Corona Virus!

Important events are happening faster than I can write about them. So, I am going to skip past a couple of weeks to bring this blog right up to date with our current situation.

Our plan was to stay in remote desert areas until the pandemic had passed. We can easily carry three weeks of water and food. Visits to villages would be infrequent. In retrospect this was a bit naïve however, in my defence, I have little experience of global viral pandemics. On Friday, Morocco went into lock down. Everyone was ordered to stay at home. We did not hear about this until Monday. Not a good start. Then I met some other travellers who told me campsites were not letting anyone leave. It dawned on me, eventually, that we might have a small window of opportunity in which to choose a campsite before we had one imposed on us. The government ordered everybody to stay in so there was no way that they were going let a bunch of foreign itinerants wander around freely. Especially since there is a small groundswell of opinion here that Corona was brought into the country by Europeans.

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Next task was to pick a campsite. The area we were in, the Ziz Valley, is lovely. A ribbon of green palmeries in hilly, desert landscape. Nevertheless, if we were holed up here for a couple of months then it would be getting excessively hot for our pale northern bodies. Officially, the lock down runs until April 20^th but it seems plausible that this might be extended. Further west, a cold ocean current runs down the Atlantic coast of Morocco from the north. This has the effect of stabilising and moderating the temperature. A much better fit to our sense of a tolerable, even pleasant, climate. A campsite to the north of Agadir had been mentioned on Facebook as a small, friendly place with a few Brits riding out the emergency. On Monday night, I contacted them to see if we would be welcomed. This was not guaranteed. Many places have already shut their doors to prevent the risk of infection. We were in luck. We have been pottering around in the desert for months now with only the smallest of contact with other people. Nothing is certain but it seems very unlikely that we might have picked up anything. The outstanding problem was getting there.

Tuesday morning we were up before dawn and rolling as the sun came up. I had no idea how tightly the country was shut down and we had a long way to go. The first checkpoint, just a few kilometres down the road, proved to be painless. We were waved through. Our route had been devised with some expert help from Mark at Amazigh Overland (https://amazighoverland.com/). Thanks Mark. It was pretty direct but also avoided towns and major roads until we got close to Agadir where this would be unavoidable. We hoped, the closer we got to the campsite, the more likely it was that the authorities would let us through.

Baloo proved to be magnificent. It has a good engine and pulls well. The roads were almost deserted. From the cab, 3m above the ground, you can get a good view down the road. We hammered it. Nothing dangerous but as they say in advanced motoring circles, we made good progress. Every town or village had a checkpoint. At each one, we held our breath and every time we got waved through. Eleven hours and three very short stops later we arrived at the outskirts of Agadir. This was the crux of the problem. Not only would there be many checkpoints but we also knew that the authorities would be locking camper vans in at the municipal campsite. We stayed here for one night several months ago. It may suit some people but we really, really did not want to be stuck there for weeks. Leaving Agadir, we were asked if we had a travel authority document. I explained we were going a short way north to a campsite to park up for the duration of the lockdown. This was sufficient. Several more checkpoints along the coast and finally we arrived at a small and rather run down campsite by the little village of Imsouane.

For us, the campsite is perfect. We have a sea view. Space to walk the dog. Some friendly neighbours, mostly surfers. A small village in walking distance and Agadir an hour’s drive away in case of more serious supply needs. We also have luxuries that we have not seen since we left Germany such as water on tap and WiFi. Meanwhile, in the far north of Morocco, many hundreds of motorhomes are trying to get back to Spain. The border is closed. The ferries are not running. Conditions are dire. In the last couple of days, the Moroccan authorities have been bringing in supplies to ease the problems. Of course, if the motor homes did manage to get across to Spain that would hardly be the end of their problems as Spain’s suffering is currently second only to Italy.

For now, we are safe and settled. We have everything we need to wait out the crisis. Best way to contact us is email simon@salter.email or diane@salter.email. Stay safe, don’t panic and take care of each other.

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