Morocco Jan/Feb 23

[aliengrove]

I am heading down to Morocco in January for 5-6 weeks, wondering if anyone else is going at the same time and fancies hooking up for part or all of trip? There's a few roads I would like to try that I'm not too keen on doing solo. My bike is a modified Himalayan.I'm familiar with Morocco, my ex is from there, but I've not been for 10 years or so, and not been on the bike before. Im an old fart at 62, but fairly experienced offroad and don't mind long days in the saddle and am fairly impervious to rain, heat or cold. I am planning a mix of camping and cheap hotels.

[badou24]

dont camp ! hotels are cheap and camp sites are grim + it will be cold at night.
Atlas mountains may have snow and very cold ... go south along coast

[aliengrove]

I'm not too bothered about cold, though I will avoid any roads that might have ice on them while I am there. I use the bike through the winter in the UK so have clothing pretty much sorted out alteady. Not too bothered about campsites either, I've done a fair bit of wild camping in Morocco while travelling by car. I will stay in hotels some of the time. Its the desert which is my main focus.

[vstromrider]

I've stayed overnight in the Moroccan desert in December and it's not a pleasant experience. It's absolutely bone chilling. In addition, the road over the Atlas mountains can be a muddy hell in winter. I would consider doing the trip with you but I wouldn't be camping and I would confine the route to paved roads, probably Ceuta to Merzouga, then the Todra Gorge, Zagora, Ourzazate, then towards the Atlantic coast, but I wouldn't bother carrying a load of camping gear when accommodation is so cheap and you get a shower and a meal instead of roughing it. Life is hard enough without giving yourself extra hardship, in my opinion anyway. It can be absolutely freezing in the mountains in winter and a large part of getting away in the winter, for me anyway, is to get away from cold weather, so if I was doing that journey I would stick to warmer areas. Call me a wimp but there you are... that's my take on it.

[Tim Cullis]

Morocco in winter is a great destination compared to being stuck at home. Riding through Spain is likely to be the coldest as so much of the country is at altitude and I won't do that anymore in winter without an electrically-heated jacket and handlebar muffs. And I tend to get the Brittany ferry from the UK to northern Spain, feel free to use code S86513 to get 10% discount on vehicle and passenger costs.

The north of Morocco can also be cold and I tend to get south as quick as I can—you can ride the motorway network from Tanger, to Casablanca, then to Marrakech in one day on your Himalayan. My favourite winter go-to place is Tafraoute in the Anti Atlas mountains.


This was 11 years ago, the rocks have since been repainted.

It's an awful long time dark when you are camping in Morocco in winter and most camp sites are really intended for 'camping cars' (French for motorhomes) rather than tents, so I echo the comments above.

This was one of my experiences 15 years ago now, of camping in the desert without tent, sleeping bag, etc., in 0ºC temperature in winter. I survived, but boy was it cold.

[badou24]

CAMPING is great ...... park up by some river , nice and warm , great views,
no rain etc ... but 2 things
1 how many days do we get like that in uk ?
2 and as you get a wee bit older its nice to have a few comforts !

But camping in Maroc is a no no
too hot in summer
too cold in winter
and your lugging all that gear around
" basic" maroc hotel aound £7 -£12!

[TheWarden]

Weather is unpredictable, I've been in Morocco in winter with temps in the 30's during the day and not dropping below 15 over night.

Since September my coldest night was Imichil at 5 degrees mid October, after that the temps were higher than expected for November up until leaving 10 days ago. You certainly notice the temperature plummet once the sun sets though. I had 7 nights in Hotels and camped the rest of the time, about 50/50 wildcamping and campsites. (I am in a 4x4 so can carry a bit more).

Hotels in winter often have little in the way of heating. A few years ago I had a hotel in Imichil as the forecast was sub zero, I need a full down sleeping bag and extra blankets to keep warm. Yes there are cheap hotels, but some of them can be very grim. We looked at the hotel by the fuel station in Figuig beginning of November and quickly decided wild camping was a better option.

For me, one of joys of travelling in Morocco is wildcamping out in the desert. But over winter with the longer hours of darkness, not as nice and travelling Spring and Autumn.

[aliengrove]

Thanks for the replies.

I've spent a lot if time in Morocco in the past, my kids are half Moroccan, so I'm familiar with the standard of hotel accomodation in remote areas. I'd rather camp, wild camping as much as possible. I've got the gear I need already, and am quite OK with camping in the cold. I grew up on the edge of a desert and am used to waking up to freezing temperatures. My main concern regarding weather on the trip is riding down to the south coast from Manchester, and northern Spain. I'll be catching a ferry to northern Spain.

The main reason I'm interested in hooking up with someone else is to do some of the more remote roads and pistes. I'll be taking my InReach tracker with me and am reasonably handy with spanners. I can get by with my crap French and a smattering of Arabic as far as language goes. I'm going anyway, alone or with someone else. Also would appreciate any input on recommended routes. All my previous exploring in Morocco has been done in a 2wd car. At the moment my only plan is to head to Merzouga and then down to the Mauritania border.

