CampervanCulture.com Morocco special.

Been back a little while now so started to put together some video of the trip. This first one is the journey down to Algeciras. We got the new LD lines ferry down from Poole to Santander and although the ferry was OK, the boat itself was tiny and the crossing rough as hell. Never again.... We also got tickets from that Carlos fella to Tangier Med and he turned out to be a right slippery bastard so the same applies to him but more of that in future videos as that unfolds   

Apart from those two minor issues the whole trip was amazing, did about 6000 miles loads of off road driving and found Morocco to be a very nice place to spend some time in.

Here is the first video, hope you guys like it.

http://campervanculture.com/2014/02/morocco-overland-in-a-t3t25vanagon-syncro-part-one-uk-and-spain/

ahhh but did you get your bottle of plonk and a cake from carlos......"}


look forward to hear about your trip....  

tuggy wrote:

ahhh but did you get your bottle of plonk and a cake from carlos......"}


look forward to hear about your trip....  

Yeh the cake was OK but the plonk is only 4%   It was OK after not being able to buy booze for a few weeks   

Jed

dude,,,,,  

Guys good vid....   looking forward to more.......


you delt with carlos ...there are usually two women in there and they wear hot pants and low tops and lots of lippy....right pair of tarts....  

tuggy wrote:

Guys good vid....   looking forward to more.......


you delt with carlos ...there are usually two women in there and they wear hot pants and low tops and lots of lippy....right pair of tarts....  

Yeh they were in there too Tuggy, all three of them shouting at me then each other in Spanish   

Jed

Back safe 'n' sound then? Nice one! Good video as per, where do you find that music? Looking forward to Episode No.2

Great video as usual. Loved the caves !
Can't wait for the next instalment, to see what sort of terrain the vans are capable of crossing.

I bet they can tackle a lot more than we give 'em credit for. Okay, they haven't got live axles, but that weight on the back sure helps in the traction department.

Only guessing, but their biggest downfall has to be the lack of ground clearance. Am I right?

They are not to bad actually with ground clearance, we dont have a big rear diff hanging down so that helps. I have 320mm from the lowest point of the engine bash plate and we have front and rear diff locks so that gets over the articulation restrictions, thats why you often see a Syncro with a front wheel in the air as the diff locks keeps the van moving.

Jed

Enjoyed the first video looking forward to part two.   

Quote :

Only guessing, but their biggest downfall has to be the lack of ground clearance. Am I right?

Hi Tom, if anything holds them back the most likely is the approach angle, there's quite a bit of overhang for a 4x4.

Ground clearance wise, as Jed has said they are very good. The suspension is all independent so there's nothing hanging down through the center line of the vehicle. Obviously the downside to this is a lack of articulation but the twin difflocks means it makes no difference.

There are quite a few occasions i have been able to easily drive through rutted sections where Live axle vehicles were grounding out.

There will certainly be some eye opening footage in the later videos once we reach the desert, the syncros really came into their own in the sand!

Well you've done it now we all really want to see the next vid.
I can't wait for our next trip to Morocco or the land of one shoe as it became known on our trip

We're waiting with baited breath ... what does that mean?   

Part 2 is now live on the web site, I hope you guys enjoy it. http://campervanculture.com/2014/03/morocco-overland-in-a-t3t25vanagon-syncro-part-2-entry-to-africa/

Jed

Guys, excellent vid and never seen the campsite in chefchoen so empty must have been the time of year...and respect...you took on fes.....  

As always top video, we stayed mainly out of the towns and wild camped for most of our trip but watching your vid next time I think I may explore some of the towns a bit more

We now have a regular slot on Expedition Portal, looks like we are doing something right   

http://www.expeditionportal.com/adventures.html

Jed

Making part three now...

Looking forward to it, parts 1 & 2 excellent well done 

Just finishing off part three of the video series now   



Jed

So this is part 3 of our trip.

This time we head south from Fez and into the cedar forest. Xmas was creeping up on us so after some epic driving on amazing pistes and some amazing wild camping, we headed to a camp site for Xmas day so we could spread out and relax. Our Xmas dinner was cooked over an open fire using our usual trusty way of cooking (light weight Roadii that fits inside your spare wheel    http://campervanculture.com/product-category/camping-cooking/roadii/ )

Part 4 is now nearly made so stay tuned and feel free to comment.

http://campervanculture.com/2014/03/morocco-overland-episode-3-journey-to-christmas/

Jed

We just added bit to the blog while we are finishing off the 4th video, http://campervanculture.com/2014/04/morocco-expedition-fes/

Jed

This time in part 4 we venture further into the wilderness where the roads became more demanding and the terrain starts to take it’s toll on the vehicles. Apart from us changing a prop shaft back in Fez this was the first time we had to sort out actual mechanical issues that stopped us in our tracks.
While driving along a desert highway we got our first sighting of camels and with that we pulled over to get a closer look. We met some Berber people who took us down an ancient underground canal that was used to take water from the mountains into the desert oasis. Part of this trip was to be an educational experience for 8 year old Isaac and this turned out to be a very valuable geography lesson about the true Morocco for him. After surfacing from below the desert we had tea with the Berbers (something we had started to get used to every time we met one of these very hospitable people) and as we were about to say our good bye’s Alan and Jed noticed a small group of 4×4′s heading off the road and into the open desert. When they asked the Berber, “Where are the 4×4′s heading?” his answer was “Voth”. We had read a little about the work of “Voth” before we had left but could not find exactly where they would be online. We soon realised why as we set off into the desert to take a look for ourselves….
As the days went on we went from desert to gorges to mountains with truly amazing driving and wild camping. New years eve was spent around the Roadii Grill where we had one of our big cook ups after buying a kilo of some kind of animal hung up in a hut at the side of the road. After that we went much higher and more remote and that will take us into part 5 and the Black Rock Desert, but for now kick back and come drive with us…




http://campervanculture.com/2014/05/morocco-overland-episode-4-into-the-wilderness/

Part 5 now alive for those following. This time in this 46 minute Sahara special we really are in the wilderness.

Here goes, http://campervanculture.com/2014/07/morocco-overland-episode-5-sahara/

Jed