North to Tangiers

 27th March


Took a 2km stroll to the lake today, It was quite nice as we were the only ones there. Along the way Max attracted the attention of the local stray dogs, he doesn’t  help himself either with his attitude, I had to fend them off as usual with stick in hand, and some good guttural Welsh.

These benches were quite comfy, after traipsing in the midday sun.

The weather was hot, it’s certainly much better than it was a few days ago! We made the most of it sunning in the afternoon. The restaurant on site has good reviews on Camping Car Info and Camper Contact, also on Trip Advisor. We ordered a meal for later delivered to our van, mixed salad and an omelette for starters, chicken & chips and steak & chips both with salad, the steak was actually two 8oz steaks, and a mixed fruit in jelly and a crème caramel, the whole meal we shared between us! £6 a head not bad, and one of the best meals we have had in Morocco.



28th March


We contemplated stopping another day, the meal was that good last night and there was a lot more on their menu, I would have liked to try.


But the biggest worry at the moment, is the shortage of my beer stock! I have enough for possibly 5 days, and we have 9 days left in Morocco before our visa runs out. So we set the satnav for Chefchaouen and left before midday.

Approaching Chefchaouen

 

It is known as the Blue city.

 

The drive to Chefchaouen was great, you can see the snow capped mountains, and the terraced lush green fields all around, it’s so different to our stay down south. We are stopping at the only campsite, the reviews in CCI or CC don’t exactly inspire us, but we have stayed at enough Moroccan campsites, and will judge when we get there.
Once you have navigated the tight streets in the centre, you steadily climb, having to use both sides of the narrow roads to manoeuvre the tight switchbacks “these roads were not made for motorhomes”.  Arriving at Camping Azilan 35°10'30.6"N 5°15'58.4"W  we are pleasantly surprised, it is set high in a mountain overlooking the town,  you have great views of the mountains all around and the town below. It’s 110dir inc leccy and wifi a tad pricey, but they have the monopoly being the only site.
The site suits us, there are a few shops close by, it’s close to the centre, albeit a tough walk back uphill on your return, but a taxi is only 10dir from the centre if you’re not fit enough. The facilities are as expected, Moroccan standard, but very clean as we have found on the majority of sites we have stayed at. There is also a restaurant, we will check it out tomorrow.
We have been going over the spread sheets, it makes for interesting reading, mileage, fuel, camping fees, food costs, and wifi data etc. I will try to summarise  and post when we leave Morocco, for anyone thinking of visiting this great country.


29th March


We wake up to another hot morning, this is the weather we have grown accustomed to in Morocco. The one thing we have found different here is the language, most speak Spanish hence the amount of Spanish vans on site, for once the French are in the minority, I counted 11 Spanish, 3 Dutch, 2 German, 2 French, and one from Switzerland and Austria, and the obligatory Brit  van “ourselves”.
Chefchaouen is in the Rif mountains, apart from it’s native handicrafts, the Chefchaouen region is known for being the main producer of cannabis/hashish in Morocco. The valley's rocky soil is poor and the only crop that seems to thrive is marijuana, which up until 1974 was legal to grow under royal mandate in certain regions of the Rif. Although now illegal there are always guides hanging around, whispering as you pass hashish. The town is built onto the side of a mountain, the buildings are interwoven like a patchwork quilt,

Typical Moroccan standard

 

As hot as it’s been, here is still snow on the mountain.

 

Our friend Gordon pulled in that afternoon, our paths are crossing more frequently, it’s probably a lot to do with the fact there are only about 3 more sites between here and Tangier, and a few of them are just guardian parking with no facilities. He was stuck in Midelt for 3 days after we left until the roads were fully open again. He has been here before, he can be our guide.



30th March



We took a walk up the mountain road that is adjacent to the site. It’s a National Park, you really need a 4x4 to see it best. Along the way we passed a few houses and came across this communal wood oven, used to bake tagines, bread and the odd sheep or goat.





We stopped further up the hill by a painted rock with I love Morocco daubed on it. We sat for a breather, a few km away you could see the dam in the valley, we had had enough it was far to hot to be walking in the midday sun.
Myself and Gordon took a taxi into town later, but not without stopping at the nearby hotel Atlas for a drink?  Yes after nearly 3 months in Morocco we have found a bar!!  to sit on the veranda over looking the town below with a frostie in hand, it was heaven sent.

The hotel was modern even if their telephone exchange wasn’t

 

Painting of the town hanging in the Hotel

It was market day and the souk was heaving, you can literally buy anything, so many stalls selling bread, veg, pots n pans, clothes, and spices, you name it they sell it. We walked past a shop selling eggs and fresh chicken, you knew the chicken would be fresh as it was sitting at the back on a shelf with numerous others, and a minute later it’s head was put into a machine which garrotted it off, then the whole headless body after bleeding was put into the same machine and it came out plucked and warm. 
We ordered a meal from the restaurant later 3 tagines cost 110dir, and one of the nicest we’ve had, plenty of juice for the hubcap to mop up. We had a good drink also as it was Gordon’s last night in Morocco.



