Morocco Tour (Report of March Tour 2006, written by Roger Bishop) Many of you will know that some Club members recently embarked on a tour of Morocco. Sue and I wanted to experience this vast land but with the added security of fellow travelers and in the company of someone who had first hand knowledge of both the country and who could speak fluent French, Morocco's second language. Last winter, by sheer chance, a friend of us met a Swiss couple at a flea market in Spain. The couple, Ed and Floh Ebner, have their own travel company, Blue Camel Tours, and have been running 3 trips a year to Morocco for the past 7 years for Swiss and German motorhomers. Our friend asked if he would consider running a tour for a group of `Brits'. Initially he viewed the idea with some trepidation fearing his knowledge of English was insufficient. It was politely pointed out that this did not appear to be a problem as everything he had said during the last 45 minutes had been understood. After some negotiation Ed agreed to lead a tour of up to 12 `vans if the participants were recruited in the UK for him. The bonus was that the price would be reduced, as he would save on the cost of marketing his spring tour. To cut a long story short sufficient numbers were interested to make the trip financially viable and a tour booked for March 2006 and, on 5th March, 10 Hymers and a Rapido assembled at Tarifa to commence the tour. I will not bore you with the details other than to say the whole trip, some 1680 miles over 21 days, was fantastic. From the Mediterranean to the Rif Mountains, Fes, the Erg Chebbi sand dunes, Marrakech to the edge of the Sahara and then the High Atlas Mountains. From sleeping in the awesome Todrah Gorge to a night amongst the massive sand dunes of the Erg Chebbi, some rising to 120 metres, to a ski station in the High Atlas at 2600 metres and the summit of the Tizi-n-Test Pass at 2100 metres, it was an experience we will not forget. Unlike many tours we did not convoy from place to place but traveled in groups of 2 to 4 `vans at our own pace much of it off the normal tourist circuit. We saw the real Morocco where the 21st century clashes with almost biblical scenes and we were welcomed almost everywhere. This is not a trip for the faint hearted, driver or passenger, or for those who want full facility 5 star sites. It was a kaleidoscope of colours, sights, sounds, tastes and experiences that left us with some wonderful memories. Ed and Floh's experience was of enormous help and we did and saw things many tourists would miss. As I said earlier this was also a first for Blue Camel Tours and they were full of praise for the humour and discipline of our group. This was of course helped as most of us knew each other. The 2007 price per unit is €1670.00 including return ferry fare from Algercerias to Ceuta. The minimum number required for a tour is 6 and the maximum 12. However, Ed was so pleased with our tour that he has offered a similar deal to that we enjoyed - provided someone can arrange a group of 11 to 12 `vans for his next spring tour he will deduct the price of marketing from the overall cost. For details please contact Ed Ebner on Switzerland +41 79 442 67 86; Spain +34 639 739 244 or Morocco +212 6735 6857 or go to www.bluecameltours.com. Between April and late August Ed is normally in Switzerland. He is in Spain from September until November and then will be in Morocco. Should anyone be interested and require further information please do not hesitate to contact me and I am sure that Trevor too would gladly provide more details       © layout and design by aureo / content by blue-camel-tours