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MartinK



Member Since: 02 Mar 2011
Location: Silverdale (Lancashire/Cumbria Border)
Posts: 2663

United Kingdom 2011 Defender 110 Puma 2.4 USW Orkney Grey
Hang on guys...what;s wrong with Vauxhall. Good for the British economy, good for jobs here (lots of employment from vauxhall in the NW), I drove one 250 miles last night - great car, 50+mpg. Much better than lots of other "standard" cars I can think of...

Certainly would rather have a Vauxhall than a Kia, Renault, Citroen, Dacia, Chrysler and other low/mid-grade cars.

Sorry to hi-jack this great thread about Morocco, but I hate bashing a good (local) product. Defender "Puma" 2.4 110 County Utility (possibly the last of the 2.4's)
Post #723804 16th Aug 2018 1:21pm
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familymad



Member Since: 13 Dec 2011
Location: Bucks
Posts: 3459

 2016 Defender 130 Puma 2.2 HCPU Santorini Black
Back to thread...

Some have PM’d to ask about who we are travelling with, what route and how we are navigating.

We are single vehicle. Reasons are:

1) none of my Defender mates wanted to come

2) 3 weeks away was too much leave for others

3) Tour companies like ProTrax only travel in cooler non school holidays

We used https://sahara-overland.com/2014/12/27/morocco-routes/ bought the book and the Michelin map 741. We decided on High Atlas this visit and planned a route then plotted the days into Gaia. Coloured them different and set off!

We used Gaia GPS in offline mode for the Pyrenees last time and loved it. It’s proving to be an easy map to follow. Have this on my iPad Air with Ram mount and Puma TDCI adaptor from the grab handle. Backed up by Gaia loaded on 3 other devices and good old compass.



Click image to enlarge
 1951 80" S1 2.0
1995 110 300TDI
1995 90 300TDI
Post #723843 16th Aug 2018 4:44pm
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UtilityTruck



Member Since: 09 Jan 2014
Location: Oxford
Posts: 463

United Kingdom 
Awesome - I need to check out Gaia, looks great 2014 Keswick Utility 2.2
Post #723856 16th Aug 2018 5:25pm
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8619simon



Member Since: 04 Nov 2016
Location: North Wales
Posts: 222

Wales 1995 Defender 110 300 Tdi CSW Epsom Green
You'll have a great time Very Happy . The route looks great and nice mix of terrain. Will be interested to hear how you find the heat. I've been over twice now in spring and also autumn and it was hot then.

We're just on our way back up from the Pyrenees, you were right, we had a great trip, brilliant scenary and some lovely tracks.

Enjoy Morocco!
Post #723868 16th Aug 2018 6:59pm
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MartinK



Member Since: 02 Mar 2011
Location: Silverdale (Lancashire/Cumbria Border)
Posts: 2663

United Kingdom 2011 Defender 110 Puma 2.4 USW Orkney Grey
family-mad - this looks awesome - can't wait for more pics Smile Defender "Puma" 2.4 110 County Utility (possibly the last of the 2.4's)
Post #723980 17th Aug 2018 1:01pm
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familymad



Member Since: 13 Dec 2011
Location: Bucks
Posts: 3459

 2016 Defender 130 Puma 2.2 HCPU Santorini Black
Next day we left Chefchaouen heading south for Volubilis. A set of Roman ruins that are stunning. Good quality blacktop and another day of quality driving from the locals (seriously) made us feel like we were in Europe at times. The frequent donkey riders and kids wanting us to stop and hand over some food/money snapped us back into Africa.


Click image to enlarge


Temps were now touching 40deg. Lower road speeds and air con on helped but the damn thing wants to cook its RHD driver with location of the DPF and wonderful automatic seat box and seat heating it does. Passenger seat stays cool. I sweated like a ...

We continued to Azrou and fell upon a campsite called Eurocamp. It was the oddest thing. We were the only campers and the place was incredible and very unlike Morocco. http://www.camping-morocco.com/services.html

Turns out a UAE diplomat sunk a huge wedge into building a 70,000 sq M castle, campsite and 2 personal houses and a mall. It sits entirely empty and unused which is an applauling waste but the campsite is manned by 5 local staff and they keep a zoo of animals. Just the oddest place but running water, hot showers and free baguette in the morning .... a must visit


Click image to enlarge


Woke next morning to find a 200tdi disco had arrived. Camping in the rear and mooching around Morocco from Belgium. Had a good yarn and helped him fix his dual battery which had stopped charging.



Click image to enlarge


Off road begins tomorrow 1951 80" S1 2.0
1995 110 300TDI
1995 90 300TDI
Post #725513 26th Aug 2018 6:08pm
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Bluest



Member Since: 23 Apr 2016
Location: Lancashire
Posts: 3993

United Kingdom 2007 Defender 110 Puma 2.4 XS CSW Java Black
Excellent, brings back some memories. I’ve stayed on that campsite, we called it Camelot. 2007 110 TDCi Station Wagon XS
Post #725514 26th Aug 2018 6:17pm
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familymad



Member Since: 13 Dec 2011
Location: Bucks
Posts: 3459

 2016 Defender 130 Puma 2.2 HCPU Santorini Black
That’s a perfect name for it. Along with Whipsnade ... Rolling with laughter 1951 80" S1 2.0
1995 110 300TDI
1995 90 300TDI
Post #725515 26th Aug 2018 6:22pm
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Bluest



Member Since: 23 Apr 2016
Location: Lancashire
Posts: 3993

United Kingdom 2007 Defender 110 Puma 2.4 XS CSW Java Black
Did the local farm and wildlife keep you awake? Seem to remember it was an unholy racket of animal noises all night, bookended by the call to prayer turned up to 11. 2007 110 TDCi Station Wagon XS
Post #725517 26th Aug 2018 6:24pm
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josefk



Member Since: 09 Jun 2014
Location: lincolnshire
Posts: 113

United Kingdom 2014 Defender 90 Puma 2.2 XS CSW Corris Grey
hi familymad - great thread thanks.

just to ask a follow up question on your offline use of gaia in morocco - what kind of resolution maps did you pre-download for what size area and how big [offline storage] did you find it?

i suppose i could do a £20 experiment with gaia myself by signing up and downloading something but basically i'm trying to decide whether to move into the modern age of GPS equipped tablet + app style of navigation or supplement my current [small screen] garmin GPS with something more capable [Garmin 276Cx] but still dedicated and still within the garmin basecamp/topo/city navigaor ecosystem. quality of map [not UK but europe and north africa] and offline use are the key parameters for me - so much so - quality and availability of maps and size/method of offline storage seems to be the more important choice than GPS/display HW in the end...

anyway - really interesed in how you found gaia in morocco overall and how you managed the offline part.

Cheers
Post #735289 17th Oct 2018 12:33pm
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