid the man and then my two helpers very kindly drove me all the way back to the motorhome. They then helped me put the diesel in and then Lorna turned the key…. It was then I learnt the hard way about running out of fuel with a diesel engine! As I had never owned a diesel car I didn’t know, the pipes would now need to be bled, unlike a petrol car where you can just fill up and go straight off, a diesel engine would need to have the pipes cleared of air.

No problem, my two helpers set to work trying to pump fuel back through and get rid of the air, via the fuel filter. Only problem was I and they didn’t know where the fuel pump was and my manual is in German! Still we tried and tried with no luck. They then had to go, but before they did they called a mechanic to come out to us. We than sat and waited in the sun, while we did a fair few Moroccans stopped by and tried to help, or at least ask what the problem was. I don’t imagine this would happen in Europe, everyone would just drive past. One person tried again to pump the fuel through, as by this point I had found where the fuel pump was. So we tried again and again, but still Hymer wouldn’t start. I established off the man that the problem seemed to be the bleed screw, but he had to go off, so again we waited for the mechanic. After a while he turned up in a taxi, with a bag of tools and set to work. Eventually after realising he wouldn’t be able to sort the problem out on the roadside, he removed the fuel filter from the equation to get us started, so we could at least drive to his garage. By this time the two original helpers had turned back up to see how it was going. We headed back 30km down towards Agadir to his garage and he connected the fuel filter back up. Then tried various screws, until drilling a larger hole so one of the screws he had fitted! He then said it was fixed and charged us 500Dh, which compared to work we had already had done in Morocco seemed expensive, but he wasn’t budging on the price. We paid him and had to take it on the chin and knew we would never get to the point again we had little fuel remaining. In fact deciding at some point we would buy a small jerry can, to carry some extra fuel with us.

We filled up with fuel and continued our journey back north to Essaouira, arriving at the coastal town as the sun went down. The town seemed to be holding some rally event, 4x4’s had been passing us all day on the road and the town was awash with them. Police had also been minding the roads all the way to the town. Well I suppose they can’t stop them for speeding down public roads, if the rally has paid the police force to look after them! It was like royalty was around. We headed off into the town and wondered around some of the lovely streets, before stopping in a comfortable looking place to eat a Tagine. The seats were lining the outside of the room and the tables were squeezed together with everyone sitting on the outside looking in and across to another set of people eating. Before our food arrived I had noticed the couple opposite were about to go. Before they did, the waiters sat down more people either side of them and the tables were now so close together they couldn’t actually get out! As everyone probably spoke different languages they seemed to sit there unsure what to do or how to get out. I decided to give them a hand and walked across the room and together we lifted the table out into the room, so there were able to get out. We then had a lovely tagine before heading back to the motorhome.

Saturday 27th March

Decided to drive nearer the centre to park, where we had seen other motorhomes, just outside the old city walls. We headed around the lovely small streets and souqs of this coastal town. Also heading up on the ramparts overlooking the sea. Today I was drawn to the abundance of music shops, selling different African and Moroccan instruments. I was particularly keen on seeing how much an Oud was to buy and just to have a play on one. I have really come to love the droning sound of the instrument, having heard it on a few albums and by one group in particular, Le Trio Joubran. In one of the shops I had a quick go, but it is an instrument I would need time playing around till I played something good! The shopkeeper also introduced me to an African bass instrument. The strings made from pig intestine and also the body being camel skin. So while plucking at the three strings you can also play a rhythm on the drum. It was really fun and interesting to play, although my African rhythms need a lot of work. Never less I had a play and got a tune going while the shopkeeper played percussion. Then he played some stuff that put me to shame and made me want to learn this instrument! While we wondered around other great shops in this relaxed city, I kept wondering into other music stores and playing on the Oud and the African bass. In one store I met a lovely guy called Yousseff who showed me some more tunes on the African bass, which we played together. He also made the bass guitars himself. I haven’t got the money to buy any instruments at present, but next time I come to Morocco I will defiantly get some.

After walking around more artisan shops, we ended up buying two lovely hand made poufs. We decided they would be great to sit on outside, while on our new Moroccan mat. The chairs we had were starting to fall to bits! We did get the cheap ones mind. Later that evening we went out for a pizza that turned out tasting so wonderful, it left you wanting more.

Essaouira really seems a lovely city to defiantly come again, although, with any city it seemed to have a darker side.

Sunday 28th March

Headed up to Safi along the coastal road, with the aim of seeing the Moroccan pottery works. Most of the lovely pottery that you see in Morocco is made in Safi. Lorna wanted to buy some, but hadn’t as yet and we thought we would get some from the city that made them.

