The Wandering FamiLee

We thought we would put this little post together to offer a wee bit of advice on what to prepare before (or when you’re on) your maiden adventure to Morocco in a camper van.

Before you travel to Morocco with your camper or motorhome

I would say this is the boring bit but Jez would say this is the most important bit and to be honest, this is where our relationship works. I’m late, he’s early. I can’t spend my time on boring things when there are more creative things to be done, he’s the researcher of all the do’s and don’ts. He dots the I’s and crosses the T’s, I doodle all over them! So for this post, I hand it over to our family expert on this stuff.

It’s always good to be prepared 😉

Paperwork

You’ll also need your passport (making sure you have a full 3 months left on it), your driving licence and make sure you have at least a few hundred euro’s on you. Make sure you carry your passport and driving licence at all times when driving in Morocco.

Breakdown

You may well be able to get breakdown assistance for Morocco. We are unable to as our camper is both a self-build and over 7.5 tonne. Instead, we opt for the Morocco-style breakdown assistance which is to pull over on the side of the road and lift the bonnet up. Generally, someone will be there in minutes to help. And, if they themselves can’t, guaranteed they’ll know someone who can! When we blew a tyre, a new tyre arrived in a taxi for us, quicker than you can say AA.

On your van

You are going to see some pretty cool vehicles whilst on your journey. You’re going to be looking at other peoples rides thinking, should we have that…. And yes of course, you could have all the bells and whistles of an Overlander or Saharan Landrover but we thought we’d just list the basic’s here:

You need good tyres. We thought we’d get by but we had two blow-outs and could have had more, However, never fear if you do need a tyre. They are readily available, the cost is much the same as Europe and waiting times about the same too. Do make sure you have a spare wheel and tyre too.

Remember the usual safety stuff. High vis vests, warning triangle, spare bulbs, foot pump, torch.

Check your vehicles levels and keep checking them while on your journey. Keep your air filter clean. An abundance of sand and dust builds up quickly. Top up your oil but engine oil is readily available at petrol stations .

Talking of petrol stations – they are plentiful and most have a good stock of fuel. However, I would not let our van go under 1/2 a tank full. We also take a 20 litre Jerry can and 20 litre water container (just in case).

When you arrive in Morocco by camper or motorhome

Whoop, you’ve arrived. You’ve made it through the immigration queue on the ferry, you’ve completely confused yourself as to whether you are speaking Spanish or French. Your camper has been through the x-ray machine. You might have had a visit from a customs sniffer dog and you most definitely have laughed about the little cars with broken suspension that are piled high inside and on the roof with everything in the world including the kitchen sink!

Most importantly, you will have been given a temporary import document whilst at passport control. This is normally a small business card size piece of paper. You’ll need to look after this. Perhaps take a picture of it and make sure you put it somewhere where you can find it.

You’re probably tired, hungry, excited and also a little bit nervous. Before you get on your way to your first stop, you’ll need to arrange a couple of things:

Inwi – signup for an online contract at around 20 euro’s a month for unlimited data but be sure to cancel your contract in the Inwi shop before leaving Morocco. This is the most cost effective option if you are going to be using a lot of data.

Maroc Telecom – Pay as you Go sim card to put in your phone or dongle. These sims are most widely available and you can also get scratch card top ups a most little stores.

Orange – Again, a Pay as you Go sim card, quite widely available. Again scratch cards can be purchased at most convenience stored,

There will probably be telecom stores at the entry ports (Inwi at Tangier Med).

We actually picked up an Orange sim at an Orange boutique and use it in our Myfi dongle so we can each hotspot off it. This works well.

So you’re ready, set go for adventure.

Tell us how you get on.

We’re currently in the process of upgrading our camper Hector to get him ready to take on the Sahara and mountains on a deeper level, taking our African adventure further afield. We’ll be sharing that post soon.

Have a beautiful day.