Morocco

Morning spent waiting for the lads to get back from Gib. Eventually arrive at 12:30. We'd shopped for lunch by then so it was straight off to the ferry, scheduled for 13:00 but did not leave until 13:30. Gib looked very good in the morning sun and the morning wait gave me time to get some washing done.

Arrived Ceuta at about 14:30, drove round looking for a supermarket to use up the pesetas but was siesta time so headed for Morocco.

Customs was interesting with plenty of helpers around to take you through. So many in fact that they told you what was required without having to pay. Filled out an entry form for each person and the vehicle. Drove out at about 16:00 headed for Meknes. Got past Tetouan then headed up into the Rif mountains, found a track and stopped for the night. Adul arrived just as we were setting camp, trying to sell hash we think.

Mike still has work to do on his vehicle so we spent the morning as he sorted out storage and put some hasps on. I took the opportunity to fit the front fan in place of the mirror. Left the campsite at 11:30 headed for Chefchaouen, a bank, some food and some fuel. Along the road were pestered by many blokes rushing into the middle of the road trying to sell hash. Arrived Chef at 12:30, just in time to miss the bank. Waited till 14:15 as the team failed to find anywhere which would change pesetas. Sat in Chef being inspected by the locals and watching them in their robes and pointed hoods.

Drove South to Ouazzane where we filled up and were persuaded by some locals to camp in their grounds and ... take them for dinner. Fairly obvious but we were not street wise enough to avoid it. Were shown round the medina and supplied with mint tea so we did get something in return.

Managed to get away with paying 100 dinar for the camping. The guy wanted 15/person (six of us) + 20/vehicle (two) + 15/tent (four). Some strong posturing and the intervention of a local got us away. Headed on towards Fez and stopped for breakfast in a mud pit.

Carried on to Meknes to get the makings for lunch. Lunched on a road building site (with a view of the mountains) then went out to Volubillis and Moulay Idris in the pouring rain. Shame we didn't have the time or the weather for a visit. Turned back to a campsite just off the main road. No one was particularly hungry so had a brew then played spoof and whist by candlelight till about 23:00. Ann Claude elected to sleep in the van as was finding the tent wet and cold. (Oh we played touch rugby as well.)

Some heavy rain overnight but had the best night's sleep so far. Felt secure in the campsite as there was only one other tent. Managed to get on the road by about 08:45 and made for Rabat and Casablanca. Feeling a bit rough today - last night's wine (or the chicken). Were clear of Rabat by 12:30.

Had lunch off the autoroute on a nearby beach watching the Atlantic breakers hit the beach.

Then headed for the airport at Casa to get info on flights for Kim. Were just turning onto the approach road when Mike blew his horn for a stop. His engine was running very rough and had even cut out. Couldn't diagnose it quickly, so went to get Kim sorted and came back. Three theories:

- Sticking/dropped valve;

- Faulty injector;

- Water in Fuel.

Also checked the oil which was low and might have contributed. As was five o'clock by this stage decided to tow. Was going well but choose the wrong direction at Casa for the campsite. Ended up doing an extra 15 km, picked up a ticket from a police spot check and arrived in the dark. Even when 10m from the campsite we couldn't find it - no signs. I was shattered. Also disappointed to find we are the only overlanders at the site apart from a couple of Swiss bikers.

Up at 07:00 to run Kim to the airport for the flight, back by 09:00. Went to work on Mike's van but as I feared when we started it, it ran fine. Can't analyse an intermittent problem, will have to wait for it to recur; and I'm fairly sure it will. Mike replaced his fuel pump, I did some running repairs. The rest of the group went into Casa for a recce. Found a seaman's mission which they thought might be worth a visit. Went back for a beer in the evening by which time it had turned into a brothel.

Hopefully tomorrow we will find out what the score is and make some longer term plans.

Largely a wasted day. Got up early thinking the group intended to hit the shipping problem. Washed all the travelling gear and dressed for town. Then found Mike wanted to do more work on his vehicle and everything got delayed till lunch got in the way. Eventually got into town at about 15:00. Again I thought Paul had located some shipping agents but had not. Found Comarine at 16:00 and got the above quote for Abidjan. The sting is the cost of an air fare on Royal Air Maroc - 5500Dinar to Abidjan, over £400.....

Went to town again in the evening for Mike to make some calls but no progress. Got back to find Paul and Alan rat arsed on the wine. Invited the Swiss guys over, ate the fish and talked as Alan & Paul went downhill in behaviour, language and soberiety. Ended with a tent destroying contest but no long term damage.

Auxiliary battery is flat from running the rear flood and fridge. Suspect will take a long run to get it charged again. Need to be careful.

Overall so far seem to have made ~ 14.5l/100 km or just under 20ml/gallon.