We couldn’t find anywhere to park near the centre, but eventually found a campsite just outside the city away from the coast. Parked up under the trees, as it was nice to get some shade, from the sun. Decided though we were too tired to do any shopping for pottery, so stayed relaxing in the campsite the rest of the day, doing little jobs. We would be heading straight off to Marrakesh tomorrow, so I think we would probably need all our energy for that city. Plus we could always buy pottery there. I made a call home to say hello, though it was a very short call, it was great to hear everyone.

Wednesday 17th March

Up early and said or goodbye’s to the Jones and headed off to Tafraoute. This would be a trip of 108km back to Tiznit and then 107km of mountain roads. It was a long drive through twisting uphill roads, though with great views. As we passed through the villages before Tafraoute, the scenery was amazing, red mountains and a feeling as though it was a film set. We arrived in Tafraoute and parked up outside a campsite surrounded by mountains with the sun out.

Thursday 18th March

Woke up to sun and palm trees and the tops of red granite mountains, it was lovely.

Decided to get the bikes off and to go find some stone paintings and carvings in the area. The ride was hot and uphill, but surrounded by red boulder formations and baron land.

After a while we gave up finding the carvings and headed back into town for some shopping.

First though, the biking had made us hungry to try our first Moroccan tagine. After a few times biking around trying to decide on the venue, we settled for a hotel with a Bedouin style tent set up outside. We sat and ate in the tent, it was lovely and the tagine very nice. We would now defiantly have too buy a tagine cooking set.

Now to the shopping, Tafraoute is home to many small stalls of Moroccan style shoemakers. We had a look around many stalls and shops and got taken to see some rugs. We ended up though buying a lantern made from recycled metal, from a stall making amongst other things buckets.

Friday 19th March

In the morning headed back into town, to buy some shoe’s and tagine pots, we didn’t get round to buying yesterday! After, we drove off towards some near by gorges and an Oasis.

After some very steep and pretty much single track mountain roads we ended up driving into a huge red mountain gorge, with palm trees running along in the narrow valley.

We found some parking right in the Gorge, just off the track surrounded by Palm trees and the small river. We paid the guardian 20Dh and this would now be our new home for the night, perfect. Off with the bikes again and further we headed into the Gorges-d’ait-Monsour, as the track wasn’t good enough to drive down.

The bike ride was great, lazily pedalling down a track covered in palm trees and surround by very steep and high red cliffs. Everywhere we turned to look was a stunning view and there were some strange noises around, we think it was the frogs. We ended up sat overlooking a small open valley full of Palm trees, It was a lovely Oasis.

Back at the motorhome, the couple of cars that were there left and we were now alone.

This would be our first night wild camping in Morocco, as the guardian too had gone. We could see no houses, although there were a couple in either direction. Very peaceful spot although a lil spooky at night with the noises!

I am really enjoying the living outdoors life, relaxing in the evening outside with great weather and great scenery. At night in high winds or out the way places, you can feel vulnerable. Although when we wild camped in the UK we also felt that. It’s part of the course I suppose, but worth it for the places you see. The scenery up here in these mountains and down in the gorges was just something special.

Saturday 20th March

Headed up and out of the Gorges, up and down mountain roads back into Tafraoute. From there we kept on along the mountain roads and back to Agadir. The scenery again was amazing, beautiful mountains and flowers in spring.

Back in Agadir and back to the supermarket to stock up, before getting to the campsite we had stayed a few times before, just before dusk.

Friday 12th March

Somewhat disappointed with Aglou Plage, we headed further down the coast to the town of Mirleft. It was a nice drive, with deep blue sea on one side and green hills on the other. Arriving in Mirleft we drove around trying to find the campsite, before finding it tucked away down some rough town roads towards the sea. The main part of the small town was set by the road, back away from the sea. Then towards the sea homes were built, well streets but the roads hadn’t really been started. The campsite was a lovely small walled parking area, like someone’s back garden.

It was still early, so off we headed for a walk down to the beach on one of the bays. We decided to spend the rest of the day on the beach in the sun, until a rain shower put an end to that.

Later we took a walk over into the small town and had a wonder around the main couple of streets. It was a lovely friendly place, with lots of small artisan shops selling local craft. We then stopped for a mint tea at the hotel Atlas, a charming and cosy place. We found a spot on the balcony and watched the comings and goings of the street below. After the tea we realised they sold wine, so in a speakeasy style we purchased two glasses. There we met and got chatting to a nice British couple, who were staying at the hotel. As it got dark and chillier we headed downstairs, although we were not allowed to drink the wine downstairs. Instead of finally trying a Tagine, we opted for a very nice pizza.

