Our Boxing Day started with a change of plan. Our video call on Christmas Day with Alex, Kevin’s daughter, had gone so well she decided to fly out to see us while she had some time off over Christmas. By Christmas night the flights were booked and Alex was due into Marrakesh on 27th December.
We therefore had about 8 hours to drive from Erg Chebbi over the next two days to meet her. We were keen to get going, so unfortunately we had to forgo our tea with Yousef at his house before we left. We did get to say our final farewells though and wrote up a nice recommendation for him on Parked4Night.
Our journey north took us back past Gara Medouar and onto fresh territory. The scenery and terrain, as all of our driving in Morocco so far, did not fail to disappoint. We thought we were making good progress but then when we hit the Jebel Sarho mountain range with multiple switch backs causing steady progress, but the reduced speed was worth it for the views.
We pulled up at the welcoming campsite of Auberge Escale Ouarzazate run by a French / Moroccan couple. We could finally discharge rubbish and do some servicing, we could also sample some lovely French / Moroccan food in their love;y restaurant complete with log fire for the cool desert nights. Here we also saw our first Christmas tree in Morocco.
The next day we had only 200km left to go, but these were over the High Atlas mountain range. If we had not had this change of plan to meet Alex, we would have missed this epic drive up to the Col of Tichka at 2260m.
The fast tour buses, very slow overloaded Moroccan goods lorries and roadworks making the drive as eventful as ever.
We managed to get into the campsite outside Marrakesh by early afternoon, ready to meet Alex at the airport at 6pm. A hair raising taxi journey cementing the decision not to attempt the journey any closer to the centre with the truck.
It was lovely to see Alex and we checked her into a kasbah room at the lovely Le Relais de Marrakesh campsite where we were already parked up. The weather was fabulous all the time she visited around 24 degrees and blue skies once the morning cool had burned off.
We had some lovely chillout time in the sun camped out under the awning in the truck on the first day. As well as restocking at a local Carrefour in a shared taxi with some entertaining German guys, which also provided a tour of the suburbs and the usual interest of supermarkets in foreign countries for Alex.
We attempted a tour of the medina and souks ourselves the next day, the frenetic speed, volume and activity of the Jemaa El Fna square in Marrakesh and winding colourful souks being just as crazy and yet fun as we imagined. As Alex and Kev are massive foodies, our research the night before was a watching a Christmas episode of Fred, Gordon and Gino in Marrakesh. We therefore headed straight to “lamb alley” for lunch from famous Mustapha, who all the celebrity chefs take turns to visit for his slow cooked roasted whole lamb, which did not disappoint. We followed this by a tour of the souks, where despite their reputation we were not given any hassle and just enjoyed a wander around.
After all that excitement, the next day we followed with sunbathing, outdoor cooking and mixing with the wide range of overlanders, vanlifers, luxury motorhomers and holiday makers on site the next day. Alex got to move rooms to a Berber tent for the full Morocco experience.
We also of course found time for Alex to sample the local cuisine. After an obligatory Lamb Tagine on arrival, we pre-ordered a Royal couscous for the full experience.
Although by New Year’s Eve we were ready to go into the fray again, Alex and I decided on a Walking Tour to see a bit more of the hidden local side of Marrakesh. We ended up with a private tour with Abdel, a born and bred local of Marrakesh.
It was a really interesting couple of hours exploring the mosques, hammams, bakeries and souks that make up the neighbourhoods of the 17km medina of Marrakesh. However, my descriptions cannot really do justice to the sights, sounds and smells of Marrakesh, so we have captured it all on video.
New Year’s Eve we spent on the campsite at the on-site restaurant event. It started at 8pm with the many regular and long term campers, as well as staff and visitors all mixed together to celebrate. We were seated with a lovely German born lady called Gisela who lived in Falmouth, near to us at home, but has travelled the world and is now based in Portugal. She was great company with a lot of stories to tell and we all had a really fun evening. The four course set menu took until midnight to be fully served as the waiting and kitchen staff all joined in with dancing to the DJ between courses 😂🥳 Happy New Year!
New Year’s Day, we decided to walk the 2.5km to the local supermarket, where we hoped to find an ATM as nearly everything in Morocco runs on cash, including many petrol stations. The 2.5km turned out to be more like 3 miles each way. However we all enjoyed a good walk, including across a dry river bed to avoid having to walk in the road. The only down side was the ever present rubbish everywhere, but as everything in Morocco it was an adventure. The supermarket was in quite a select neighbourhood with walled gated estates and as many Porsches driving around as I have seen anywhere.
Finally, in the evening, we sadly waved off Alex for her flight, back to work the next day. What memories we have all made together ❤️
Thanks to Alex for the great photos and video support 😘
In for a Penney 