This was a day to try and crack the BIG problem. How to get to West Africa? Straightforward shipping and flying to meet the vehicles is too expensive. The land borders seem closed, so what next? Found another agency but their quote is higher than Comarine. The others have been approached separately about the opportunity to ship the vehicles with cargoes of oranges. Is this a scam? I suspect so but lets feel it out. Alan and Paul have found out about cheaper flights to Dakar but still no good solution to the problem.

Broke camp and headed into Casa to check out the scam. Rather poor really- no support story. The idea was we give them copies of our passport & green card + 500D and they would get us seaman status with cards.

Left Casa heading for Marrakech at about 11:30. Glad to get away. First part of the trip was over barren plains (are they just newly ploughed at this time of year?). Still confused by why you suddenly get stalls selling (this time melons) all of a sudden with no obvious production area nearby.

Got to 'kech at about 16:00 then spent another hour looking for a 2nd campsite - which didn't exist. Found a group who were launching a new Yamaha superbike.

Gave the Landie its first battle scar by reversing into a tree at the 'kech campsite. Careless. The roofrack took most of the shock.

Planned to be a quick visit to the souk then on to Agadir. But ... I stayed behind to check over the fluid levels and to rest. Some older French guys came over to look at the vehicles and Mike's tent and said "Mauritania - no problem, the border is open. All you need is a carnet and a visa". The rest came back with a similar story from a French chap in town. Then a Bukima truck arrived with the downside - they're shipping having spent time trying to get visas and being told the border is shut...

Took 1st malaria tablets - just in case.

A wasted day as it is a national holiday. Freddie from the Bukima truck has heard from London that one vehicle has got through and is looking into going through on the Eastern route. It may be possible but there seems to be no way to find out. Is it safe? Because of money constraints we need to go overland; but through uncharted minefields? We have further problems as, if we get to Mauritania, we do not have visas for Mali. Is the Senegal border open? My gut feeling is we should cut our losses and ship. Cost as indicated by Comarine is approx. £1424/vehicle or about £570/head, then we have the airfare on top. Contrawise if we go for it we see more of the Atlas mountains and some desert. The danger is we're allowed through into a mined area.

Another Landie with four blokes (the Kiwis) arrived later in the afternoon.

A late start. Then put the slick 50 into the gearbox and went for a run out to the mountains. Took my Landie and the other guys. Mike stayed behind to do more work on his. Followed the advice of the guy at the campsite and headed for a waterfall at Setti Fatma. Didn't get the right road out of 'kech but that meant we ran along the foot of an escarpment. Impressive. Wound our way up to Setti and then had 45 mins following a guide up to the falls. Quite impressive but not much water. Visited the local flour mill on the way back.

Went into town in the evening for a meal at stall number 27, took four photos on the Nikon.

It is decided that we will return to Rabat to find out what we can about this 'the border is open' story.

Another late start, Mike still pottering and only as we finally prepare for departure checking the oil to find it is low. The cavalry always looked after the horse first. Set off for Rabat at 11:30. Road very busy with some crazy overtaking. Had lunch of goat kebabs on the way. Arrived in Rabat at 17:30 and had dinner at a cafe in town for 11D/head. Waiting for tomorrow to find out what our options are.

A day for the embassies. Started off with a visit to the Canadian to get a letter of recommendation for Alan and Paul. Found the embassy after asking many people and even following a taxi. Back into town for the Mauritanian embassy while Mike and Ann Claude were getting letters from the British. Then found that Ann Claude required a letter and visa as well.... Further problem in that Mike's Landie wouldn't start so I was chauffeur. But what is the problem???

We are now into visa collection. The Mauritanian embassy will issue us with a visa, but we must sign a separate paper that states we won't enter via a land border. This paper isn't in our passports so...

Went embassy searching in the afternoon on a rumour that there was a Mali embassy in town. And we found it! Will return when we have our Mauritanian visas. This will provide us with an exit route from Mauritania

Get back to find Mike with his distributor pump in bits. The workshop manuals quite clearly state that this is a job for specialist engineers only. Eventually get it all back together and when we bled the system properly it started. But we still don't know the real problem.

Ate out for 8D on soup plus egg & chips then played cards with Rob and Simon from the V8 110. Rob and Simon had appeared in the Rabat campsite with a similar quest to ours, so they are going to follow us.

Up at 07:30 to get to the French embassy for AC. Mike's Landie wouldn't start again. Bit of a run around from the French sending us to a 3rd building where it took an age to get parked. Letter couldn't be issued because the consul was busy. Back to campsite after a trauma when my Landie wouldn't start. The fuel cut-off is not returning by itself - broken spring somewhere. Picked up the crew and headed for Mauritanian embassy where we got the visas! I owe Alan 50D because I really expected the run around.

