Well first off a Happy New Year to all,
Been a month since I last took to the keyboard, and quite a lot has happened since the last post, we also have a few more miles notched up on the clock.
I've been meaning to update the blog for a while, but it's been so hot lately that it's been put on the back burner. "Only mad dogs and Englishmen do their blog in the midday sun"
We spent Xmas at Mikki's Place, and on Xmas day we had planned a fantastic lunch al fresco with our friends Dave & Sue, Martin & Michelle and Heather & Jane, unfortunately for Martin he was not able to dine with us due to gastroenteritis, and the poor chap spent Xmas day sat on the crapper, the meal was delicious turkey, lamb and pork, with all the trimmings, the girls had worked hard with their small stoves, we had a great day the weather was warm and later we lit our brazier and sat till late drinking and nibbling on snacks and more drinking.
Xmas day al fresco dinning
Nibbles al fresco over xmas
Some of the British contingent in the bar
Our water pump packed in over Xmas so luckily there was a place on the Algarve called Camperserv where we sourced a new one along with a spare toilet cassette, "very handy when you are off grid for more than three days"
We did a beer run at Lidl's, and the great thing about Lidl's is their designated campervan parking.
New Years eve we spent with Dave and Sue, we had a nice BBQ earlier on then sat around the brazier till roughly 10, then it was over to the bar and a few more drinks and see in the New Year, later returning to the fire for late drinks and we were joined by Mark who happened to have a few tins of Speckled Hen, and enjoyable they were too, a great evening with some wonderful people who we will be keeping in touch with.
I think that's the beauty of this nomadic existence we have chosen! is the amount of fellow travellers of all ages and walks of life you meet, all going their different ways, and you do tend to bump into each other from place to place further up the road.
3rd Jan
We left Mikki's today, as everyone else seemed to be pulling out, plans have been made for a reunion next year, so we said our goodbyes to our friends and drove down the coast to Manta Rota picking up more wine at Aldi's along the way to take into Morocco. The Aire at Manta Rota 37.165081 -7.520870 is huge and one of the biggest we've come across, with room for up to 440 vans at €4.50 with normal facilities.
The Aire is directly opposite the long beach that stretches all the way to Vila Real and the Guardiana river the border with Spain. A quick tour of the town we spotted a few vans wilding in the adjacent car park, even though there was no campervan signs posted, I think the bigger the rig some people have the tighter they are, just an observation!
Turkew with mushrooms anyone.
440 designated spaces for vans
4th Jan
The following day we left for Sanlucar de Barrameda stopping at Vila Real for more wine, then along to Seville and down to the Aire we stopped at last January, its a free Aire 36.78351 -6359380 with your normal services.
A British van pulled in a few hours later, it was an elderly couple Jack and Barbara from Devon who we were parked next to at Sidi Wassey in Morocco in February 2015, they are again on their way to Morocco, after a brief chat I wished them safe travels, who knows our paths may yet cross again in the following few months.
Sanlucar de Barremeda Aire
The beach at Sanlucar
The weather has not been too clever lately, not half as bad as the weather in the UK, and the following day it was a sunny start then followed rain and high gusts that rocked the van to heck. We took a few walks with Max along the beach and into town then retired early.
6th Jan
We headed around the coast to Rota near Cadiz another free Aire with services 36.638329 -6.391390,
This place is also situated next to a beach and a great spot, with the town a few hundred metres up the road, a place we plan to return to on our way back for a few days, hopefully the weather will be better then in April?
A gem of a place and only a few other vans there
7th Jan
Today is like deja vu, we are heading to Los Barrios near Algeciras to get tickets from Carlos for the crossing into Morocco,
We did the same on the this day last year, creatures of habit. Tickets purchased it was then to Lidls to fill up with as much beer and wine we can physically fit in the van along with pork produce. There is a new parking area right opposite Carlos office for motorhomes and by late afternoon I counted over 60 vans mostly French, van stocked to the gunnels 430 tins of beer and 150 litres of wine, we settled in for the evening, an early start in the morning Morocco beckons, I fell asleep worrying and knowing the beer would not last, oh well you can get it over there in some supermarkets at a price.
The new campervan parking lot at Los Barrios
8th Jan
We arrive at Algeciras, got in the queue at 8.30, all loaded by 9.50 and depart on time at 10, the crossing was like a duck pond and the weather warmer today than it has been, a visit to the customs officer on board for our entry stamp, and a coffee we then sat outside on the upper deck watching Morocco getting closer.
Goodbye Europe for 3 months
Welcome to Morocco
We stopped at Moulay last year on a campsite near the lagoon, Sam got eaten by the mossies so this year we stopped at Camping Flamant Loisirs 34.876530 -6.280300, cost 90MAD inc EHU, the facilities were good and the wifi by reception, we topped our Maroc sim card from last year with a scratch top up we had over from our last visit and it worked no problems, and settled in for curry and watch the new Kray film.
