Just back from Morocco

if in any country you travel in, you are not sure on the quality of the fuel then take a clear plastic water bottle and ask them to put 1 litre in it and leave it for about 10 mins then you can see if the fuel has any poop in it!

Job done.

Will probably do this trip at Easter, a nice run to the sun!
Looks like the GPS will be ok, but i much prefer paper maps and back up with GPS.
The michelin maps look the best, but which ones as there are many of the right scale for this region?
Any clues?

A friend and I would be very interested in joining in with an expedition to Morocco or similar - I don't have a Landy but I do drive and have some experience working on Defenders.

If anyone is planning an expedition and would let us tag along (paying our way of course) please get in touch!

[email protected]

Cheers,
Alec

Email sent Alec.

We have just driven from the UK to the Gambia. Ferries, we sailed from Portsmouth to Caen, worked out that it was quicker to do this than take 2 days to get to Santander. Left W.Yorkshire Friday afternoon and was in Gibralter on Monday afternoon! The plan was always to get to Morocco as quickly as possible. We then sailed from Algeciras to Ceuta, after reading many message posts and web pages had the impression that this was the best way to get into Morocco, apparently, because Ceuta is still Spain you are effectively doing an internal border crossing which are supposed to be easier than the Tangier entry. We had no problems with it, the only comment I will make is that the tickets in Algeciras were about half the price of the prices I had got off the web. When we got to the Ceuta/Morocco border we were talking to a couple who had been to Morocco many times, always through Tangiers. When we had all got through the crossing (about an hour and a half) they said that this crossing was 100 times easier and faster than Tangiers.

Hope this might help a bit

Am interested in how you found experience with your roof tent. Am planning overland trip from UK to Australia (2 adults, 2 children aged 9 and 6.5) - trying to find out how suitable/ease of use/experience? Did people view you more strangely using roof tent than groun version. Did you think you needed? Look forward to hearing.
Thanks

Kassap said:

Any tips on how to get down there? I've been trying to work out if its going to work out cheaper to ferry to Santader and then drive through Spain in two days (very expensive Ferry!) or take the cheap ferry through Calais and then spend four days and a lot more fuel and road charges....


If any one knows where to get cheap Ferry tickets for either the UK-Europe bit or the Europe-Africa bit thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

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kassap,
Ferry to Calais.
Drive to Algeciras (Spain)
Ferry to Ceuta (Spanish Dependancy on Africa)
Run down to Algeciras, is roughly 1650 miles.
I am looking at 30 mpg on tarmac at 60mph.
So would be looking at 55 gallons of fuel, before you hit the cheap stuff in Morocco.

If you run on a good mix of veggie oil and kerosene, it wont cost so much.
(40% / 60%)
A second tank underneath, plus your own tank will (should) see you to Algeciras.

i too have been weighing up the ferry options. ports-bilbao is approx £450 whilst the dover calias is cheap as you like and ports-la havre is approx £130.

working it all (almost) out i think the bilbao route would only cost £100 more. this would be easiler if someone could tell me the toll costs for french roads.

from other people the spain ferry is more favourable. just think when you finish after driving for 2-4weeks solid, do you really want to cover the 1500+ miles to make the ferry? or the 600 to bilbao followed by 2 nights rest before the UK? i know its more expensive, but im sure its no more than approx £100

G

these prices were for end sept/oct

Griffdowg said:

i too have been weighing up the ferry options. ports-bilbao is approx £450 whilst the dover calias is cheap as you like and ports-la havre is approx £130.

working it all (almost) out i think the bilbao route would only cost £100 more. this would be easiler if someone could tell me the toll costs for french roads.

from other people the spain ferry is more favourable. just think when you finish after driving for 2-4weeks solid, do you really want to cover the 1500+ miles to make the ferry? or the 600 to bilbao followed by 2 nights rest before the UK? i know its more expensive, but im sure its no more than approx £100

G

these prices were for end sept/oct

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Only thing I'd say Griffy is why rush the last (or first bit)? I used to ride down thru' Spain to Morocco a fair bit & all bar once got the ferry @ Caen.

It int that much of Froggieland yer have ter drive thru' & it was waaaaaaaay worth it every time to cross the Pyrenees, it alus fair took me bref away!............driving thru the Basque region was sometimes a bit iffy mind, but that wuz cuz I wuz a durdy greebo & they wuz a bunch of militant weirdos at times!

If time was not a huge constraint I'd cross the Pyrenees everytime. Dun it in loads of places at different times of the year & would be gutted to miss out on it.

Jest me 'pinion an' that.

thanks for that Markus, point taken. im always russian always russian everywhere! maybe it is worth the long way? i cant decide! arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!

just been looking on autoroute. and it's saying 1400miles Calais to Algeciras avoiding all the toll roads and 1378 miles on the motorways.

give us a list of ports and I'll run em all thru autoroute. for you.

bilbao?

santander?

and... la havre? but that ferry is more pricey

yer having a laugh aint yer gareth, portsmouth le havre is one of the cheapest channel crossings. its cheapr to go portsmouth/le havre and drive down to the west coast of spain than to go any other way

its not though is it. i could have booked dover calias last month for 50quid return. ports la havre is 130 and ports bilbao is 430... there yer go.

Bilbao & down thru' Central Spain I always found a bit souless & fekin hot! Like I said dun it wunce & dint like it. Pamplona is always a good stopping point after the Pyrenees.......wuz there fer San Fermin wunce................dint do it, but fekin funny ter watch the eejuts! Frum there I'd usually drive across thru the Sunflower fields and turn South @ Barcelona, thru' Valencia, turn inland @ when the Costas start cuz they're crap, cross a bit of the plain & head south fer the ferry...............er, but then I rarely had a schedule!

yella said:

yer having a laugh aint yer gareth, portsmouth le havre is one of the cheapest channel crossings. its cheapr to go portsmouth/le havre and drive down to the west coast of spain than to go any other way

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Spain int gorra West coast, s'called Portugal innit?

you aint gunna spend 300 quid on fuel driving down the west coast of france and accross the pyrenneesse

redhand said:

just been looking on autoroute. and it's saying 1400miles Calais to Algeciras avoiding all the toll roads and 1378 miles on the motorways.

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Hi Red,
Miles is quite correct.

Yup,
Plus 250 for me to get from Warrington to Calais, or there abouts.

so which coast of spain is santander on then mr fookin smarty pants???