Driving back to Sweden. Only about 3000 km…

We woke up in the morning, realizing we had been parked about 50 meters from a huge beach. (Well, we heard the waves all night, but we didn’t actually park on the beach…) Driving home from Spain took 5 days. The first night we found a little forest close to Burgos. It was super cold during the night, and we found out it was 0C when we woke up… Coooold. So we decided to skip wild camping for the last bit of the trip. So the next day we stopped in Richelieu, France (yes, the same as the Cardinal) at Relais the Plessis. The following day we passed through Paris for a very quick drive-through, and the rest was alternating between high speeds and the famous German “stau”‘s on their Autobahns. The night was spent in a cute German little town kneip Hotel-Restaurant Landhaus Brunnenhof in Holzheim. October 27 was spent on even more Autobahn’s, and a quick pit stop at Bordershop in Puttgarden before entering Denmark and a relatively short drive up to Malmö and a visit to last year’s BFGoodrich sponsored family Marken where we spent a great evening and night. They spent 9 months driving from Malmö to Cape Town, so they had lots of cool stories to tell!

The next day was a fairly short 6 hour drive (most of the other days we spent 12 hours in the car, driving around 900 km each day) from Malmö to our home in Rydbo!

A total of 9269 km driven, and many experiences richer, we parked our dear Land Cruiser and were very proud of ourselves!

On the beach outside Marbella
Camping outside Burgos
Quick visit to Pariiiiis
L’Arc de Triomphe
Goodbye Paris!
Bitte ein Bit – in Bitburg!
Stau
and more Stau…
Lunch stop in Germany
And we’re home in Rydbo!

Last day in Morocco – returning to Europe

So, the day came when we were done with Africa for this time. We got up early as usual and drove via Chefchaouen – the Blue City – to Ceuta. Almost. Well, we got there, but the last kilometer into Ceuta (which is actually a Spanish enclave) took us 8 hours. We found out later this was due to some punishment by Spain against Morocco. We arrived around noon, planning to catch a ferry at 15, but we ended up just catching the last ferry leaving at 22:30. One thing I learnt during this trip was to patiently wait in chaotic queues.

We arrived in Algeciras, Spain, close to midnight and drove for about 30 minutes to a wild camping site I had found in an app.

Fez (October 22-23) 

After seeing vibrant Marrakesh we also wanted to see one of the most legendary,  original and oldest cities, Fez. So, after a nice breakfast we drove to Fez (via the fast toll road passing Casablanca and Rabat). After a quick shopping stop in Carrefour, we found the camping place Diamant Vert conveniently located just a few minutes outside Fez. We found a nice, cool spot for our car next to a little river, and after testing a horrible meal by the car we had a nice dinner in the restaurant.

The next morning we rose early. Since the camping was located in a little “valley”, it was quite dark, chilly and damp among the trees. But it quickly warmed up when the sun rose. We headed off to the maze of Fez and found a great parking area just outside Bab Boujoloud – one of the main gates to the old Medina. Having heard many stories about people getting lost for hours in the narrow souq alleys, we were prepared for the worst as we entered with our Lonely Planet guide hard at hand.

And it was a truly amazing experience. By far the coolest medina I have been in! So many cool souq stalls, and they didn’t feel as touristy as the ones in Marrakesh. Here also locals were shopping.

We spent several hours browsing and shopping. When we were done, we realized we could start heading north. So we drove off on yet another very cool and winding road, and ended up close to Ouezzane in the Rif mountains. The camping we had been heading for was terribly boring, so we drove back a few kilometers to a lake we had seen. After finding a perfect spot we got shooed off by a police and a military, saying it wasn’t safe there, and recommended us to go to the public resting spot on the other side of the lake. Which we did. 🙂

Marrakesh, October 21

A day of relaxation and exploring! We spent the morning by the camping site pool. (Relais de Marrakesh). Around lunchtime we headed into downtown Marrakesh and the old Medina. We parked by an old mosque and ventured into the Jemaa el Fnaa square and onwards. Some person guided us to the tanneries of Marrakesh, we had a great lunch, wandered the streets, and ended up back at the big square where snake charmers, dancers and jugglers were competing for people’s attention.

Moving to WordPress 

Driving from Merzouga to Mhamid

Blogger was crap, so we have moved here! The old blog can be found at http://morocco.alverborg.com

Today we are as far away as we will get in our trip – Mhamid in Sahara, Southern Morocco, close to Algeria. We are resting a day at Carrefour des Nomades before heading off to the next desert and Foum Zguid. Yesterday we left the dunes of Erg Chebi and drove from Merzouga to Mhamid. Only 240 km but very tough driving at times, going from 10 kph through a very rocky crater, to over 100 kph over dry lakes.

From Erg Chebi to Mhamid 

Saying goodbye to the desert was sad, but we knew that we were going to see one more in the trip.

We left early and headed out to the stony desert roads. There were no roads actually, only tracks (called “pistes”). We crossed dried up rivers, lakes and had a good time. The coolest was going through an old crater!

When we reached Mhamid just before sunset we split paths with our Swedish companions Bernhard and Wioleta. Eveli and I found a lovely hotel / camping, Carrefour des Nomades, run by a Belgian, Luc. We had dinner together and they even surprised us with an engagement cake.

We decided to spend a day relaxing and resting by their lovely pool. It turned out to be a lucky decision, since there was a minor sandstorm in the afternoon.