After a really good night’s sleep, we got up, had breakfast, and went for a walk around the city again. It was really quiet, not many people about nor shops open so we decided to pack and drive the 200km back to Agadir, collect the dogs, and chill for the rest of the day, foregoing the trip to Sidi Kaoki and Imsouane as planned. They are easy to get to from Aourir anyway on a day trip, and we just wanted to get home.

After an uneventful drive back, apart from the multiple speed traps all the way, we collected the dogs from the Ranch, they were very pleased to see us and made lots of fuss – then made our way back to Aourir to unpack, sort out photos and relax for the day.

Thoughts on the trip

After every trip, we try and look at the good bits and the not-so-good bits – hopefully, if you followed this story, you will learn from our mistakes and enjoy the bits you should see and do.

Firstly, it was very obvious that we tried to do too many things and underestimated the driving – it is not only a long way, but the roads also are not very easy either. Driving in these conditions is very tiring and you ache every day after.

This trip should have been 7 nights to be fair, or we should have left a few things out. I am really glad we booked the tented desert camp – that was superb and also I really loved Ait Ben Hadou.

Perhaps if we had not gone to Essaouira it would have been a better trip – we can go here in a few hours from Agadir, but I did not want to travel the same road twice.

Errachida was also rushed, we actually never stopped, so coming back from Merzouga without going north would have cut out 600km or more.

But, the aim of the trip was to spend a load of time with the Ladies – they are so amazing and we love them dearly.

Also, to give them an adventure they would not forget, they have been in Morocco for 25 years and have never done a tented camp or driven on the sand dunes! Well, now they have!

One really funny thing is that the Ladies make up a little song for every incident, its never written down but just made on the fly – we laughed so much a the crazy rhymes made up each night….so much so that after the trip Karen and I sat and made our own up too (see the attached image!). Karen printed it and we framed it, giving it to the Ladies as a memento, along with some nice pics too.

We found out later that after the Ladies left us, they made good time to Agadir, but 15km from home….they got caught by a speed trap!

Marion speaks fluent French, so when the officer tried to book her, she said she had a disease called “Heavy Foot Disease” so could not help the excess speed….she managed to confuse the guy so much he let her off the fine – haha C’est Maroc!!

Our little Dacia Duster 4×4 is awesome. It’s so simple and easy to drive, takes on all terrain, and is just a great car – I love it. If you do a trip like this, make sure you are prepared and check everything. I have spades, tow ropes, puncture kits, a pump, sand chains, and loads of water as a minimum.

So what to do next trip? Wild camping with the dogs, going South I think – Akfinner and Dahkla are on my list now!