We left Cologne on the 01.06.2023 in our UNIMOG. Our first night was spent in Port-au-Vaux, a very pretty, clean camping site next to the river. The next day we drove a long way down south to Lac Salagou where Michael had once considered building a campsite. The next day we carried on to Cap d’Agde at the Mediterranean beach, where we spent 2 weeks getting used to the truck and filling up on water and diesel and food.
We drove to Sete on the 18th June and took a ferry to Tanger. The ferry took 44 hours (without Internet)and there were over 1000 Moroccans on board going home for the holidays. Most of them didn't even have a slept in the seating area. We had to go through passport control in Tanger and it was chaotic.
I have filmed a short impression of it all.
The Rif Mountains are a foothill of the Atlas Mountains and stretch over 350 km. It is a very rugged landscape. The highest mountain is in the north at 2,456 meters.
Few people live here and most of them live from the illegal cultivation of hashish, the majority of the inhabitants are Berber Rifkabyls.
In our photos from June 21, 2023, the people are preparing for the festival of sacrifice on June 28, 2023, and sheep are now being selected for the festival. The people here dress very differently to those in Tangier.
It was a long, dusty stretch and 38 C warm when we arrived in Fes.Michael got his first speeding ticket, 8 km too fast. We had the impression that they just wanted to take a look at the car. We were stopped by the police at least three times on each leg of the journey.
Today 23.6.23 we walked through the city of Fes, from one tearoom to the next. Today is Friday and the medina is closed! That was a shame as it is said to be the best preserved medina in the Arab world. The medina is known for its tanneries and a large mosque with room for 20,000 people. There are around 9000 alleyways in the medina and transportation without cars is by donkeys, carriages, and motorcycles.Fes has a 15 km long city wall and a royal palace where no visitors are allowed in.
We stayed in a beautiful park/camping site (Le Diamant vert.)
In Fes it was hot and dusty (42 C9 and in the evening still 38 C. Since we couldn't get into the Medina (closed on Fridays) and it was really too hot to wait, we went back to the campsite and went swimming after visiting all the tearooms and buying a Moroccan SIM card.
As we now wanted to drive into the desert, we had full water and diesel tanks and charged batteries.
We drove for 7 hours and at the Lac at 9000 feet the outside temperature was only 18 C, and it was heavenly calm.
There we met 4 Czech motorcyclists and a French couple in a camper.
There were hardly any people, just a couple of shepherds with their sheep and goats. There were beehives everywhere,
About 50 per location.
We chose a 7-hour OFF ROAD drive to Quazazate not really knowing beforehand what was coming. The road was so narrow that we had just enough space. It was a gravel road with a mountain shoulder, 1000 feet up to the right and 2000 feet down to the left. It was not possible to turn back. We drove 200 km at about 30 km/h.
Down in Quazazate it was already 50 C and there was a big sign on the campsite, electricity only for lights and fridge, no air conditioning. We were the only crazy guests. We didn't have enough electricity ourselves, as it was so hot that the generator went on strike with cylinder head overheating. It was around 60 C in the cabin and our small camping air conditioning system failed miserably, so we spent the night in the cab with the engine running. At least we were able to cool down to 26 C there.
We decided to drive to the coast, via Marrakech. My idea of driving up and down the dunes came to nothing. We arrived at the Sand Storm. I had to walk in front of the car and look for a parking space. At 370 cm, we were too high to drive into the hotel parking lot. I now understand why the Tuareg Berbers have headgear… There is sand everywhere in the Sand Storm, in all the holes. Here in Marrakech, we were able to collect ourselves and think about how to continue.
From Marakech we drove to the coast and stayed in Essaourira for a couple of days.Then we travelled up the coast, staying in Bouznika Plage und Assilah before catching a ferry to Algeciras, Spain.
It took 4 hours to get through customs in Tanger and after showing our passports 8 times ,having the truck X-rayed and then inspected by dogs we were allowed to drive on to the ferry. Michael also managed to get back my drone which had been confiscated on entering the country.
In Algeciras we were thoroughly inspected again, this time upon entering the EU from Africa. A very strange experience.
The short ferry tour to Algercircas was pretty and uneventful. On landing our vehicle was examined by Frontex soldiers and after that we quite glad to be in the EU again.In Jerez we met up with a friend of Michael from early flying days.
It took us 5 hours to Sagres, the most western point of continental Europe, and we enjoyed the spectacular views and the sunset there. Camping was absolutely forbidden, and the camping spot I had looked out for didn't exist anymore. We stayed at La Figueria about 15 kilometers away.
Villa nova de Milafontes is at a beach that stretches all the way to Sines. We drove east from there to Evora which is the capital of the province of Alentejo. We visited the roman temple of Diana and also the magnificent cathedral of Evora which has a gothic and barock part. Quite close by, we visited the skeleton chapel.(Capela dos Ossos)
From Evora, we drove through the cork forests and on to Estremos. The tiny (10.000 pop.) town is known for it's marble pavements and buildings and for the King's palace from the 13th century. We visited the Museu Berado Estremoz (Palacio Tocha) and enjoyed the wonderful Azulejos… From Estremos we drove to Montargil to the airfield that was built especially for Michael to train pilots there. He worked there in the nineties for about 6 years. Theory lessons were outside under a huge cork oak tree (still there)We stayed the night at Montargil lake.
We carried on eastwards into Spain and drove through wide open plains with huge ranches on them. In Salamanca, we visited the two cathedrals built into one another, one such older and the other gothic. The Art Deco museum was fantastic. At ten past ten p.m. we experienced the lights turning on at the Playa major.
The highlight of the next part of the tour was surely the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao. Besides the museum, we also had a wonderful camping site outside of the town with beautiful views of the Atlantic Ocean.
From Bilbao, we drove up to Seignosse in France and met our grandchildren there. From there, we had a very rainy drive back home.