A trip to the Atlas Mountains in Morocco

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Mark Upton

New Member
Posts
3
Location
Velez-Malaga, Southern Spain
My advantage is that I now live in southern Spain 2 hours drive from Algeciras making a crossing in to Morocco easy for us to make. The trouble is...I dare not do it without some sort of back up and I am reluctant to give an organised company over £500 per head :eek: to follow them.

Surely there must be other like minded people out there who fancy getting together for a week or two seeing the Atlas mountain range?

You know what it's like...safety in numbers, if one breaks down or gets stuck then others may be able to help even if just to alert a garage or a mechanic, or just to simply hold the instructions so a tent can be erected properly.

Any thoughts or suggestions?
 
It's a trip I planned to do a few years ago. Then someone flew some planes into the World Trade Centre and I kinda went off the idea of travelling to North Africa.
It's starting to look like a good idea again now though. Do you have any experience of getting in and out of Morocco? I've heard it can take best part of a day to get through the red tape at the border. When you've just spent 2 or 3 days driving through France and Spain the last thing you need is a whole day wasted waiting for some Moroccan Blakey clone to lick his rubber stamp!

Like I say: it is tempting...
 
I like the idea but I'm currently 1600 miles from the port. I figure that 3000 -3500 miles should be about right for a two week break. So I'll just have to wait until I've got longer off, live closer to the port or own a faster Landie.

Hope the trip comes off though it does look good. I just can't believe that the companies over there charge £500 PP, robbing bast***s. All they do from what I can see is lead the way and pay a couple of quid for the camp site. No food, no ferries, no fuel, no radios, no recovery, no medical cover and no cash left once you've paid Dick Turpin and his crew.
 
I just got back from a green-laning trip in Belgium. I know it's not quite as exotic-sounding as Morocco, but there are lots of people who wouldn't do it without someone to organise everything for them. We just hopped on the ferry and drove to a friend's house. From there we went out exploring for the weekend. The whole outing cost us 50-odd quid for the ferry and our petrol (which is much more expensive than it was a couple of years ago in Belgium).
Our plan for Morocco was basically the same thing, just longer distances and more time involved.
BTW we didn't take the Land Rover. :cool:
 
Thanks for your replies.

Gareth, No I don't have any experience in Morocco driving, but it cannot be that difficult especially with a good map and some internet research. I know and have heard that quite a few people take there cars over just for a days shopping trip so the day at the border just might be a myth...unless someone reading this thread says any different?

Ashoofack, yes they are expensive down here for the trip as they are/were back in the UK and even the ones back in the UK always finished off with "we meet in Gibraltar or Algeciras in southern Spain". You wouldn't mind if they provided at least the tents and maybe a bit of grub. But no it’s a case of give me over £500 EACH and follow me because I know where we are going.

I just fancy an adventure and I know that it is easy for us living so close to the ferry crossing, but if anyone fancies it...give us a shout.
 
Well Mark, I DO fancy it :)
There's absolutely no way I can do it in the next few months though. The old spondoolies are way into the red and I'm gonna have to be a tight git for a few months. Maybe September / October time, or perhaps next year. Morocco really is one of those places I've got to see.
Haven't been climbing for a while either - my crampons have probably gone rusty by now ;)
Would you be too upset if I came in something other than a Land Rover? :cool:

Gareth
 
Morocco isn't too hard, especially if you stay in the North. Have a look at my site if you like http://www.roamingyak.org/- I spent 6 months in southern Morocco making a film and know it well. I'm looking at offering tours there this winter - not the normal tours offered by bigger companies etc
 
It can be daunting on your first go, but it's actually a very easy border crossing to get into Morocco, though like any African border, you will need a modicum of patience, as you'll need to trot from one booth to another getting the various bits of paper stamped.

You'll find lots of blokes in Djellabah's milling around the place, most with a badge dangling around the neck, offering to help you through the process.....if it's your first time, take one of them up on the offer...a ten euro note at the end is about right for their assistance and it can make things go smoothly.

I'd recommend Algeciras-Cueta as your Med crossing, then cross from cueta into Morocco proper (Cueta is a Spanish Enclave, and a tax free zone IIRC...the fuel is certainly rather cheaper than in Mainland Spain so get there with empty tanks)


You don't need a VISA or Carnet for Morocco, but must have the original motor registration document (V5) plus your passport. If you don't have green card cover for Morocco you can purchase it per below.

When purchasing your ferry tickets at Algeciras, ask for white Moroccan immigration forms. You need two variants of these, one for entry, one for exit. Use the time on the ferry to complete them.

As you leave Spanish Morocco, you will be directed into a holding area for processing your entry into Morocco. You can safely ignore anyone not wearing either a gun or a pale blue customs uniform.

They've changed the layout of the holding area now...I was there in January and again in April, and in that time they completely switched things around.

It looks something like this though, with you entering from the portacabin area closest to Cueta.

^
|
| Assurance
| Frontiere
|
^
|
| B.M.C.E.
| (bank)
|
^
|
| Passport
| windows
|
^
|
| Portacabin
| offices
|
|


1. Go to the portacabin and get a temporary import form for the bike (Declaration d’Importation Temporaire de Moyens de Transport). This is green and in triplicate. Write down your name (first, family), your nationality, passport number, and number of nights you are staying. Then the bike registration and country (GB), the manufacturer and model, and the chassis number from your V5.

