It is the 29.11.2018 - 10 o’clock. We start our roadtrip to Morocco. It takes us from Cologne through Luxembourg, France, Spain to Portugal / Lisbon. We want to stay there for a few days with Anita we’ve met a few years ago during our first big time on the road in Europe.

It was the best thing we could have done and so we took her with us after the layoff and headed to Tarifa. The ferry from Tarifa to Tangier is the fastest, it separates Africa from the European continent for only 39 km. Without any plans of how the ferry’s there work we’ve been lucky enough to catch the last one and got to Tangier about 22 o'clock after a long day of driving and around 700km.

We had arrived in Africa! To be honest, it’s been kind of strange. A new continent, it was night, everything looked, smelled and sounded so different to what we have been used to. Yet, there was this big excitement all around.

Late at night we’ve ate something, talked for quite a while and decided to make our next move to Chefchaouen the next day. And oh my days, we haven’t thought of the traffic we would encounter the next day. Maybe that just got stuck in our minds because it was our first coming in touch with the moroccan driving culture, but for us driving in Tangier was the worst thing ever so far. And it was really not that bad through whole Morocco afterwards. Like already said, maybe it just felt so hardcore, it just was the first real day of driving kinda blind through that big city. The streets were very crowded. Not just with cars, but with scooters, people walking across the street, bikers’ and donkeys all over the place.

However, after a good amount of time we arrived in Chefchaouen - the blue city. Totally different world. In Chefchaouen there is a relaxed, reserved atmosphere. Maybe this is also due to the numerous surrounding cannabis plantations (there must be some. We’ve heard about it. And you’ve got that special scent all over the city). At least nobody forced us to buy a carpet there.

We stayed there for two days to calm down and to get more familiar with the mood of the country and to explore the city.

more from Morocco in Part II

and pictures from Chefchaouen

After that we went to Fès. It is the oldest of the four royal cities of the country (also Marrakech, Meknès and Rabat) and, according to the Qarawiyin University, it was the spiritual centre of the region.

The next stop was Ouzoud, there are also the Quzoud Waterfalls. They are only 150km northeast of Marrakech and a real tourist shortage.

We stopped there on a camping site (as we always have to charge all of the batteries and devices), probably one of the most beautiful ones in Morocco. It belonged to a Dutch couple who sold the place a while back. Stayed for a couple of days to catch up with some work and to edit the first stack of photos. Marcus made some very nice dishes for us and we thought about opening a cooking blog for him anytime soon (honestly, he’s very good at it and the food is always the best, signed Christof).

Keen on finally seeing some Moroccan mountains we decided to head on a trek from Ouzoud to Skoura through the Atlas and its been incredible. Although it just took us 8 hours for only 350km, it’s been an awesome ride.

It was right before sunset when we arrived in Skoura, not far from Ouarzazate (nicknamed the door of the desert) which is the film-making city of Morocco. Movies such as Lawrence of Arabia (1962), The Mummy (1999), Gladiator (2000), The Hills Have Eyes (2006) and parts of the TV series Game of Thrones were shot there. Also, there is the largest solar thermal power plant in the world.

So, 10 days in Morocco we had to be in Marrakesh to bring our friend to the airport, because she had to catch her flight back to Lisbon to celebrate Christmas with her family.

more from Morocco in Part II

and pictures from Chefchaouen

1 Month Switzerland

français memories

Roadtrip Italy

Roadtrip Morocco - Part 1

Kaprun high mountain reservoirs / Zell am See