Nicked for Speeding in North Africa, Bin-el-Ouidane

Zagan the motorhome’s sat on a red ledge in the Middle Atlas mountains, above the mud-brown Oued l’âbid river, surrounded by rich foliage at Camping L’Eau Vive (N32.106487, W6.479088). It costs 60Dh a night to stay here (about €6) which includes WiFi and, we think, electricity. The weather’s turned and the rain which began last night is being shown as snow on Google’s weather whotsit, so we’re expecting the white stuff as the temperature falls this afternoon.

Camping L’Eau Vive, About 2km from Bin-el-Ouidane

It should be snowing by now, as the temperature outside’s now 5 degrees

So, yes, ahem, I’ve been done for speeding. After 20-odd years of (mainly erratic) driving around the UK and Europe, including a few years hooning about on motorbikes at breakneck speeds, I’ve finally got pulled. I was doing 68 kph (42 mph) in a 60 kph (37mph) zone, and was fined 150 Dh (£12.11) for my excess de vitesse. The polite, English-speaking policeman who waved me to the side of the road showed me a tiny photo of Zagan on his radar gun, with my speed underneath it. He then took all of our documents (after a bit of confusion about what papers meant – our V5, my driving license, my passport and the vehicle import document) and handed over a large receipt in French and Arabic. This receipt is now tucked into our documents folder, and is being treated as a £12 souvenir of Morocco! I strongly suspect no points will be appended to my EU driving licence, but that remains to be seen.

The nice policeman who did me for speeding in Morocco

Right, let me engage reverse if I may, and rewind back up to Azrou (which means literally ‘Rock’, as it’s built near a big rock). Azrou sits at a crossroads, and coming from the north presents two main roads for onwards travel: the N13 south over the Middle Atlas to Midelt and onwards over the High Atlas past ruined red kasbahs and oases to the edge of the Sahara, or the N8 south-west along the northern edge of the Middle Atlas. Going off the number of motorhome stop-over areas in the various books and databases available, the N13 is the obvious route. However, we’re heading for Marrakesh to slog/float around the half marathon in ten day’s time, so we’ve taken the N8.

The crown-capped Azrou rock

Phil did some planning for the route south to see if we could break up a potential 8 to 10 hour drive (which can be pretty knackering here, given the higher level of concentration needed, especially in urban areas). He came up with five places to stop between Azrou and the Cascades d’Ouzoud, and we both made it to the fourth one.

The N8 south of Azrou. Heading south on good tarmac, the landscape became increasingly arid

Potential stopover #1: Free parking near the police station in Khénifra. Phil bounced off this one as maps.me was trying to direct him down a dead-end. When we arrived later on we managed to find the parking area, which was small and packed with cars. A policeman helped us execute a 3 point turn in among the cramped back-streets, and we left and headed south too.

A roundabout in Khénifra, sporting a number of prancing ponies which were being painted

A quick stop on the N8 to admire the view and stretch Charlie’s legs

Potential stopover #2: a free-camping spot next to a lake accessed via a track from the main road. Phil walked the track to check it out, finding a couple of places where you had to cross concrete storm ditches via slabs laid across them roughly where the wheels went. The first looked passable, the second had narrow slabs, risking dropping your vehicle into the ditch. Result: back in the cab and keep going south. We didn’t even look at this one, un-brave as we are.

Landscape on the N8 in Morocco

One of many olive oil presses along the N8

Potential stopover #3: a hotel south of Kasba Tadla which let you stay in their car park for €5 a night. When Phil and Jules arrived the hotel had a new motorway running alongside it, and didn’t look particular quiet or inviting. So onwards and (literally) upwards they went. We ended up bypassing this part of the N8, following some tempting blue signs to a new motorway, which wasn’t on our elderly map. The motorway was all-but empty with signs telling people not to park up for a pic-nic, so fun to bomb down at 120 kph for €1.30. It was less fun after the toll booths when I failed the ‘5 lanes to yourself, can you restrain yourself’ test, this is where I fell foul of the law on the slip road back onto the N8 road.

Like everywhere, Morocco is changing. This is the new motorway we used, where I drove at 120 kph, far faster than I managed anywhere in Norway. Taking the motorway wasn’t a shortcut, it turned out, but we did miss the potential hotel stopover by going this way

Through the motorway tolls with the Middle Atlas as a backdrop, shortly after which I was handed my very first speeding ticket

Potential stopover #4: here, through the endless traffic of Beni-Mellal and up the winding R304 with fabulous views over the plain towards Casablanca and the Atlantic over the horizon. This is where we both ended up, after around 6 hours of driving. Phil and Jules got here first and set up camp, getting access to the electricity (which is plugged into a nearby tent) and the WiFi (which works on an Insh’Allah basis – when it feels like it). By the time we arrived my back was gone, the muscular problem rendered me a gibbering fool, and I quickly fell upon one of my bottles of Lidl Argus beer like a starved vulture.

View of the Moroccan plains west towards Casablanca from the winding R304

The R304, not the fastest of roads but easily passable in our lumbering beast

Potential stopover #5: Camping Zebra near to the Cascades d’Ouzoud further on along the R304 which has lots of positive reviews on campercontact.com. Phil spied a more direct road on maps.me, the P3105 from the N8 to the waterfalls, but that road doesn’t even appear on our Michelin map, so I was dubious about whether our low-fronted, soft-suspensioned Zagan would make it in one piece. We’ll take the long way round now, but will ask at Zebra what that route is like (bearing in mind one man’s ‘yeah, it’s fine, no problem‘ is another man’s ‘arrrgggghhhh!!!‘.

Chicken tagine cooked by the campsite for €5 a head. Absolutely delicious. Another is on order for tonight.

Along the road south we heard the crack of a stone hitting the side of the van, possibly thrown by a nipper, possibly not. Morocco has a bad reputation for this: bored kids stoning obviously foreign vehicles like this massive white box we’re driving about in. Phil spotted one kid about to launch a stone at him on day 2, halting the process by pointing directly at the would-be chucker, making it clear he’d been seen and there would be consequences. We’ve spent about 3 months in total driving about Morocco and Tunisia in a motorhome, and this is our first (unconfirmed) stone-incident. We have, however, had a confirmed (roughly) 500 incidents of kids waving at as, some begging, some trying to get us to buy stuff, but many just excited to see something different (I think of myself waving at lorries as a kid hoping for a blast of the horn).

The N8 route south. On occasion the tarmac was a bit ropey, and we passed a few stretches of roadworks, but nothing major

As we sat eating together yesterday we relayed some of the sights of the road. Six hours driving here renders probably the equivalent of a couple of year’s worth of European road-related things to talk about. An over-loaded logging lorry with a rear light cluster like something from Close Encounters harassing a van in front, belching fumes with each failed overtake event, before eventually being pulled by a motorbike cop. Kids on roller blades hanging onto a crawling concrete truck. A sheep tied to the front of a Isuzu truck (I kid you not). Vehicles with… wait, wait, it’s SNOWING! Yeah baby! Phil claimed no chance of snow, and if our solar panel got covered in it he’d wash Zagan. Looks like he’s going to have to get his Turtle Wax out!

Oi! Seatbelts fellas? Seatbelts?

Anyway. Sorry. We’re here in one piece. The electricity is working most of the time, so we’re using little of our precious LPG supplies. The couple running the campsite are friendly and accommodating folks, so we’re settled in and comfortable. The snow’s gone back to sleet, but there’s plenty of time yet. Let’s see where this weather takes us the next couple of days. A few more photos from the drive south:

Cheers, Jay