# Morocco with DD March 2011



## ActiveCampers

Anyone on here going on the March 2011 Desert Detour trip?

Well, apart from us.

Yeah yeah - I hate tours, groups, and anything organised, but happy to be taken around Morocco without having to plan too much myself.

Wonder if we'll be the youngest and have the smallest and only non-white van as usual lol!


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## asprn

ActiveCampers said:


> Anyone on here going on the March 2011 Desert Detour trip?


Our trip starts on 7th Feb - but probably not yours?

Dougie.


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## loddy

Our trip had a panel van conversion in rather striking claret owned by a couple of 30 ish owners.

Loddy


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## ActiveCampers

8 March is ours, so the one after.


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## Addie

Tempted just to go just to rob you of the youngest and draw you on the non-white van titles... think you'll still be the smallest by 50cm


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## ActiveCampers

Addie said:


> Tempted just to go just to rob you of the youngest and draw you on the non-white van titles... think you'll still be the smallest by 50cm


Please do! Go on - I dare you....


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## Annsman

We're on board! Wheels up from home 14th Feb, gentle meander down through France and Spain. Then after the tour the option to stay in Morocco is there, if not we will go through Portugal and back home for late June/ early July.

Happy days!


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## ActiveCampers

Hello!
Make sure you say hi. We'll be the ones limiping! 
Our current plan is to leave UK mid December, have 6 weeks snowboarding in the Alps; dawdle to the Pyrenees for some more boarding, then down to Sierra Nevada (near Granada, Spain) for some final boarding before getting to the starting point in March.

So this does mean we'll have our snownboards with us - and, erm, some big sand dunes to play on :idea: 

After the tour we'll either stay in Morocco a bit or go to Portugal then trundle back via Spain and back to UK end of April or beginning of May.

Poor van!


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## Annsman

No! Your van's doing what it loves, being on the road. It's what it was born to do!  I think there's nothing as sad as a motorhome or camper emptied of all it's stuff and parked up waiting for it's next adventure. They seem so lifeless. But I'm just an old romantic!

See you in March.


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## Annsman

Well we've been and come back! What an experience! Morocco has been a full on adventure that has hit every sense and emotion we've got. There is extreme poverty, absolutely mind blowing scenery, totally insane driving, diabolical roads, eye opening things happening all around you and the people NEVER stop begging and asking for stuff!

We wouldn't have missed it for the World and would thoroughly recommend going with Desert Detours, especially for the first time. You will see far more of Morocco than if you go it alone. If we were just to go to the West Coast, like so many people do, then fine, it's no more difficult than touring Spain. The roads there are fine and the campsites easy to find and one beach is just like another! But getting yourself around Fez, Marrakesh, Meknes and the rest of the country is of course do-able but there is no way you will see half the stuff you do when you have experienced guides. Ray, Steve Hamid and Youseff worked tirelessly to ensure we had a good time. 

There were a few niggles and we did have some issues personally, but only minor ones and nothing I'm going to post on here. I discussed them at the time and it's gone now anyway. They certainly never made us once feel we'd made a mistake!

The people we toured with were fun and we all seemed to get along. Which seeing as we all had misgivings about an "organised tour" before we started, must mean something!

If you haven't been you must go. It's perfectly safe. We never saw a single bit of violence or anything the least bit threatening. The tour actually joined on to a march at one point! I say "March", about 20 people walking along the main street of a small provincial town. We tagged on at the end as we drove through the town and were just as much a talking point as the "demo"! At no point did we feel unsafe or insecure at any time of the day in any town or city we were visiting. The vans were guarded by local people or were on sites and nothing was damaged or touched.

Apparently some people have cancelled the May tour because of worries about the troubles in other African countries. RE-BOOK QUICKLY BEFORE YOU MAKE A BIG MISTAKE AND MISS OUT!

Finally, thanks to Ray and his team and all our other tour members for making it an experience of a life time.


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## ActiveCampers

Back already? Or just in Spain?
We've crossed to Spain today - and blimey - what chaos at the port! Poor Barry had about 3 near misses - all when he was stopped! Really glad to get away from the port.

Echo everything you said above. Morocco is superb, and Desert Detours were worth the money. The "simple" part of Mococco isn't that difficult (or great) to do alone - the atlantic coast was perhaps the most boring part we saw.

I've uploaded most of my pics and 3 weeks of blog to my site, but the summary is pretty much as you say. As someone in the group said "we are all a bunch of missfits whoi don't want to be in a group which is why we all get on well!".

Easily our best trip so far....

Hi to you both!
R&M


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