Day 10
Mon 9th
Morocco
Ksar Tafnidilt (Tan-Tan) to Dakhla
Todays Distance 837km
Sleeping Bivouac - on the beach
Mileage 68559
Car Good - Bent rear arm
Punctures Today - 0!
Today and tomorrow are 2 long days of tarmac alone and our last days in Morocco it was nice though as the passenger had an opportunity to sleep (and I typed some of the blog!) The drive followed the coast and although still beautiful the days were much the same and not particularly exciting. Our Bivouac this evening is ‘Oyster Camp’ and situated on the beach! We both arrived and left this camp in the dark so I did not get to see the scenery fully, however the camp atmosphere this evening was superb. To celebrate the last night in Morocco the organisation had arranged for the preparation of locally prepared oysters to be served. (my 1st experience of oysters but not my last, they were good) and to have them in on the beach in Africa with great people and music was lovely and a night I will always remember.

Day 9
Sun 8th
Morocco
Tata to Ksar Tafnidilt (Near Tan-Tan)
Todays Distance 440km
Sleeping Camping site
Mileage 68030
Car - Good - Rear arm still slightly bent
Punctures Today - 1. Total 2
Today starts on tarmac (200k) and then continues offroad, again rocky and with a fantastic mountainous
scenery. We approached the coast to reach the beach we had to cross through quite a lot of water which was
successful however the car died on the other side, the time was very tight as the tide was coming in fast and
we had to travel about 25km along te beach before high tide or have to turn back and take the long (tarmac)
way around to reach camp. All of the other teams continued on due to the time frame and the mechanics and
ourselves worked franticly to change the 123 ignition unit which had taken in water (luckily we had a
spare!) Once the engine was running again we set off driving along the beach which was superb, (I’m glad
we didn’t miss this) I think they should allow it in the UK! Just as we thought we were ok and had made it
we discovered there was a large pool of water at our exit point We tried to go over a dune but got stuck!
The organisation were only 5-10 mins behind us so after pulling us free they explained we would have to
drive alongside a steep dune to get off the beach… exciting! After the beach we tackled a lot of soft sand
and passed a couple of other 2cvs stuck so we grouped together to help one another through and continue
onto camp.

Day 8
Sat 7th
Morocco
Zagora to Tata
Total Distance 371km
Sleeping Bivouac
Mileage 67775
Car - Good - Rear arm still slightly bent
Very rocky terrain today and what is known as washboard which really rattles through the car, and us! After about 220k offroad we reached tarmac and the smooth and quiet ground was a strange sensation! But a pleasent one! Before proceeding to camp we stopped at Tissint and had Chicken and Chips! Upon returning to the car we found we had a flat tyre (slow puncture) PUNCTURE 1!
We also stopped In Tata before camp and had a funny experience buying some food as hardly anyone there speaks English! Dad was not well this day and I was also ill in the night, this only lasted a day and other competitors were also poorly so it assumed it may have been something from the hotel, but the Doctor worked his magic and everyone made speedy recoveries.

Day 6 & 7
Thur 5th & Fri 6th
Morocco
Merzouga to Zagora
Total Distance 255km
Sleeping Bivouac and Hotel
Mileage 67339 & 67460
Car Condition - Good Rear arm has bent back slightly
As before rocky terrain today with dried up riverbeds and small ditches which appear suddenly and some sand today! It was planned that we travel 135km to camp however when we reached the sand all f the cars began getting stuck which meant we did not make as much progress as hoped before sunset so after a drive in the dark we reached a Berber village at about 2am. The organisation had arranged for us to stay there the rest of the night (10 cars stayed here - only 1 made it to camp) and the Berber tribes made us some dinner. At sunrise we set off to complete the track to Zagora, stopping briefly at the initially intended camp for breakfast! We arrived in Zagora at 3pm which gave us time to strip the car a bit to make it a little lighter We went for a look around the town and exchanged our ‘rubbish’ (removed from the car) with a local garage who used ther air compressor to blow the African dust from the cars engine. We had a great time with the guys in the garage and agreed to putting their garages stickers on the car to help with their business!
The Hotel was lovely and a really relaxing (much appreciated) evening was had by all and this was the 1st opportunity I had to get onto the internet to update the blog! In our hotel room we had company, a gecko of some kind, after being reassured it was harmless I was able to get a god nights sleep, in fact it was a bit too good as we nearly overslept!

Day 5
Wed 4th
Morocco
Bouarfa to Merzouga
Todays Distance 361km
Sleeping Campsite (Petit Prince)
Mileage
Car Condition - Good - Bent rear arm - Fuel gage stopped working!
Lots of little ditches to get through today which were challenging but fun, we also passed through a lot of dried up river beds, a fun day of driving. We arrived at a lovely Moroccan campsite and while eating the local people played us their music which was lovely. The mechanics bent the rear arm back for us this evening it was great to see how they work on the cars, they keep it just as simple as the cars themselves!

Day 4
Tue 3rd
Morocco
Nador to Bouarfa
Todays Distance 481km
Sleeping - Bivouac
Mileage 67460
Car Condition - Bent rear arm
So the first thing we done today was calibrated the tripmaster so we can monitor the km’s we travel and to enable us to read the roadbook, then we set off on the 1st offroad track combined with some tarmac to Bouarfa. Our first major obstacle was a huge ditch in he early afternoon. The car made it through fine but some slight damage was had to the back end of the car body where it scraped the bottom of the ditch on the way out, nothing to cause concern though. Later in the day we had to go over a rocky mountain which was extremely steep, again the car managed this ok however later we discovered one of the rear arms were bent which we think happened on this rocky mountain

Day 2/3
Sunday 1st & Monday 2nd November
France
2am arrive at ferry port in Sete,
Mileage 66805
Car condition - Excellent
Sleeping - Ferry Cabin
7pm Cars board ferry
9.15am depart Port, Nador, Morocco
We left the Ferry port and after about 75km of tarmac we experience our first taste of offroad to reach the biviouac which was up a rocky mountain, overlooking beautiful Moroccan mountains. It was dark on arrival but the views we awoke to were fantastic!