I am going to be taking a couple of weeks off from my blog to go on holiday travels! (My blog will return to normal postings on Monday 17th September) Jamie and I will be flying to Spain tomorrow then taking a 4WD and catching the ferry from Algeciras to Ceuta and beginning our tour of Morocco!
If you interested to know where we are going carry on reading below our map!
We are spending only 10 days in Morocco but covering over 2600km and staying in different places every night except one! The green highlighted line on the map roughly outlines our journey.
Below is what we plan to do from day to day!
DAY ONE
Wednesday 5th September 2012
Meknes
Today we take our ferry from Algeciras in Spain To Ceuta sill in Spain but on the African continent! Like Gibraltar in southern Spain is to the English, Ceuta as well as Melilla are Spanish enclaves in Morocco!
We will then drive through the hot day to our evening stop over in Meknes. We will hopefully stop on the way in Chefchaouen (about half way)
Heres a quick peak at beautiful Chefchaouen
"Like lots of northern Morocco Chefchaouen is renowned for its Cannabis plantations and you will often see it being sold in between fruit and veg stalls on the market! However, despite its reputation Chefchaouen’s appearance will immediately jump out at you. Houses are generally simple, but decorated with bright white walls, while the doors are painted bright blue. If that isn't enough there is the skyline. The city of Chefchaouen is nestled snugly between two mountains, climbing up the valley between the two and only ending at the water source which provides some of the freshest water in the country".
More Than Just a Buzz: Chefchaouen, Morocco
by Journey beyond Travel May 19th 2007
That evening we will be staying in the centre of Meknes' Medina and will be exploring the city and enjoying a well earned meal!
Rue Ain El Anboub, 17 Et Derb Lalla Aicha Adouia, Meknes,
http://www.riaddor.com
(212) 0641 07 86 25
The city of Meknes
DAY TWO
Thursday 6th September 2012
The Atlas Mountains
This is where the adventure really starts! Today we will be doing some beautiful drives and walks through the atlas mountains! I'm hoping to fit in a lake tour as well as a separate waterfall tour! Today alone we will be covering over 450 km (the most we will do in any one day) taking us over 6 hours to drive!
Tour One - Lake Circuit (route des Lacs)
This takes us on a beautiful drive though lakes (obviously!) with lots of nice places to stop and have a picnic and enjoy the scenery!
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A sneak peak of some of the views along the route!
I'm hoping to return with some more inspiring pictures then these!
Tour Two - Waterfalls - Source De L’oum-er-Rbia
We then want to drive to Ain Leih then take the road to Lac Ouiouane then onto Sources de L'Oum-er-Rbia for the waterfalls. We will only do this tour if time is on our side. The drive from the end of this to where we stay for the night near Midelt is off the map so its important we do it in daylight and leave plenty of time! There is also the possibility of snow (a contrast from the 45 degree heat we will wake up in that morning!)
A sneak peak at some of the views on route!
Again I hope to come back with some more inspiring images then these. These are areas that are not visited my many tourists so its hard to search for decent images!
We will be staying in Aguelmous which is between Zaida and Midelt for the night. It is in the middle of nowhere but offers a great stop over en route to the dessert!
Route Principale 13, Entre Zaïda Et Midelt, Midelt,
+212535360188
E-mail:timnay@menara.ma
DAY THREE
Friday 7th September 2012
The Sahara Dessert
Today we will be driving into the dessert for a nights stay stopping at the source Bleue de Meski south of Er Rachidia for lunch.
We will then drive onto our 'camping' destination for the night and plan to take a camel ride into the beautiful dunes or Erg Chebbi.
The Erg Chebbi dunes near the remote town of Merzouga are renowned for their great height and size. The vast pile of sand that stretches east into Algeria Sahara has dunes that reach heights upwards of 50 meters. As the sun sets on these dunes in the early evening the light changes from orange to pink to purple. I'll confirm this once I'm back!
Ksar Hassi Labiad, Merzouga, 52202
DAY FOUR
Saturday 8th September 2012
Dades Gorges and Skoura
Today we will be taking a scenic drive through some of the most beautiful dessert oasis' to get to our destination of the day Dades Gourges.
A sneak peak of some of the delights of Dades Gourges
We will then drive onto Skoura for our nights stay!
Douar Rouha - Palmeraie De Skoura, Skoura, 45500
+212524852139
nuancesmarocaines@menara.ma
DAY FIVE
Sunday 9th September 2012
Exploring Skoura and Marrakech!
The morning we will explore the beautiful palm groves of Skoura before driving just over 3 hours to Marrakech.
We will be spending the late afternoon and evening exploring Marrakech! We will spend the night in Marrakech.
Arset Bel Baraka 2 and; 3 Derb Makina, Medina, 40000 Marrakech
+212 (0) 650 786 830
DAY SIX
Monday 10th September 2012
Essaouira
Today we will drive to Essaouira a town Jimi Hendrix apparently lived in during the sixties! Since the 16th century, the city has also been known by its Portuguese name of Mogador or Mogadore. The Berber name means the wall, a reference to the fortress walls that originally enclosed the city.
We will stay the night in Essaouira.
Route de Marrakech-Essaouira, Essaouira, 44000
+212524479280
h6810-fo@accor.com
DAY SEVEN & EIGHT
Tuesday 11th and Wednesday 12th September 2012
Oualidia
Today we will travel up the coast to Oulidia to spend two nights (finally some rest) We will be enjoying the beach here and hopefully taking part in some surfing!
Oualidia is famous for its natural lagoons. It is a very pretty little town on the Atlantic coast, an hour South of Casablanca. It is famous throughout Morocco for oysters, as well as fresh crab and lobster. Oualidia has one of the most highly rated beautiful beaches in the world.
Oualilidia, 24252
+212523366288
DAY NINE
Thursday 13th September 2012
Cassablanca
We will finally be driving up the coast to Cassablanca for our final nights stay before heading back to Spain.
Angle Bd De L'océan Atlantique & Bd De La Corniche. Aïn Diab, 20000 Casablanca
I have included some taster picture in this post to give you an ideas of some of the places we will be visiting on our journey. I will also be uploading some of my favourite sights along the way to instagram. You can follow me by searching for the username emily_kiddy or by clicking here.
Keep posted the week I return home for some posts of how we got on! For now bye!
Looking forward to following your trip, looks amazing, and also extremely tiring!
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ReplyDeleteThe best travel diary i've read about Morocco so far. Great job you've done here to share your experience with everybody else!
ReplyDeleteGreat article and nice pictures i’m very happy to hear that you spend a nice time in the desert of Morocco :)
ReplyDeleteHi, it is an article that contains beautiful photos that express the beauty of Morocco and the diversity of places of culture. So thank you to have shared this article
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for sharing with us your amazing experience in Morocco to enjoy adventurous experience and to show the beauty of Morocco to the world 😊
ReplyDelete