Am I right in assuming that my UK insurance will not cover me in Morocco??
Tanger Med:You'll need to check whether of not your insurance company does in fact cover Maroc,by giving them a call or reading your policy. A lot of UK companies don't provide cover. You'll pay approx €90 for 3 weeks when buying same at the port. You just ask the customs dudes or anyone else there where the offices are...they're easy to find as there are only a few and are in booth formats.
If they're closed say just after 1800hrs or thereabouts then you'll have to ride back the next day and buy some. Normal insurance offices or banks in towns as far as my experience goes do not sell the insurance,hence why I mentioned Tanger Port or Tanger Med. In my 2013 ride report mentioned before you can see that I escorted one of our riders to the insurance office that I know in Tanger Port. All easy to do and over the counter in about 10 mins...and they'll speak English.
Wouldn't do any harm to check to see whether you arrive at any sort fo public holiday also just out of interest.
If you look at the Lonely Planet website and look at the Thorn Tree forums you'll see a section for Maroc. There's Moroccan locals who write there and you can find unique info for where you think you'll be.
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/forum.jspa?forumID=9&keywordid=35
Also a quick guide I use often when thinking of heading somewhere new is
http://looklex.com/morocco/
if you've a Garmin GPS then ditch the Garmin map of Maroc and use the free Open Street Maps as these will show off road pistes and are easy to follow. This'll allow you to get off the beaten track as you wish. Scroll down and pick your maps...you'll see France Portugal etc along with Maroc.
http://mapas.alternativaslibres.es/downloads.php
When I finish my ride report I'll give a list of tips and stuff to take from a minimal and light travel point of view based on what works for me.
Normally I would've headed over with my family in my 4x4 and these days since I stopped working as an off road guide for Redtread Morocco I save €100/month over 10 months and head off for almost 3 weeks every end of October/Nov. This year I might try a different ride of following the coast after the interior and heading to the likes of Tan Tan etc
My remit is to head over the Atlas and then you're into the Berber aspect fo living and not the Northern type of living. I find this more genuine along with the fact that in Oct/Nov it can be inclement north of the Atlas,never mind Europe,and you have the 25c sunny weather!
If you see my report you get some idea of ride times and distances to various routes heading south. If I save a day by autoroute riding then thats another 150-200kms off road I win on another day!
www.viamichelin.com now do route planning for Maroc (a few years ago you could only see the map of Maroc) This'll give you an accurate idea of distances and times. Just click on route planner and enter in your details as normal.
Anything else feel free to ask.
