Wednesday 3 February

During the night one of the wandering dogs came nearby barking continuously – we hear them all the time in the distance but not usually as close. Of course this disturbed Jamie and in turn us; it was at least 15mins before the dog moved away (did someone go out and chase it off?) and we could settle him down again. Ah the joys of dog lovers.

Moving on today so up at a reasonable time to get the packing done. It all has to go in in a certain order and inevitably the first things to load, i.e. the ramps, are the last to be available. But once everything was ready it didn't take long and, having also serviced the van (we mean, of course, empty the waste tanks and refill the water, not grease and change the oil!) we were ready by 10.45. No rush as we're not going far, but it's a good idea to get there early before the French and bag a good spot.

Dues paid, our first call was to refuel. Later calculations horrified us, consumption only 21 mpg even though we had only been gently cruising and everything appeared to be fine. We'll have to watch this but we're beginning to have suspicions about the amount of fuel actually put in because according to the gauge it shouldn't have taken quite that much.

According to the map, the direct road to our destination is only a track but we'd been assured by several people that it was indeed a recently resurfaced and decent road all the way. TomTom refused to provide a route, although it did acknowledge that there was some form of road there – but it would take 9 hours! So to our backup, the free Android app Maps.me, which happily confirmed that the road did indeed exist.

But it was a bit boring. Miles and miles of open hamada (scrub desert) with few bends in the road, broken only three times by bridges awaiting repair and the road diverted round them. We still had mountains around us but we were obviously crossing a flood plain as there were many fording points, usually a dip in the road lined by short concrete posts – must be interesting in the wet season!

Don't see this roadsign often

But it's right!

Occasionally the monotony was broken by little things; a small herd of camels, children appearing from literally nowhere to wave and beg sweeties, (or pens, smartphone, dirhams – getting a bit up-to-date these kids) and what appeared to be some sort of motorcycle (well moped) event. There were also a number of crossroads, well tracks, leading to who knows where, the signs all being in Arabic. And we also noticed the modern two-lane highway ran alongside the old track, which TomTom was obviously following.

As we got nearer to Zagora we saw evidence of quite extensive agriculture; several palmeries with young trees being grown in rows, just like christmas trees, and large areas fenced off and being cultivated under strips of polythene. No idea what they were growing though. Obviously there is water quite close to the surface and we did spot a well close to some habitation.

Approaching Zagora

Zagora, our destination, is a relatively modern and quite large town, set in a river valley but also close to the edge of the desert proper, i.e. sand dunes, which makes it a bit touristy too. It even has it's own airport. Tourist accommodation is plentiful, as are campsites and by personal recommendation we chose Auberge Parc de Jardines which is almost in the centre of town. A full proper site with all facilities within high walls so quite secure too – although we've never been concerned on that score in Morocco. We found an ideal corner where we could park up all four vans together and also provided shade as well as plenty of hot sun. Yes, hot – 33 degrees of it. The only downside, quite common in the sparsely populated areas, is low voltage electricity which the fridge won't accept so we're running on gas, something we've tried to avoid given the lack of suitable refilling facilities.

Site entrance - Impressive

Nice little spot under the palm trees

After lunch we thought we'd go for a mooch, the others already having gone off, as we were needy of several grocery items. However the afternoon sun was really too much for strolling in and when a local shopkeeper told us it was 2km to the souk and anyway it was closed, but would we like to visit his market just 200 metres away, we decided to forego that experience and returned to the campsite. A quick walk round revealed all the essentials as well as a bar (empty) and what looked like a restaurant with a menu – maybe investigate that further.

When the others came back they reported that care is needed when shopping, someone trying to rip them off over a bagful of vegetables. Tourism does have the occasional downside unfortunately.

So back to Bertie and a fractious little puppy. Probably due to the heat, Jamie would not settle and it was well into the evening before we could calm him down. And Westies have a very high-pitched yelping bark which can really get on your nerves................ But it's now approaching 10.00 p.m. and he's finally dozing on the seat. Dogs!