We got back to the campsite in the dark and arrived to find the gate shut, latched and no one there! After a few attempts, in the end we managed to get the gate open and back to the motorhome.

Saturday 13th March

Headed further down the coast to just outside Sidi Ifni, a bay called Legzira. This bay is famous for it’s red rock arches into the sea. So after a drive down a steep track, we arrived just above the couple of small hotels and cafes on the bay. We paid the guardian 20Dh to be able to sleep there the night and parked up over looking the bay.

We had a stroll over to the stunning red stone arches, but we couldn’t really go under them as the tide was still in.

So headed back for some light lunch overlooking the beach at the small hotel. After a large group of para-gliders turned up, we decided to take another walk down to the arches.

They were pretty spectacular, against the Atlantic ocean. Just like most Moroccan beaches though, there was plastic and litter all over the beach, a sad state of affairs. Plastic, it has moved us so far forward and yet is destroying so much.

Sunday 14th March

Arrived at the coastal town of Sidi Ifni, which today was when they held their local souq. Sidi Ifni was until 1969 in Spanish hands, it is a port town with 1930’s art décor buildings. Today it is slightly dishevelled looking, but still has some elegance about it.

We parked up at a campsite near the beach and walked to the souq. It was slightly smaller than the one in Tiznit, but was dry under foot and more open. We spent a long time wandering, looking, buying veg and being told to come look at the rugs or jewellery. I met one friendly ‘blue man’ stall owner and he showed me his photos of where he lived in the Sahara with his father’s camels. We had a good chat and I bought a small necklace from him.

Later I had a walk back into town to get some meat for my tea, a treat, as I am pretty much a virtual veggie at present! Only through ease of not cooking two meals and the fact it’s cheaper eating veg. Anyway, after I purchased some lamb off the bone, although it wasn’t what I intended on buying! I was looking forward to getting back and cooking it. On the way back I was sitting overlooking the bay and all the surfers, when I got chatting to a local musician called Badir. We each had a play on his guitar and a chat before I went and saw where his little café was. He said he knew some other musicians and they often played later at night in the café. I said I would try to get back later for some music and headed back to the motorhome.

After lovely meat dish and some wine, I never managed to venture back up the hill into town.

Monday 15th March

After some motorhome chores, headed out down the coastal path for a walk.

The path ended pretty much just on the beach, so we took a walk down that instead. On the way we got chatting to Aziz, who lived in Sidi Ifni. He was a real interesting guy, talking about Morocco. He offered us to sit with him and his friend on the beach, join them for a tea. After a short walk down the beach we headed back and joined Aziz and now a couple more of his friends, sitting relaxing and chatting on the beach. It was very friendly and welcoming of them and we shared mint tea, discussing the realities of living in Morocco. The big divide between rich and poor, the government and police still being corrupt and the money never making it back down to the people. Like many a struggling nation their hands are tied by the politics and corruption of the country. We have the simple freedom to be able to travel to other countries, we have our rights in law to be able to challenge a verdict. All though we have these things in sorts, imagine against a corrupt controlling authority. Money can pay your way out, having no money means no option, a very unjust way.

After the sun started getting lower and the heat dropped a little, we said our thank you’s and goodbye’s and headed back to the motorhome. I took another wonder into town to see the musician guy from yesterday. I ended up in his café for some time playing songs with him and his friend. Before bumping into some of the lads from the beach on my way back to the motorhome.

Tuesday 16th March

We decided on heading off today and on with the journey as we still had a lot more we wanted to see of Morocco. Went back inland to a campsite that had some hot thermal baths, we had been told about. In the evenings the baths were open to mixed Europeans, as in the day the men and women have separate baths. We parked up at the springs and we met again the lovely Jones family, who were from New Zealand originally. The have travelled far and wide but at present have a big wheeled 4x4 motorhome, come small truck, to see them around Morocco.

At night we headed into the thermal bath, not really knowing what to expect. Both of us never having been to one. Well it was like taking a bath in a swimming pool, in your swimming stuff with other people! Was very nice although strange, but warm and relaxing.

Tuesday 9th March

Finally headed out from Agadir and south towards Sidi Ifni. We aimed for a campsite on the edge of a natural Park, in a village along the coast called Sidi Ouassai. We turned off the main road, following a sign towards the campsite and passed a herd of camels. It is bizarre and amazing to pass close by to camels, but I’m sure we will see a lot more the further south we go.