2. Go to the passport window and hand in your passport and white immigration form. You will get a stamp and a number in the passport. Add the number onto the green import form after your nationality (second line).

3. Go to the BMCE bank and change some money. If you don't already have green card cover go to the Assurance Frontiere office to arrange. This will cost 59€ or 558MAD for 10 days and about 80€ for a month.

4. Now go back to the portacabin and hand in the passport, green import form, your V5 and either the green card or the border insurance. The forms will be stamped.

5. Now find the head honcho in the pale blue uniform (probably sitting down somewhere in the shade) to let him see and initial everything.

6. You can now drive forward to the actual customs post, but don't put anything away as you'll need to show everything again.

The return trip is much easier. You need to queue with your passport and white exit form. Then queue again to hand in the two remaining sheets of the temporary import form, one of which will be returned to you.



Don't take any photos in the customs area (or if you do, keep the camera hidden away) and once you're clear of the final gates, be very careful lingering outside under the hill on the big parking area..it'll be your first encounter with the beggars and unless you harden up quickly, it can be both annoying, upsetting and tedious ;)

I absolutely love the country..it's got everything from forests to high mountains amazing beaches to extreme deserts, more Roman ruins than most European countries (see Volubilis) and the people are amazingly welcoming.

I feel more uneasy walking in any UK town centre after dark than I do in most towns in Morocco, but petty crime is a problem in some areas so keep wallets purses etc close and tight......and shut.

I have to disagree with roamingyak...the south is much much better than the north........

Until you get over the Rif mountains, you'll get non stop hassle from Kif (weed) sellers......a lot of economic migrants head north to try and get into Spain and it can be a rather unpleasant place, but once clear of the Rif range, it gets better.

I could go on for hours......it's just a phenomenal country.....I'm over again in October in the newly acquired 110, then I'm running a couple of bike trips before Christmas........I'm quite happy to natter to anyone about the place if you'd like more info or specifics on Morocco...as you can tell, I'm a bit of an enthusiast!! :D:D


Bill
 
PS Don't worry about doing it solo by the way.....you'll not run into too much trouble unless you go to extremely remote places, and even then, you'll be standing admiring the view and half a dozen people will pop up from nowhere.

Couple of years ago, we had an early Series 3 ambulance bodied 2.25p on the way to Gambia......she dropped some zorst valves in Marrakesh, but we managed to find a garage, got them stripping her down then drove around in the other landy for a coupleof hours with one of the garage boys...we returned with four brand new shiny valves, had it all fitted, rad filled and back on the road by 1am...total cost £180 :eek::D

I've seen suspension welded up miles from anywhere using oxy kit taken out on a donkey, fuel pipes stripped, brazed up and refitted (cost us £40 that one :) ) and many other things you wouldn't believe done on the side of the road....a bit of patience, lots of dodgy french with hand gestures and a big smile will get you out of trouble ;)
 
hey, i leave on weds (16th aug) for the atlas mountains. i'm not taking the landy but am hiking for 3 an a half weeks, which gives me plenty of time to find any information that any of you might want. i will be seeing most of the country and a lot of the mountains so let me know if you want me to find anything out and i will do my best.:D
 
Thanks for the info Fanum :)
For us, this year is now fully booked but we'll see if we can squeeze in a Morocco trip soon. Perhaps 2007? :cool:
 
Hi Fanum,
great info, thanks very much. I am hoping to do a trip over there around October time myself. I have acquired a 110 which I am getting ready.
When I say getting ready , nothing serious just replacing bushes etc and getting familiar with it and making sure nothing is about to break.
I have seen a couple of programs where a bunch of guys took ordinary cars over and crossed parts of the desert so I am assuming a standard 110, 200tdi in good mechanical order should be OK to do the job. I am not particularly looking for real rough stuff, just getting to some of the remote areas and admiring the views. What would you recommend taking in the way of spare parts. I have been reading some recommendations in various magazines where they seem to be take sufficient parts to rebuild another Land Rover.
At the moment the only thing I have on my list is. 2 spare wheels, spare filters, spade, couple of Jerry cans for diesel and water. plus the usual camping and first aid stuff.
Regards
Mike
 
Hi Mike - There are loads of different lists out there of spares people carry, so have a trawl. Invariably though it's the bits you dont take that need repairing....In our case we had a tracking rod ball joint go, didn't have a spare but bought one in a small town in Southern Morocco (Western Sahara). We then had a front brake pipe split in Senegal, didn't bring a spare so someone went off into market and came back with a second hand one off a Rover. Then the rear (drum)brake cylinder was badly leaking in Ghana, had no spare but we were able to buy an original LR part in town...
Remember, for breakdowns etc all you need to do is bodge it enough to get you to the nearest town. Then you'll find someone who will perform miracles. So definately take things like cable ties, wire, jubilee clips, sealants, gaskets, self tappers, rivets, super glue etc etc etc....
Good Luck!
 
Hi Mark when are you thinking of going the wife and i are going in late sept early oct for about 3 wks in our well prepped 110 would be happy for you to tag along if you like Its our first overland in morroco and we will be doing the atlas mountains Bob
 
Hi just a quick note you cannot buy insurance at the sebta border or change money there at the moment both have been taken away.
John.
 
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