Morocco Trip July/August 2016

Hi,

Just looking for advice on a trip I'm looking to do to Morocco this July/August. For myself it is a practice trip to try off-road driving prior to a larger charity drive next year. I have modified my vehicle but need to test it and understand and prepare better for the trip next year.

Whilst I appreciate that July/August is going to be ballachingly hot, I'm limited in time available and have holiday to use before the end of August. I can take 2 weeks off but was thinking about getting my car shipped to Morocco and flying in to pick it up to maximise on time.

Has anyone used/can recommend a shipping company to use? I looked at getting a ferry but i'm looking at £900 just for that. I'll probably doing it solo too.

Try contacting Oldun on here. He has been out there many times and has shipped his Landy to various places. Not sure about Morocco though. The other alternative you have is to take the ferry from Portsmouth to Santander then cross Spain which can be quiet a pleasant run. I hate to think what the paperwork would involve shipping your vehicle to Morocco. They make a meal out just crossing on the ferry to Tangier or Ceuta. Don't know if your thinking of going on your own but I would suggest at least two vehicles. Especially if you want to test your Landy out.
This is a blog Chris made of our trip: http://land-rover-discovery-1.blogspot.fr/2014/04/day-2-morocco-trip.html

mikescuba said:

Try contacting Oldun on here. He has been out there many times and has shipped his Landy to various places. Not sure about Morocco though. The other alternative you have is to take the ferry from Portsmouth to Santander then cross Spain which can be quiet a pleasant run. I hate to think what the paperwork would involve shipping your vehicle to Morocco. They make a meal out just crossing on the ferry to Tangier or Ceuta. Don't know if your thinking of going on your own but I would suggest at least two vehicles. Especially if you want to test your Landy out.
This is a blog Chris made of our trip: http://land-rover-discovery-1.blogspot.fr/2014/04/day-2-morocco-trip.html

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Hi Mike, yeah i read your blog, just made me jealous ha ha. Problem is cost due to time of year, a bitter pill and one I'll have to swallow if I want to go that time. I'd love to go with another vehicle but the challenge is I don't know anyone whom is/would go. An other idea would be to practice desert off-roading using my vehicle and see if I can tag along an official one. Be good way to meet people too.

It would be very difficult to get your vehicle transported to Morocco. Part of the entry procedure involves the vehicle being linked to the driver's passport number, it is then almost impossible for that person to leave the country without the vehicle. It is also quite an involved process getting in with a vehicle not registered in your own name and needs at least a letter of permission from the owner (translated into French and Moroccan Arabic), a copy of owners passport, the original logbook.and a lot of patience unless you are willing to smooth the process with cash!
By far the easier, and much less expensive, option would be to meet the car in Southern Spain. Malaga, or nearby, would be easiest having an airport to where it is easy to get cheap flights and is only an hour from the ferry at Algeciras or 1h20mins from Tarifa.
Check out the DTR15 vehicle import forms here http://www.douane.gov.ma/d16ter/formAT.jsf and a comprehensive guide to completing the form and the procedure at the port of entry here http://www.morocco-knowledgebase.net/forum/showthread.php?t=73 (motorcycle based but pretty much the same for cars) It speeds things up to complete the form on line, print it out and take it with you.
If you've never been before the whole thing can seem a bit daunting but don't worry, just approach it with patience and a friendly attitude. Ignore the "fixers" unless you really are overwhelmed by the hustle and bustle, if you do take help from one then fix the fee upfront, €10 is more than enough, and stick to it. They are very good at spotting first time visitors and rely on intimidation to get you to pay more, it is all an act, stick to your agreed price and everything will end with smiles and handshakes.

Don't ship it! Drive.

A delay with the shipping / unloading / customs and you've lost days or weeks of your trip. It should only a couple of solid days driving from northern france to reach southern spain. Or if you really dont fancy it, I'll drive it there and we can swap at the airport.

Hi I have had a 90 taken down on a transporter and picked it up at malaga airport ,doing the reverse home .Cost about £1200 a couple of years ago.