We passed through a few small towns and down small roads, until we were driving over rolling hills with the sea in the distance. We came to a campsite sign pointing down a sandy dirt track, with the distance scrubbed off. We turned off following the sign, as most campsites seem to be down tracks in Morocco. The track though just kept going on and on and on. We would get to one brow of a hill, to find the track would head further to another brow. All around us was grassy hills and no houses, just the sea still in the distance. We started to think someone was having us on, as the track just continued. It was a single track and when we did meet something, they normally had to drive off the track completely to get past.

Finally at one of the brows we came upon the sight of a village and drove into the campsite. This was well situated overlooking the beach, but although the sun was out so was the wind in a strong sand-whipping mood. So after a walk around, spent the rest of the day inside out the wind and with the view.

Wednesday 10th March

Decided after a rocky night and more of a breeze today, to head away from the wind and back down the long track. We headed for the town of Tiznit, as we wanted a look around the town and go to their weekly Souq. This was happening tomorrow, so we found a campsite to stay at. Also the indicator unit we had fitted had now blown, but there was a camping car repair garage here. The campsite was right against the old town walls, it was small though and crammed full of mainly French motorhomes. Still we found a sort of spot around a corner and went to explore the town.

The town was full of specialist Berber jewellery stalls and small shops. We were greeted on the street a few times, then asked if we would like to come and see their shop. In Morocco it is sometimes hard to judge people when they come up to you, of what they want or wanting to sell. Also there are many genuine people who are just being very friendly and welcoming. We had also noticed the further south we go, the friendlier and happier people seem to be.

We headed back to the campsite, on the way passing a lot of scramblers and a race podium set up outside one of the hotels. It seemed to be a Moroccan rally of Polish bike riders and we would keep seeing them.

Thursday 11th March

Walked just out of town to the weekly souq, this was our first proper look around one. We had driven past a few, but never stopped to go around. Each town has a weekly outdoor Souq (market) full of tents and stalls selling all range of items, most of them mainly fruit and veg.

We stepped into the maze of canvas-covered stalls and piles of different coloured vegetables stacked up on the ground. It was narrow, busy and intense but great to walk around taking the sight in. We even remembered to actually get some fruit and veg, rather than just observe it.

Off then to the repair shop and me trying to explain the problem, Adil the young man running the shop didn’t really speak much English. On his suggestion, he jumped aboard and off we headed to an electrical garage in the town. After a very short while the mechanic had sorted the problem. I also showed Adil another problem, one of the rubber seals over the drive shaft was cracked and leaking grease. By now we were getting to know Adil well and he took us round to a garage and got it fixed and replaced for 250Dh.

As the work was going on, Adil took me on the back of a scooter around some light shops. We needed some bulbs for one of the interior lights, the trip though wasn’t successful.

Back at the garage Adil kindly asked us to come over to his families house for tagine and couscous, with them. We would of liked to but I’m afraid we declined, as we wanted to drive to the coast before it started getting dark and to our next campsite in Aglou Plage. The motorhome was now fixed and we paid the mechanic and said we would take Adil back to his shop. Adil told us his services were free as it was a pleasure meeting us. On the way back he talked about going out dancing with his friends and us. We took his number and said we would contact him when we came back through Tiznit. Then headed out to Aglou plage, passing the scramblers on route. The campsite resembled more of a car park, but it was overlooking the sea. It looked like they were still finishing off some more buildings. Although in Morocco the look tends to be unfinished

Thursday 4th March

After waiting most of the day for the ADAC women to contact us, we rang her. She told us she came out to the campsite yesterday to collect the paperwork she needed and couldn’t find us and we weren’t down in the book. We explained we were here all day and it must have been different campsite. We were now 90km away from her office and she didn’t ring yesterday to say she was coming out. I think she just went to the campsites along the coast near Agadir. Couldn’t find us despite our email, she had replied to, stating where we were. Anyway, we wanted to get the windscreen sorted and telephone contact with her was hard at the best of times. We decided on heading back down the coast to nearer Agadir. This we hoped would save more confusion, to be able to meet her face-to-face to find out exactly what was happening. She had mentioned the glass would be in Agadir tomorrow. So if we were already there we may even get it sorted by the end of the day or Saturday at least.

Although the location is great to stay here longer, the windscreen needs to get fixed and our waiting around finished.

Friday 5th March

A little sad we left the campsite and headed back down the coastal road to Agadir. We ended up driving into Agadir and to the campsite, near The ADAC office, for her to come and meet us. Face to face she ended up a lot easier to communicate with and us able to get our point of view over. We both decided that we wanted to end the situation as soon as possible. We found out though, that the windscreen wasn’t due till six or seven pm today. The problem then being, that customs would be closed by then and not be opened back up till Monday morning! We would have to wait a while longer and stay near Agadir. Still although not yet resolved, the situation was a lot clearer to us and the end we hoped was near.

