Struggling to camp

We are greatly enjoying our time in Morocco thus far, but we’d really like to be camping more than we are. Camping is a highlight for us when travelling, for many reasons. We love being in nature, being in charge of our own schedule, breathing fresh air and listening to the soundscapes (ok, maybe that’s just me).

A few things have conspired against us camping as much as we’d like in Morocco, so far.

Wind

We realise we’ve guffed on about the wind enough by this point (and it has let up a bit just lately) but it’s both tricky in terms of the cycling and in terms of camping. This was even more pronounced in the parts of the country we cycled through initially, due to the lack of any real cover.

We have seen more dense forests in the mountains which provide more shelter from the wind, though the terrain is mostly still suboptimal thus far.

Terrain

The terrain has been tough for camping during these first three weeks. Be that in terms of finding any flat surface, or if you do, what’s underfoot (undertent). We could count on one hand the spaces we have spotted so far that we’d ideally consider setting up a tent on and much of it is just impossible. Even ok areas in other terms are often plagued by spiky vegetation. This has slightly improved over the past few days (and we have wild camped twice as a result) but we’re often still quite a long way off what spaces that tent manufacturers would recommend.

It was a combination of wind and terrain led to sand in the tent on the first camping night…

People everywhere

When looking into wild camping in Morocco, we came across this fabulous blog post by PushBikeGirl who, in the section where she talks about water, mentions that even in the most remote places she rarely feels lonely. This is what we have found too. Whenever we think that we’ve found somewhere that it might be possible to camp, there’s a shepherd, a tiny house tucked just back from the road, or people wandering through the landscape on foot or by donkey. Early on in our trip we were cycling through what appeared to be desert and a chap just walked by. We have no idea where he came from or where he was going. He was a long way from any settlement. This has happened many times since. Wild wees are funny too as they often result in sniggering from the surrounding trees.

The shepherds also move around the landscape over quite long distances and a donkey can mean that even what appears to be inaccessible is easily traversed by local people.

This means that there are very few places to hide. Even in England with a high population density, we have found more remote places (no habitation or walkers) than in our time in Morocco so far. In England it often just needs to be more than a stone’s throw from a car park ;)

Seeking permission

Where land is more obviously owned we always attempt to seek permission prior to camping somewhere, or exclude it from our search if it’s clearly farmed or grazed. We’re happy to do this because we really do not want to upset our hosts or local people and we want to leave a good impression. The two points here are that we’re sometimes not 100% sure who to ask. Often there’s no one around but we’re aware that much of the flat/good ground spots are grazed and we don’t want to be the source of an unpleasant surprise.

The second point is that asking for permission can lead to a homestay. These are very special moments where we spend time with local people and learn more about their way of life, but at times they can be very intense particularly when there is a language barrier. Too much socialising is also one of Beck’s Long Covid triggers so we have to bear this in mind too. We do like our own company and in a place where everyone wants to say hello and where we stand out, we sometimes just need the quiet.

We may be overthinking this a little (again) but we are not easily able to explain our wants and our situation, as we could in Norway, Scotland or Spain, due to our distinct lack of Arabic/Berber, but we are keen not to seem rude, especially if someone is offering us their hospitality in such a kind way.

Campsites

We’ve passed very few areas so far where campsites are open. Where they have been, we’ve jumped at the opportunity to camp in a designated space, with facilities to boot. All for very reasonable overnight rates.

Cheap accommodation

In the wind and rain, we’ve looked for accommodation and there have been lots of very cheap options. In almost every town there is something available, particularly as we’re here in the off-season. It has been extremely affordable for us, so we have leaned into this when we have found camping less feasible.

The accommodation has been a mix of hotels, apartments and guesthouses/auberges. They have all been very ‘Moroccan’ in style rather than European and we have loved getting settled in to a cosy bed piled high with blankets against the cold (many Moroccan properties do not have heating). I must add that it has been a mix of standards with some cleaner and with more quality furnishings than others but when you’ve been on the road a long time and your other option is camping, you take great joy in being somewhere safe from the weather.

Eating out has been amazingly affordable too. Ingredients in stores are often more expensive (and you have to do the cooking too) compared to getting a cooked meal. We’ve greatly enjoyed trying local tagines, harira and sfenj at restaurants and cafes wherever we’ve been.

Since starting this blog post things have moved more in our favour with the weather improving substantially and the terrain/landscapes being more approachable. We are starting to find hidden areas which aren’t farmed that we can hide in. We’ve been taking a little lead from local people who are visiting open spaces for picnics and the like and so they feel like acceptable areas for us to visit too. Once we think we’ve picked a spot, we cook dinner to give us some time to check our surroundings and then go for it. We always leave our tent area tidy when we go to bed and leave no trace in the morning (although we’re often surrounded by other rubbish…which is another story).

We’re liking being back in control of our days/nights and spending quiet time in nature. With a view like this, who could not enjoy a night’s camping.