31st March



Gordon left this morning to catch the afternoon ferry, we also heard our friends Ken, Lynda and Dave had also left on the early ferry, and are now parked at La Linea near Gib, I’m a little envious as I suspect they will be in Gib later drinking a pint of real ale, but we have the hotel, and in a weeks time we will also be propping up a bar in Gibraltar doing likewise. When we first hit the road in November we hardly met any other British travellers, but since we have been in Morocco we have met many, everyone we have talked to we have liked, we have met some good friends, who we will keep in touch with and hopefully meet along the road.
The weather now is becoming unbearably hot, so much so we are unable to sit outside for any length of time, my digital clock with temp gauge zero’s when it hits 50c, it has done this the last few days. Max has been sick, the heat is too much for him, we make sure he is taking plenty of water to rehydrate him.
We go to our new found oasis later and sit on the veranda supping ice cold flag beer, at 23dir a bottle we push the boat out, It’s been a long time coming.

I didn’t taste the first, or even the last

The cacophony of the call to prayer from the five Mosques below is unbelievable, thankfully it only lasts a few minutes. Bring back Abba all’s forgiven!

 

 

1st April



Took a walk into town early this morning, before it got to busy. We walked through the cemetery downhill, then into the interwoven streets that make up the town. I tried to take a bearing as we entered but within minutes we are lost in the maze of tiny alleys all bordering on each other, the only thing I knew that if we continued downhill we would find the centre at sometime and the main road. For all intents and purpose you could be walking through a Greek fishing village with it’s blue and white buildings, but it has a very Andalusia feel about the architecture, a legacy left by the Spanish. There are several hostels and small hotels deep in the labyrinth of alleys, and it gets me thinking of some lost tourist trying to find his way back to base after smoking the local Moroccan Woodbine.  “Good luck is all I can say”    Link to Video

These small shops would be open later, and the alleys would be full of people, making them a lot narrower.

At a junction, your guess is as good as mine.

 

Once we had walked for sometime downhill through the maze, we found the main shopping area on the outskirts of the town where I was at a few days ago, I gave Sam and Max a tour of the souk area, the shops were now opening up, people here are not pushy or in your face, unlike some of the other larger cities in Morocco namely Marrakesh, we like Chefchaouen it is a nice place to chill, and a perfect place to end our tour of Morocco. We then had to walk back up the hill, through the graveyard up the winding steps, I didn’t bother to count them, we stopped a few times to catch our breath, and Max was flagging lying down at any opportunity, I renamed it cardiac hill! 

We are planning to go to Martil north of Tetouan, for the last few days, however Chefchaouen is telling us to stay.

You may recall me saying last week we were Tagine’d out? Well we are eating it again tonight courtesy of the site restaurant, it was so good last time, and after all it is the national dish

 

2nd April



A few French vans pulled in, now it’s a well known fact that the French like to get up close? but one van literally had his tyres on our outside carpet and nearly knocked Sam over, oblivious to the fact as she sat out reading her book. There was about 40 metres between our van and the next one along, so I pointed out to him the huge expanse of ground, he just shrugged his shoulders and moved a few metres away, blocking our sun spot!

Lieutenant Dan, you’re blocking my sun mate

 

It will be another lazy day for us, order a meal from the restaurant on site for this evening, and go to the Oasis bar this afternoon for refreshments, it’s tough being on the road.

The pool looked so inviting at the Oasis

The unused Mosque on the top of the hill

We were at the Oasis later, the swimming pool looked so inviting, I spotted a Mosque on the top of a hill, I found out later it was built by the Spanish just before the Rif war (1921-26) it now lays in ruin, the locals refused to use it?  Well I’m not surprised, Its about a km up the mountain. We have made up our mind to stay put here till we leave, it wasn’t a hard decision.



3rd April



A walk into the medina was the order of the day, I needed some meat for a curry, Camel, Goat, Chicken however I settled for Beef. Walking Max through the maze was quite eventful, every cat in the town was out sunning, needless to say he went berserk and drew attention, people were again giving him a wide berth thinking he had rabies or the like. We stopped for a coffee and a convoy of about 20 Spanish motorbikes passed through the centre, once again he went off his head barking at the bikes another of his many dislikes along with camels, donkeys and goats, I think he will be glad to leave Morocco.

The white building at the top is the Hotel Atlas, better known as the Oasis

Back to the van to upload the blog after an eventful day shopping with Max. This morning it was hazy with some cloud in the sky, now there is only blue sky and hot sun.
Next week we will be back in Europe, our North African adventure over, part of me is looking forward to it, on the other hand Morocco has been the highlight of this journey to date, when I first mentioned to Sam about Morocco she was not too keen, she is now a convert and like myself in awe of this great country, we will definitely return.  “Inshallah”