Try out your set up in the UK or France.
If you wish to sample Morocco within a 2 week window I would recommend joining those who have done it before ie Trailmasters or Atlas overland.
Flying to Morocco and hiring a Toyota Landcruiser saves many many miles of motorway,

Landshandy said:

Hi Mike, yeah i read your blog, just made me jealous ha ha. Problem is cost due to time of year, a bitter pill and one I'll have to swallow if I want to go that time. I'd love to go with another vehicle but the challenge is I don't know anyone whom is/would go. An other idea would be to practice desert off-roading using my vehicle and see if I can tag along an official one. Be good way to meet people too.

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The group we formed for our trip was made on here. Someone posted a thread Morocco 2014 anyone interested and it all just happened.
I'm not into these organised tours. Talking to people I know who have been on them they are a bit tame and stick to safe tracks. We got lost twice for a couple of days and ended up doing some serious off roading. I would love to go again but not in July and August. A good part of the fun was being in a group and taking the micky out of each other.

I'll go again Mike, just need to work things out a little. We were not lost btw, we just longer than expected to work out where we were and we only doubled back on ourselves twice. Oh I remember the sand storm and flying toilet rolls.

SpaceDawg said:

I'll go again Mike, just need to work things out a little. We were not lost btw, we just longer than expected to work out where we were and we only doubled back on ourselves twice. Oh I remember the sand storm and flying toilet rolls.

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Ha h sounds awesome

I just came back from driving in Morocco. I took the ferry from Algecira to Ceuta. It cost me 90 euros for a return ticket but it was a special offer thing. Mind you, the line to get back into Ceuta, the spanish enclave, is a long wait. I bribed a policeman so I could cut into the line. Still took me 3 hours to pass.

In the desert, I guess that's where you plan to offroad. The old Paris-Dakar stretch? From Merzouga to Tagounite it's a mix between deep sand and rocks. Get good tires, the ones with multi-layer steel x5 or something like that. A friend told me about that, I got no clue Also you want to have a guide in your car if you are driving on your own. He will know the dangerous places and have multiple simcards for moroccan networks. The signals in the desert area are mixed and random strength if any. If you cross too close to the Algerian border you can get in serious trouble. The heat is definitely bothersome, but in my experience the sanddust is worse. It chokes your engine, clogs your filters, gets inside your car and kills your non-dust proof cameras.

If you drive West Sahara it's just a long stretch of fairly good road and lots of checkpoints. Checkpoints also apply to the north, but they don't stop you as often. Make copies of your passport and write the vehicle number that you get from entering, the date of entering and your numberplates on the copies. It will save you a lot of time. There are frequent laser controls so check your speed, especially when coming close to towns and cities. Also note that fuel in West Sahara is cheap. Somewhere between 4,5 to 5,5 euroes for diesel.

Don't go offroad in West Sahara. Some places have landmines and only the military knows where. They will not be happy about foreigners in their fields. The big cities are not so fun to drive in. Very stressful with small margins to other cars and small bikes disregarding your existence.

Despite the potential problems I really enjoyed Morocco. It's such a fantastic place to drive with amazing scenery, fairly good roads and lots of exotic adventure. Have fun man and feel free to ask if you need more info!

Nnamenur said:

I just came back from driving in Morocco. I took the ferry from Algecira to Ceuta. It cost me 90 euros for a return ticket but it was a special offer thing. Mind you, the line to get back into Ceuta, the spanish enclave, is a long wait. I bribed a policeman so I could cut into the line. Still took me 3 hours to pass.

In the desert, I guess that's where you plan to offroad. The old Paris-Dakar stretch? From Merzouga to Tagounite it's a mix between deep sand and rocks. Get good tires, the ones with multi-layer steel x5 or something like that. A friend told me about that, I got no clue Also you want to have a guide in your car if you are driving on your own. He will know the dangerous places and have multiple simcards for moroccan networks. The signals in the desert area are mixed and random strength if any. If you cross too close to the Algerian border you can get in serious trouble. The heat is definitely bothersome, but in my experience the sanddust is worse. It chokes your engine, clogs your filters, gets inside your car and kills your non-dust proof cameras.

