Morocco - Early 2010

Hello guys - great trip, tips and plans!

Sorry to interrupt thread.

Have been dipping in now and again to keep up on the progress (especially love the new portable bog! and agree with G - hated the Bilbao ferry and found it rough)........

Reason for interruption -

I have some Morrocan books including Chris Scott plus Rough Guide etc. from our trip which ended up being cut really short last year (18 days to just 5) , plus map and even a little Morrocan money left over. I am after a Russian and/or China guide - even just one of them might do depending (if you plan on buying a book anyway) - you buy me what I need in exchange for Chris and my little stash of goodies.
Just a thought - if your interested - I'll list when I get home tonight plus value versus what I'm after - bit of freecycling/healthy exchange or whatever - but I reckon what I have could be worth more than what I'm after. Else, my Morroccan bits sit unused for who knows how long. Just an idea. Can only ask! I'd be happy to post etc. All current editions and good condition.

All the best
Cassie

Cut down to five days? Oh dear, what happened? (so we know to be wary).

Let me know if theres a book in particular your after, any good litrature would be of use to me. Are you planning on visiting the east with your landy? That would be a serious expedition.

Rich.

Just having abit of a read through your webiste at the moment, see what youve been up to!

We got cut short because our cambelt snapped day 1 in France - we had just had it changed out before leaving UK but mechanic (usually excellent reputation) had not been fitted properly.We got fixed 2 weeks later however fix was not performed properly so vehicle continued to suffer knock on issues en-route hence delayed us (took a total 3 mechanics in all to rectify) - really unfortunate but just one of those things - more of worst case rarity - won't happen to you!!!!! You'll be fine!

When I said not fitted properly - it was fitted slightly mis-aligned - when snapped caused damage to rods etc. 2 week delay occurred in France due to peak summer, shipping parts and then waiting for mechanic two weeks in to do his bit which was rushed as we rushed him - so job not done properly in terms of thorough checks. Didn't help that vehicle got towed north while we headed south - kind of buggered our logistics a bit. Never mind!

Yep - so - we're off East but won't destroy this thread (will make a new thread sometime soon) just thought book & bits exchange might be good to mention here.

That was super unlucky, can realy damage the engine too. I changed mine myself a while ago along with all the pulleys. If somthing goes on mine i would bet it to be the head gasket, but if i try and change it ill proably do more damage than good. I know what it feels like to be in the middle of france with a landrover thats got it in for you, the first time i took mine to the alps it started playing up in every way possible as soon as i got it off the ferry, was overheating (blocked rad), both front wheel bearings were overtightened (guilty) so i had to rebuild them in a car park, one of the bushes on a trailing are disintegrated and had to get the whole arm replaced, and to top it off the brake disks warped coming down a mountain and a caliper caught fire. They say if you want to come back again you should use a toyota.

Still, better it snapped there than in the desert.

Interested what GPS system you are running in the landy for your expeditions into Morroco, might be going down there myself autum time

deanr_777 said:

Interested what GPS system you are running in the landy for your expeditions into Morroco, might be going down there myself autum time

Click to expand...

Just got a litle Garmin Nuvi, there are more powerful ones, but I figured I'd rather do the planning on a pc and then send to the device, in which case any Garmin that accepts external maps and routes will do.

I say that, but we havent actually got back yet, maybe wait till we come back to make sure our navigation worked.

I plan to put up our track somewhere so anyone who wants to follow it can.

do you have a route planing tool or do you just go off google earth?

deanr_777 said:

do you have a route planing tool or do you just go off google earth?

Click to expand...

All done on Mapsource, you can download it free, but you will have to google how to make it work, as you are supposed to have an existing version in order for it to install. And telling you on here would get us in trouble

Booger Have PM'd you

There are a lot of reasonably cheap offers for Chris Scott's book available on eBay. I had more stuff than I thought (incl. £27 or 350 Moroccan Dirhams, maps, Africa Expedition / Overland planning guides) - probably more than you might be needing - so decided best thing to do would be to put the lot on eBay. Link in case you want to see as follows:
Morocco Expedition Sahara Overland Africa Map Book LOT on eBay (end time 28-Jan-10 21:36:01 GMT)

Thought it might be easier for anyone to decide rather than the hassles of exchanging etc. (possibly was a messy idea).

Good luck with the trip - hope you have a ball!

Dean a link for you

Dell Axim X51v PDA with Memory Map/Garmin and extras

I used this system for 4 weeks in Morocco. can load up the maps i used for you to if you want it.

(clearly this is spam )

G

I am with tent

Also got a heat exchanger on the way for my shower...

Now sorting out cooking, Rich what cooker option did you go with ?

Thanks for the offer Griffdowg. I looked at your pictures from from your trip in 2008 and they looked, great so i would be very interested in just the route you took. What da ya think

Booger said:

I am with tent

Also got a heat exchanger on the way for my shower...

Now sorting out cooking, Rich what cooker option did you go with ?

Click to expand...

This;



Im gona put somthing abit nicer than the bungey cord in to secure it better, but you get the idea. Simon and Emma fixed this all on btw, incase they read that i am steeling all the credit!

woods767 said:

This;



Im gona put somthing abit nicer than the bungey cord in to secure it better, but you get the idea. Simon and Emma fixed this all on btw, incase they read that i am steeling all the credit!

Click to expand...

That's Fooking Brilliant What gas cylinder are you connecting it to ? I'm going mad trying to decide wether to go calor or camping gaz ? and where are you gonna store your cylinder ?

The cylinder is going on the roof most likedly, but will probaly get lazy and it will end up in the boot next to the cooker. I have a 4.5 kg cylinder of butane (LPG), am probaly gona trade it in for a bigger cylinder, but will stick with the LPG.

Its not by calor but its the same.

deanr_777 said:

Thanks for the offer Griffdowg. I looked at your pictures from from your trip in 2008 and they looked, great so i would be very interested in just the route you took. What da ya think

Click to expand...

NP the route is conveluted and not 100% tracklogged. Your best off reading the report and following the place names. They can all be found on the 742 map and I didn't leave anything out.

Booger, got the disks, thanks again

G