- Dec 1, 2020
- 193
- 268
- Funster No
- 78,247
- MH
- Hymer B878 SL
- Exp
- Since Feb 2020
For several years we talked about wintering in Morocco. Eventually, in January this year we took the plunge and headed off to Spain and then on to Morocco. From Tangier we followed the main road along the coast heading south to Casablanca. In retrospect, this was a mistake, as most of the main roads have potholes so deep they can wreck your suspension, so after 40 miles of this we could see no improvement and headed inland for the motorway, which is a toll road but not expensive. The motorway is very good and was quiet. Services were few and far between, so plenty of diesel was essential.
I won't elaborate on campsites, as many on the forum have done so before, but safe to say we wouldn't want to visit Casablanca again, as it's just another big city. Our most southerly target was Agadir, so we continued south until the motorway ran out, which put us back on main roads that were far better than those in the north. We were heading for Sidi Kaouki to spend the night and were trundling along the main road at 50 mph following a bus when suddenly a flock of sheep came straight out of the bushes at the side of the road and ran in front of us. I had no chance of stopping and hit the leading sheep smack on the front of the motorhome. A cloud of hot steam immediately filled the cab so I knew the radiator had gone. We felt the motohome bouncing over the sheep, which we knew would now be dead. The rest of the flock ran head first into the side of the motorhome smashing the offside headlight and ripping all the handles off the hatches and a corner section of the rear bumper.
By now the motorhome was not driveable with no radiator but I had to get off the road so I continued for a hundred yards or so to a space between the trees. My immediate thoughts were what a pickle we were now in, being in the middle of nowhere in a foriegn country with a busted motorhome.
Thankfully a motorist stopped and phoned the police who eventually arrived and arranged a recovery truck to take us to the nearest big town, Essaouira. The recovery truck was rated at 3 tons max and our motorhome is 5 tons, but no one seemed to care, even the police. Eventually we were dumped by the side of the road in an industrial area in Essaouira. We sat here for 9 days until a recovery truck big enough could be found to take us back to Tangier 700km away.
During our stay in Essaouira we became friendly with the locals, who seemed to take pity on us and frequently brought us fresh bread from the local bakery. We felt like refugees. These folks had very little but were always smiling and happy and ready to do anything they could for us, which we thought was such a contrast to some places we've been where the motohome would be sitting on bricks by now with all the wheels gone.
The nine days stay in Essaouira gave us chance to explore the town, which has a beautiful sea front and promenade and a cafe that was frequented by Jimmy Hendricks with many photos of him on the walls.
Eventually a large recovery truck arrived from Marrakesh and took us and the motorhome to Tangier. From the time of the collision it took us 2 weeks until we arrived back home in the south of France having travelled with a mixture of the recovery truck, hire car and taxi all paid for by our insurance company.
We are now awaiting parts from Germany to repair the motorhome and don't expect to have it back for several months. We shall certainly return to Morocco, as it is a great place to spend winter and the people are very friendly and obliging, which brings me to the reason for my post. I want to buy a bull bar for the front of the Hymer. I've seen motorhomes fitted with such things in Europe but don't know where to get one. We often visit family in the UK and we travel all over Europe so collection is no problem, so any help in finding one would be welcome.
I won't elaborate on campsites, as many on the forum have done so before, but safe to say we wouldn't want to visit Casablanca again, as it's just another big city. Our most southerly target was Agadir, so we continued south until the motorway ran out, which put us back on main roads that were far better than those in the north. We were heading for Sidi Kaouki to spend the night and were trundling along the main road at 50 mph following a bus when suddenly a flock of sheep came straight out of the bushes at the side of the road and ran in front of us. I had no chance of stopping and hit the leading sheep smack on the front of the motorhome. A cloud of hot steam immediately filled the cab so I knew the radiator had gone. We felt the motohome bouncing over the sheep, which we knew would now be dead. The rest of the flock ran head first into the side of the motorhome smashing the offside headlight and ripping all the handles off the hatches and a corner section of the rear bumper.
By now the motorhome was not driveable with no radiator but I had to get off the road so I continued for a hundred yards or so to a space between the trees. My immediate thoughts were what a pickle we were now in, being in the middle of nowhere in a foriegn country with a busted motorhome.
Thankfully a motorist stopped and phoned the police who eventually arrived and arranged a recovery truck to take us to the nearest big town, Essaouira. The recovery truck was rated at 3 tons max and our motorhome is 5 tons, but no one seemed to care, even the police. Eventually we were dumped by the side of the road in an industrial area in Essaouira. We sat here for 9 days until a recovery truck big enough could be found to take us back to Tangier 700km away.
During our stay in Essaouira we became friendly with the locals, who seemed to take pity on us and frequently brought us fresh bread from the local bakery. We felt like refugees. These folks had very little but were always smiling and happy and ready to do anything they could for us, which we thought was such a contrast to some places we've been where the motohome would be sitting on bricks by now with all the wheels gone.
The nine days stay in Essaouira gave us chance to explore the town, which has a beautiful sea front and promenade and a cafe that was frequented by Jimmy Hendricks with many photos of him on the walls.
Eventually a large recovery truck arrived from Marrakesh and took us and the motorhome to Tangier. From the time of the collision it took us 2 weeks until we arrived back home in the south of France having travelled with a mixture of the recovery truck, hire car and taxi all paid for by our insurance company.
We are now awaiting parts from Germany to repair the motorhome and don't expect to have it back for several months. We shall certainly return to Morocco, as it is a great place to spend winter and the people are very friendly and obliging, which brings me to the reason for my post. I want to buy a bull bar for the front of the Hymer. I've seen motorhomes fitted with such things in Europe but don't know where to get one. We often visit family in the UK and we travel all over Europe so collection is no problem, so any help in finding one would be welcome.