The campsite at Moulay
The next day was really sunny so we stayed put and got some washing done, it dried in no time hanging between a few trees.
10th Jan
Headed back along the A1 toll road through Rabat and skirting Casablanca down to El Jadida, the total cost was £18 well worth it in my eyes and we now could take it easy along the coast roads from here on in.
We arrived at Oualidia in the afternoon 32.732800 -9.0428830, a guardian parking site 25dir a day that was full of vans, I counted 51 vans with one other British van there, this is a very nice town a favourite of ours,
The town of Oualidia
The nearby lagoon
Video of Oualidia
A familiar face appeared at the van it was the Ali the Tagine man, I ordered a chicken tagine for two 100dir for 7pm, and once again it was delicious.
Tagine Express
Another perfect end to the day
We left Oualidia and drove to Essaouira to stop at the Carrefour supermarket for bits and hit the bank for more dirhams, then about 20km further south to another place we know at Sidi Kaouki 31.350149 -9.794790, 85dir inc leccy. We stopped here last year for a few days and would do the same this time.
Last year we noticed what appears to be an old disused campsite a few hundred yards along the road, there was only a few vans on it at that time, this year there were dozens of vans parked up and we checked it out it's basically guardian parking now, 30dir with water and toilet emptying, directly opposite the beach, rustic but ideal for those on a budget.
The local mode of transport
The campsite is directly opposite the beach and you get some fantastic sunsets here
15th Jan
Not sure how they got the two cows and the goat up there?
A small village we stopped at briefly on the way down
Although it looks cramped the camp spots are spacious
Max loves the two smaller coves
We both went swimming, since I had been challenged from my family the water was warmer than I can ever remember in the highs of summer in the UK. The fisherman come around daily selling their freshly caught fish, a specialty around this area is Monkfish at 60-70dir a kilo, they also sell a lot of Dorado and Gurnard, for us it's the Monkfish and we bought a few kilos and froze most of it.
Another familiar face was Rachid Nabil the chap who painted our mural on the van last year, business must be good, there are many vans sporting his work, he also has stepped up this year with his new business cards.
18th Jan
Well after three hot days at Taghazoute we drove to Banana Beach as it's known to the tourists a town called Tamrhakht, very busy with plenty of butchers, we stopped to pick up a chicken and Sam came back with the freshest, it was standing minding it's own business 5 minutes ago, and it was now plucked beheaded and warm in a bag, Sam said she couldn't look as he picked it up and turned to look into another shop window, I told her all thoughts of it will disappear once it's snuggled up in the roasting tray basting away.
We stopped further up the road in a valley at a fairly new site Camping Aourir just outside the small town of Aourir 30.494749 -9.623740, 85dir ex EHU, we decided not to have hook up as we did at Terre d'Ocean, the sun is charging our leisure batteries up fine. the campsite has very good facilities to European standards, and the site is only 20km further up to Paradise Valley, a place I visited many years ago.
The drive up to Paradise Valley is stunning with the Atlas mountains in the distance
A small café set in palm trees en-route
Some pics of the walk up paradise valley
21st Jan
After three days of lounging around at Aourir we headed to the Carrefour supermarket, the only place that sells alcohol in Agadir, although we brought in quite a few beers I wanted to get a few more slabs, as there are not too many places after this for a while where we will be able to pick more up, and we will be heading to Tafroute later on for a good few weeks and don't want to be caught short, 70p a can as opposed to 16p in Spain, no wonder I couldn't sleep well the night before crossing!! we then headed to the Marjane shopping mall where we bumped into a few people off the MHF forum, after doing the shop it was onto Sidi Wassey 30.056250 -9.686900, another place from last year with a fantastic beach, 100dir inc EHU another with good facilities and nearby shops.
The temperature has been steadily rising as we venture further South and for the last few days it has been extremely hot, but the beach is 50m away so a short walk to cool off,
The sunsets here are awesome
It's going to be another hot one tomorrow
We will most probably stay here one more day then we will head down to Mirleft and Sidi Ifni for a week or so and by that time it will be February and we will head inland to Tafroute.
Driving in Morocco
Note: Since I mentioned Swansea in our last blog our fortunes have changed for the better, new manager and winning our last two games has eased the pressure slightly, still a long way to go but onwards and upwards
Great blog. Thanks for all the info. and for including lat. long. - makes it so much easier to find where you are. Morroco is deffo on cards for us next year. Loving the look of the weather down there. 19 deg. and overcast in the Algarve just isn't doing it for us!
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments, always appreciated.
ReplyDeleteWe love the Algarve and Portugal; but it's not quite hot enough at this time of the year. Safe travels