If you drive West Sahara it's just a long stretch of fairly good road and lots of checkpoints. Checkpoints also apply to the north, but they don't stop you as often. Make copies of your passport and write the vehicle number that you get from entering, the date of entering and your numberplates on the copies. It will save you a lot of time. There are frequent laser controls so check your speed, especially when coming close to towns and cities. Also note that fuel in West Sahara is cheap. Somewhere between 4,5 to 5,5 euroes for diesel.

Don't go offroad in West Sahara. Some places have landmines and only the military knows where. They will not be happy about foreigners in their fields. The big cities are not so fun to drive in. Very stressful with small margins to other cars and small bikes disregarding your existence.

Despite the potential problems I really enjoyed Morocco. It's such a fantastic place to drive with amazing scenery, fairly good roads and lots of exotic adventure. Have fun man and feel free to ask if you need more info!

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Cheers for the advice. Western Sahara is the tricky one and I was planning to go down to Nouadhibou and then across the desert to Tichla and then up to Awsard, direct North to Oum Dreyga then back onto the N5 at Geuelta Zemmur

I really hope you have a guide with you and plans for keeping in contact with local authorities on that stretch since it is highly militarised. The northern part of Mauritania is known for AQM activity and is not advisable for tourists because of kidnapping risk. When I was there I crossed so many checkpoints and big billboards along the road with instructions how to alert the authorities of suspicious activity, that I believe the warnings are not without merit. Going to Nouadhibou, you have to cross the border at Guergerat. There is no way you can cross to Nouadhibou unless you want to cross illegaly and risk landmines. It's very easy to get Mauritanian visa, but it's costly at 120 euros plus car insurance. Also you want to make note that Mauritanians are notorious at charging foreigners exorbitant prices for any road assistance. Personally I would not cross the border if the sole purpose is to go for offroading.

Cheers again and happy travels!

Nnamenur said:

I really hope you have a guide with you and plans for keeping in contact with local authorities on that stretch since it is highly militarised. The northern part of Mauritania is known for AQM activity and is not advisable for tourists because of kidnapping risk. When I was there I crossed so many checkpoints and big billboards along the road with instructions how to alert the authorities of suspicious activity, that I believe the warnings are not without merit. Going to Nouadhibou, you have to cross the border at Guergerat. There is no way you can cross to Nouadhibou unless you want to cross illegaly and risk landmines. It's very easy to get Mauritanian visa, but it's costly at 120 euros plus car insurance. Also you want to make note that Mauritanians are notorious at charging foreigners exorbitant prices for any road assistance. Personally I would not cross the border if the sole purpose is to go for offroading.

Cheers again and happy travels!

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Yeah I don't plan to go into Mauritania really, on to Nouadhibou. 120 Euros is pricy for a quick nip so may cut that off. Many thanks for the advice!

SpaceDawg said:

I'll go again Mike, just need to work things out a little. We were not lost btw, we just longer than expected to work out where we were and we only doubled back on ourselves twice. Oh I remember the sand storm and flying toilet rolls.

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I'm up for going again too, Sid's not up for it, but one of his lads is.

Due to changes at work I may be on gardening leave in the next few weeks. Consequently i'm looking to go first week of September from London to Morocco if anyone is keen?

Dam I would have been interested but my Defender is currently stored in Cape Town waiting for my next trip to Namibia/Botswana in October!.

OLDUN said:

Dam I would have been interested but my Defender is currently stored in Cape Town waiting for my next trip to Namibia/Botswana in October!.

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how do you make that work with UK registration and MOT needing re-doing every year?

NiallRussell said:

how do you make that work with UK registration and MOT needing re-doing every year?

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I don't think the UK reference applies to Oldun as I think he's an ex pat. It's not really an issue in Africa either as UK road tax and MOT is relevant to the UK only and means nothing out there. The only thing that may be a problem is the validity of UK insurance if tax or MOT is out but you're likely to be running on local border insurance or a specialist policy anyway. Plus most motoring offenses in Africa are dealt with by your wallet not your paperwork!

ahhh.

when I was driving my car registration had to be valid in my home country other wise i HAD to import the car and pay the hefty fees and deal with the paper work. because my car papers where valid it was 45 minutes at the borders and no issues.