Hi,
im planning to do the Ceuta to Marrakech loop the first two weeks of november, im riding a Strom 1000 so staying to tarmac as much as poss, how wet and how cold does it get around that time of year?
Only going then as thats the only window i have avaliable to get away, is this a bad idea weather wise? Cheers Jim

Impossible to predict, it can be lovely sunny and warm in the middle of the day but chilly in the mornings/evenings. It can also be fecking miserable--Morocco has some extreme weather.

I normally tour Morocco in winter time with heated grips, handlebar muffs, gauchos and a heated jacket. Though often these aren't needed.

I'm not trying to put you off--just making sure you're prepared, and hopefully it will be lovely and warm.

Thanks for the advice Tim, i will definitly be prepared may even nick Mrs Jims tights and take what comes rain or shine.
I have a fair bit of research to do as im on a fairly tight budget (excuse the pun) I will maybe leave the tent at home carry extra tights and seek out some cheap hotels etc.

Hi,

It's done!!!

Almost 4000kms in ten days!!!It was great!!!

Thank you all for the tips!!!

Places visited in Morocco:
Tanger
Tetouan
Chefchaouen
Volubilis
Meknes
Fez
Ifrane
"Foret du Cedre"
Midelt
Errachidia
Erfoud
Merzouga
Erg Chebbi
Tinghir
Todra Gorges
Imilchil
Lac Tizlit
Agoudal
Tilmi
Msemrir
Dades Gorges (by night)
Boumalne
Ouarzazate
Atlas Studios
Ait Benhaddou
Marrakech
El Jadida
Cite Portugaise
Citern Portugaise
Casablanca
Rabat
....

And the end back home to work!

Tim and Chris,
The Agoudal-Msemrir route was very hard...http://img837.imageshack.us/img837/2962/dsc01504g.jpg[


It reminded me the Cold Play song...


The first 5kms where ok...After that I learnd the translations of:
"lateral ford"
"muddy uphill stretch"
"boggy area"
"deep ford"
Generally keep to the left in the long lateral ford. If it's been dry weather there won't be much water.
We started to late and didn't want to back Tinghir....What a stupid thing to do!!!
We passed Agoudal at 17H and arrived Boumalne at 22H...

(To be continued...)

TTAlmieda, sounds great more info please, im off to Morocco on the 1st nov i would be interested to learn more about your trip, Budget, fuel avaliability etc. Regards Jim

Hi Jim,
I wish I could join you...:mchappy:

The main "problem" at the time you are going is the weather:stormy:...
Like Tim wrote...
The only nice dry and warm place should be the south (Erfoud, Rissani, Merzouga) the rest of the trip should be wet!

You wont have fuel problems there are lot´s of fuel pumps and you have the Tim Cullis file!I don't now where it is...some where in this forum...:confused1:
We had one problem in Zeida with pertol...
Petrol was sold out and we where completely empty...
I stopped in two fuel stations and it was the same speech...No petrol!:nono:
When we where at the end of the village there was another Ziz Station I kindly asked for some petrol and the man told me "No petrol!:nono:" next village 40kms (+/-) this station has at lest four petrol pumps...
I turn to the man again and told him that he should have 4 or 5 liters in the bottom of the tank:cursing:...It worked!!!:clap::clap::clap:
We didn't had petrol to do more than 15kms!:innocent:

As I where with my wife we slep in Hotels...
Atlas Chaouen in Chefchaouen, Ibis Fez, Xaluca Tomboctou in Merzouga, Perle du Dades in Boumalne Dades (:thumbdown:don´t recommend:thumbdown:), Ibis Ouarzazate, Kenzi Fahar in Marrakech, Ibis Rabat...I don't remember the prices but they are all in Booking.com we made the reservations along the way with my mobile phone (in the Accor Hotels you can use wi-fi to book your next night!)

Maps and Navigation, normal, the Michelin Morocco map and the Morocco Top in my Garmin!

Really the only thing that can give you some worries is the rain in few minutes the road can change into a dramatic scenery, mud and rivers on the tarmac!!!

For the ferry I always use FRS boats http://www.frs.es but you can also use:
http://www.comanav.co.ma/ferry/destinations/index.htm
http://www.comarit.com/lineamaritima_g.html
Trasmediterranea

For the importation of you vehicle to Morocco you can fill this form in advanced or fill the papers with the help of a Moroccan new friend!

Sorry for any bad english!

I hope it helps!

Cheers,