After a supermarket stop, we headed off to find somewhere cheap to camp. We had gone about 10km north, when suddenly I wasn’t able to change down into a gear. In fact, now I couldn’t put the gear stick into any position and was stuck in 5th! How many more things can go wrong? How much was this problem going to cost?, What had actually gone wrong! And what the heck are we going to do? We didn’t know whether to laugh or cry!

Luckily, we were coming up to a large campsite and we had read that they had a mechanic opposite. We pulled up outside and I went to reception, with fingers crossed. Ten minutes later a mechanic from across the road was looking at it and around an hour or so later it was fixed. We were now 500 Dirham (£41) less, but the sheared off part had been replaced and we were now back on the road. Morocco seems not a bad place for things to go wrong, the work is a lot cheaper than Europe.

With the light fading, we ended up at the original campsite we had stayed in when we first left Agadir.

Saturday 6th March

Rained heavy last night and today was a mix of cloud, sun and occasional light rain. So it seemed a good day for some motorhome and general maintenance.

We had picked up an internet dongle for Morocco, a month for only 200 Dirham. Which was a great deal as the internet time was unlimited, although it would probably only work well near larger towns or cities. Still, it is a better deal than any of the European countries we had tried so far.

Sunday 7th March[/i]

Had a long walk down the coast to Tagazoute, a small fishing port that is full of surfers. There we sipped a soft drink and whiled away the afternoon at a café overlooking the sea. After a wonder around the stalls, we headed back up the road. The way back ended being longer, as we tried to cut over the hills up tracks.

Monday 8th March[i]

Up early and headed off to the ADAC office to get our windscreen finally sorted. Arrived just after 9am, to be told someone had already gone to customs to collect it. We sat waiting in Hymer opposite for about three hours, before I went back and checked with the rep how long it would take? She informed me he was still waiting at customs, but customs were now closed for lunch. Moroccans don’t tend to do the whole in a rush thing. We decided to head off for a while and pick up some bits from the supermarket. On the way we collected, from the town campsite, our now refilled Spanish gas bottle. We had given it over to a guy who was offering a refill service, telling us they would drop it there.

Back at the ADAC office, we were told the windscreen was now at the garage waiting for us, typical! After initial worries, as the glass looked too small, they got to work. A while later after some adjusting they had the windscreen in place. The only problem was, from the crash the one side of the frame was not the same shape. The glass was fitted in fine, apart from the seal in the one corner. It was firmly assured to be in place and all they could do due to the frame, saying we would have to get that fixed in Europe. We then paid up 1600Dh (£125) for the fitting and off we went. Well as far as round the corner and to another motorhome repair garage. While getting the windscreen fitted we had bumped into an English couple, Stan and Barbara, who I had met back at the campsite. They were having some work done to their motorhome next door. We now needed to get the indicators fixed, so we tried the garage her. We were told it was the flasher unit, but they didn’t know if they could get another. They tried a couple but to no avail and then went off to collect another. The day was now getting on and we also had to go and collect our Vehicle import documents from the ADAC office, as they had forgotten to bring them to the garage. As we couldn’t really drive the motorhome, Stan offered to give me a lift on his motorbike. I have never been a huge fan of motorbikes, being more of a scooter man as it’s a lot slower. It was a very kind offer though and I gingerly got on, as we needed the documents before the office closed. Off we went, with me gripping hold of the seat strap for dear life. Moroccan town roads are chaotic at the best of times and on the back of a motorbike, I felt open to the dangers. We got there safely as Stan was a good rider, I collected the documents and off we headed back. On the way back I relaxed and enjoyed the ride, with Stan telling me to go with the flow.

A bike seems a good option of getting around quickly and being able to leave the motorhome parked up. Although cycles keep us fit, they can only go as far as your legs want to go! We had seen a lot of pedal start bikes around Morocco and I was beginning to think, if we could get a cheap one they would be handy? Or is that just lazy?

Anyway back at the repair shop, they couldn’t find the same flasher unit. They did though manage to fit one that got the lights flashing, but didn’t display on the dashboard. Anyway we now had indicators, so off we went. The light would soon be going and we wouldn’t make it any further south, so back to the campsite. Driving back was very strange, I had got used to driving with the glass cracked all over the shop. Now we were seeing through a clear glass screen, it seemed like there wasn’t a windscreen. It was great to see clearly again.