Then headed on and left our passports at the Mali embassy. By this stage we were travelling with 5 in my van as Mike's had died (terminally) at the Mauritanian embassy. With that job done returned for AC's letter of introduction and then went looking for a Landrover garage. Found that and they sent a mechanic who got it running well enough to get it to a 2nd garage (with a 200D bump for Mike on the way). A faulty distributor pump was diagnosed [Probably caused by Mike dismantling it. Ed] and repaired so Mike was running again by 19:00.

Am still a little concerned about the route. The embassies are not encouraging (but then they wouldn't be) and Mauritania got us to sign that we wouldn't cross the Morocco border. Are we getting sucked into an epic or an adventure? I expect we will get sent back by the Moroccans and if so will decide whether I continue or abort back to the UK. If we don't ship until 9th December we will be very late and Mike has this attitude that it will be OK in Zaire in the rains. I disagree

A rather nothing day. Got our Mali visas so we are all visa'd up apart from AC who submitted to the Mauritanian today. Bought a stereo from Rob & Simon for £15. Now that Mike's Landie is working again it is so pleased that it is trying to start itself. Set off the alarm overnight and made occasional attempts during the day. Once diagnosed (after frightening some Germans parked in front, when the starter engaged and it lurched forward) was traced to a bare terminal. Ate out on chicken and rice but was absolutely shattered. Went to bed at 21:30

Feeling better after a good night's rest but stomach is not at its best. Tackled the embassies again and AC scored maximum points by getting Mauritania, Mali and CAR by 12:30. CAR gives us a longstop destination so that we can claim (correctly) that we are only passing through West Africa. Decided against Cote d'Ivoire as were getting confusing information on who required them. Went shopping in the afternoon then having met up with the Kiwis headed for their campsite. Idyllic, on the top of the cliffs overlooking the Atlantic with the rollers breaking on the shore.

Started a camp fire, The Poms (Adrian and Steve, who had also met us at the campsite) used a generous amount of petrol with expected consequences - singed pride. Tod from the Kiwi wagon regaled us with stories of his last weeks as a waiter at TGI Friday in Covent Garden.

Woke up to find the over friendly natives already in attendance. A shame it is a beautiful spot to enjoy being on one's own. Broke camp and said good bye to the Kiwis, making arrangements to meet them in Cote d'Ivoire. They are shipping from casa to Abidjan and making their own way by air. Made our way to Rabat and dropped (Adrian & Steve) at the embassy then went to change money. Picked the day when for some reason only one bank in town would change. Took an hour to get the money. Then off, heading, again, for Marrakech. Were within 60 km when Mike's Landie expired yet again in a cloud of smoke. Seemed the same as the original problem at Casa and this time we traced it to No 3 cylinder and replaced the injector. We traced it by undoing the fuel feed in turn until we found one that didn't sound right. Which seemed to cure the problem after we tightened up the fuel line to No 4. Made for the campsite at 'kech and set up camp by 8 o'clock.

And so it goes on. Left Marrakech at 07:00 intending to break the back of the journey to Layounne. Got 200 km down the road when Mike's Landie expired again in a cloud of smoke. Struggled on to a garage about 3 km further on where a mechanic diagnosed a sticking valve. Stripped down the whole engine before deciding it was the injector pump. This engine was a reconned unit, and the mechanics had everything off, radiator, cylinder head - if it could be removed it was. Then travelled 50 km to the nearest town to get that and the injectors fixed. Were taken to this immaculate engineering shop in the middle of a dusty run down part of town. Water in the fuel was the diagnosis this time. I'm inclined to agree. Drove back to allow them to reassemble the engine 1250D poorer. I checked the fuel filter for water and was clear. Mike changed his filter - it was filthy so I changed mine which looked a lot better both cleaner and a spiral wind with more element than Mike's air filter style. I fitted my stereo, in a rough kind of way, while we waited. The Medics (Adrian & Stve) caught up with us ust as we were getting ready to leave.

Slept in the van overnight after leaving the garage at 21:00. Drove for two hours but the fog came down. Up and on the road by 07:00 for some hard driving through some barren uplands. Occasional police checkpoints asking only for passports. Met our first camel warning sign then the camels themselves. Headed South from Tiznit and met the Bukima truck at about 14:00. Arranged a rendezvous at Tarfaya and they set off. Ann Claude took a turn at driving and was doing fine until we came to a police checkpoint, where to the amusement of most, she stopped about 50 yards down the road. I guess she didn't understand me explanation about the state of the brakes. Police required many more details but no hassle. Carried on and started meeting sand dunes encroaching on the road. Passed a couple of classic sickle dunes. They give the flavour of the desert but are pretty small. Passed a salt flat and also a couple of wrecks washed up onto the beach. Met the full convoy at Tarfaya and continued for 30 mins or so before setting up camp in the middle of a barren plain.