[frankkk]

..can be bone chilling, yes...but, with the right equipment no problem. A Therma Rest and a sleeping bag rated to -20 will keep you warm, even when you sleep right on the sand. Done that for five days in a row in the Erg Chebbi (traveling on a Peugeot 103.:-)) and many times before in the bigger Ergs. Problem is, suitable gear for those temperatures will set you back $500...for a good nights sleep alone.

Enjoy the desert !
Frank

[Turby]

Have an insurance claim being finalised for compensation to conclude before March. Plus spring is preferred for wild camping and sites.
Would love to do the full 6 weeks if mid March would suit, I too speak some Arabic and French, have off road experience and have plans to go to same regions. Happy to bimble along as I`m 63 years old, using my KTM Adventure which survived a solo trip to Kazakhstan and Georgia before Covid.
Are you buying insurance at the port in Marocco?

[vstromrider]

I'm considering doing this trip, but possibly leaving mid February. I reckon it's a 5 day ride from Dieppe or Calais in France, to Tarifa or Algeciras, then I estimate approximately 14 days riding around Morocco.

I would be roughly following this route:

https://www.adventurebikerider.com/w...our_Map_en.jpg

So, in total, I reckon 5 days to and from the UK to morocco, plus 14 days in Morocco, so around 24-25 days in total. I would be riding a 650 V-Strom on road tyres so I don't plan on doing any off roading. For me, it's really a road trip. Anyone interested in joining me?

[aliengrove]

Originally Posted by Turby

Have an insurance claim being finalised for compensation to conclude before March. Plus spring is preferred for wild camping and sites.
Would love to do the full 6 weeks if mid March would suit, I too speak some Arabic and French, have off road experience and have plans to go to same regions. Happy to bimble along as I`m 63 years old, using my KTM Adventure which survived a solo trip to Kazakhstan and Georgia before Covid.
Are you buying insurance at the port in Marocco?

I'm heading down there next week, 23rd January. Ferry from Spain to Santander. I have to be back at work mid March, so can't delay the trip, unfortunately. Yes, I'll be buying insurance at the port. I've also taken out personal accident insurance.

[aliengrove]

Originally Posted by frankkk

..can be bone chilling, yes...but, with the right equipment no problem. A Therma Rest and a sleeping bag rated to -20 will keep you warm, even when you sleep right on the sand. Done that for five days in a row in the Erg Chebbi (traveling on a Peugeot 103.:-)) and many times before in the bigger Ergs. Problem is, suitable gear for those temperatures will set you back $500...for a good nights sleep alone.

Enjoy the desert !
Frank

I've already got the gear. I camp in the winter in the UK, with the bike, so I have learnt a few tricks for keeping warm- two sets of thermals in my sleeping bag is ok to well below zero. I grew up in a desert so I don't think I'm going to encounter anything I haven't experienced before in a desert environment.

[aliengrove]

Originally Posted by badou24

CAMPING is great ...... park up by some river , nice and warm , great views,
no rain etc ... but 2 things
1 how many days do we get like that in uk ?
2 and as you get a wee bit older its nice to have a few comforts !

But camping in Maroc is a no no
too hot in summer
too cold in winter
and your lugging all that gear around
" basic" maroc hotel aound £7 -£12!

I'd rather be in my tent in the desert than some cold dreary "hotel" listening to dogs barking.
Comfort is a combination of preparedness and state of mind. And my camping gear, cheap though most of it is, only adds 12kg to my load, and that's including enough gear to camp in temperatures well below zero. I'll check into hotels when I need a shower.

[Tim Cullis]

Biggest downside is boredom, so wait to find a campsite until after the sun goes down (18:50) but then erect the tent before it's fully dark at 19:15 (timings are for Merzouga time zone for end Jan). Any earlier and you will be found by the local kids—even in the middle of the desert there are local kids—and you will be their 'Berber TV' for the evening.

If you have space, take a fleece lined hot water bottle. An iPod would come in handy as well, I have a music playlist of 'Dreamtime' that helps me fall asleep. In 50 years of travel in Morocco I've never encountered a snake or scorpion, if that's any comfort. First light is at 07:45, dawn at 08:10.

I carry a Jetboil stove and packets of Batchelor's dehydrated Cup-a-soup, my current favourite flavour is Thai chicken. Good for lunch and also as a quick starter in the evening. To save space I repack the sachets to get six rather than four in each packet (I'm an anal packer).

If you are heading south towards Mauritania, try finding the Cascades of Oued Khawi Nam, these are on the imaginary border line of Morocco and Western Sahara at N27° 40.950' W12° 13.180' I didn't have a tracklog to follow but I approached from a track that left the coast road just to the west of Akhfenir at N28° 04.300' W12° 07.903'


The Cascades


The approach