Fording rivers, the good, the bad and the ugly

[Tim Cullis]

The good—after waiting 24 hours for the water levels to drop

I waited an hour or so whilst a JCB was used to clear the ford bed of boulders and fill in some holes. This was actually only the first of four problem areas and it took six hours to cover the 22km to Tinerhir.

 

[Tim Cullis]

The bad—retreat to Tamtatouchte for the night

You can see the exit of the ford on the left. Just as well I didn't try it as the day next I calculated the water was about 1.5m deep. The flooding extended (at least) from Merzouga to west of Taliouine and included the Rheris, Todra, Dades, Draa, Mgoun and Ouarzazate rivers.

 

[Tim Cullis]

The ugly (aka how NOT to cross a side river)

This is before I came to the blocker above. Those who know the Todra area will realise this video starts high up by the marabout of Sidi Mohamed T'massint (the tomb on the left across the river).

This is an object lesson in the dangers of over confidence. I had already crossed more than 50 fords that day, mostly fairly deep and fast running, so I was a bit gung-ho on this one. In retrospect I should have started more centrally and aimed diagonally to the right (and probably given it a bit more power as well).

 

[jdivision]

Those videos are from recent days? I'm heading to Morocco tomorrow. I was hoping to find nice weather...

 

[Greg Masters]

The bad—retreat to Tamtatouchte for the night

You can see the exit of the ford on the left. Just as well I didn't try it as the day next I calculated the water was about 1.5m deep. The flooding extended (at least) from Merzouga to west of Taliouine and included the Rheris, Todra, Dades, Draa, Mgoun and Ouarzazate rivers.

No problems!

 

[diplomaticdanny]

A well ridden GS!

 

[Devon]

Looks like a wetsuit would be handy at the moment Tim!

 

[Tim Cullis]

Everywhere is drying out now, not much to see other than dried mud. Had a couple of nights in Sidi Ifni, now in Tafraoute.

Went for a ride early this morning to the painted rocks and just sat in the silence (once I'd switched the engine off) for 15 minutes, drinking in the scenery. Morocco is soooo beautiful.

 

[W900BMW]

Staying with the welcoming Liesbeth at Chez Amaliya by any chance? she mentioned you by name when I was there earlier this year!

 

[Tim Cullis]

I did pop in but she's not there at the moment. I'm staying at Hotel Salama which is brilliant value at 178dh/night for a snazzy room, albeit no bar or swimming pool.

Went for a drink at Hotel Amandiers yesterday and met up with John Fulton/Brigette Lucas of Wildcat Adventures and Hana Ptackova of MotoAdvenTours and had dinner with them last night.

Went agadir bagging this morning and visited four I'd never been to before.

 

[howardmc]

Thanks

Hi Tim
Thanks for all the Morrocan info on UKGSer, its been really useful.
Hope things have dried out a little. Should be there mid Nov with a few friends on a bike trip.
Any tips for this time of year?
Thanks again.