Anyone fancy Morocco? (1 Viewer)

[dantheman]

I am due to fly out to Morocco for 2 weeks this february, 2nd to 16th, was wondering if anyone was interested in a trip out there that way. Flights from Stansted are pretty cheap at the moment (£56 return + baggage allowance to Agadir).

The hoped-for crew to accompany me never happened, so although I'm not desperately needing company, it would be nice, and probably be cool if anyone was interested- car hire is cheap to start with, but sharing hire and fuelcosts always makes sense, more eyes to find birds etc all good reasons if anyone was interested.

My plan is to spend up to a week doing the Western Sahara circuit, and a week doing the more traditional sites in the north (have yet to do Marsh Owl and Francoline for starters), along with other desert stuff etc. Of course there's time for plenty of flexibility and lots of good birds all over. It would also probably work if anyone wanted to/could only do a week only ...

Cheers, post or pm if interested (and I know these dates may be totally useless and too short notice ... oh well ), see what happens ...


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I posted the above already in the morocco forum a couple of days ago. In the light of interest shown already, the following may be worth noting;

From my point of view, erring on the budget side of things. It's short notice, but hire car hire can be arranged late, and I haven't ever done the pre-booking accomodation thing. But if people wanted to sleep in luxury hotels, I'd just use the car ... Night driving an option - might use it to deal with some of the huge distances in W Sahara, but not definitive (it can be too knackering). So there's plenty of room and scope for compromise and working out a good trip.

No visa required beforehand. You need 6 months left on your passport, Isreal passport stamps not a problem.

 

[Jos Stratford]

And should anyone need added incentive to take up this offer, THIS is the type of trip Dan is offering, covering both Morocco and Western Sahara. All in all, an excellent destination.

 

[dantheman]

And should anyone need added incentive to take up this offer, THIS is the type of trip Dan is offering, covering both Morocco and Western Sahara. All in all, an excellent destination.

Cheers Jos, and yes, it's certainly a top destination :t: . Probably should have thought of it at a time, but here is my trip report from the Western Sahara a couple of years later Western Sahara and Morocco 19th – 26th Feb 2009. (Doesn't contain photos!) Some good stuff has been found since - Pied Crow, Western Reef Heron (must be more on the coast), and other things doubtlessly remain to be found ...

It should be pointed out the distances in Western Sahara - involves a lot of driving. (There is a bus from Agadir to Dakhla - £40+ single I believe, takes about 26 hours.) Of course, a buses top speed is lower, and there are a couple of good (necessary) birding stops along the way.

Was hoping to do the WP bit of the Banc d'Arguin in Mauretania too, but since there is a travel advisory against it (something about a terrorist cell ...) perhaps not this time ...

That should put everyone off now ...

 

[Jos Stratford]

Was hoping to do the WP bit of the Banc d'Arguin in Mauretania too, but since there is a travel advisory against it (something about a terrorist cell ...) perhaps not this time ...

That should put everyone off now ...

He he he, that's the kind of incentive that would rope me in. However, think the cost of it then starts adding up - no way to take a hire car from Western Sahara, prices of logistics in Mauretania considerably higher. Could budget travel it, but reckon it would be more an endurance than a birding trip ...back to my opening sentence, just up my street :-O

 

[Richard Klim]

Maur*tania

Was hoping to do the WP bit of the Banc d'Arguin in Mauretania too...

...prices of logistics in Mauretania considerably higher.

Aarrgh!!! Why do so many birders always refer to the west African nation of Mauritania as 'Mauretania' (an ancient region of northern Morocco and western/central Algeria)?

Anyway, Mauritania is definitely a great birding destination! [Mauretania probably is, too...]

Richard

PS: More importantly, should be a useful forum.

 

[dantheman]

... and there was me feeling highly pleased with myself for managing to spell Dhakla correctly for the first time ... :-O

Quite fortunate I didn't put Mauritius tbh ...

 

[Richard Klim]

Mauritania

I'll admit that I had to check the spelling before applying to the embassy for a visa.

Anyway, it's not as bad as 'Columbia' for Colombia, which even The Grauniad has been guilty of, despite frequently being an everyday news topic. :eek!:

Richard

PS: Don't let this put anyone off travelling to Morocco with Dan. Just be careful if he's ordering from the menu!

 

[Jos Stratford]

Aarrgh!!! Why do so many birders always refer to the west African nation of Mauritania as 'Mauretania'...

Guilty, but in mitigation may I just state I was copying Dan, believing him to be far more intellectual than me :-O

 

[Larry Sweetland]

Sounds wicked Dan, always wanted to go to Molucca.

 

[dantheman]

Guilty, but in mitigation may I just state I was copying Dan, believing him to be far more intellectual than me :-O

Keep believing it ...

Although I'm only pretending to be intellectual (probably far sadder lol ).

(And I once bought a single in a charity shop by a group called Moloko ... don't know why!)

 

[Acrocephalus]

Aarrgh!!! Why do so many birders always refer to the west African nation of Mauritania as 'Mauretania' (an ancient region of northern Morocco and western/central Algeria)?

I can’t blame foreigner birders for this mistake when I found even some Moroccans (who are supposed to know, aren't they?) think that mauretanicus / mauretanica refer to the modern-day Mauritania, rather than the ancient North African region. By the way, whatever the spelling is, with “I” or with “E”, still refers to the ancient region (mauretanicus / mauretanica, mauritanicus / mauritanica, mauritanus). There are many examples from birds, reptiles, amphibians and many of them don’t occur in Mauritania at all.

 

[jogresh]

... and there was me feeling highly pleased with myself for managing to spell Dhakla correctly for the first time ... :-O

Quite fortunate I didn't put Mauritius tbh ...

You mean Dakhla?
Have a good one it will rock big i am sure.

 

[YourBirdOasis]

Would love to go on such a trip, but since I cannot...you could be kind enough and allow the rest of us to live vicariously through you by posting a nice trip report and pictures! :t:

 

[caligata]

I also hope to read a good report as soon as possible after your trip. We are going to Morocco just 1 month after you. We are probably travelling the most of coast from Casablanca until Western Sahara. Our goal is to see all the most important WP-ticks. So good luck to your trip and tell us good news that all the best birds are still there and maybe something new ;-)

 

[Newton Stringer]

This really is an AWESOME destination !!

Been a couple of times and loved it, dead cheap, dead easy to do it on your own, and dead friendly too !

There are some pics from my last visit here...

http://newtonstringer.blogspot.com/2009/12/honeymoon-strictly-no-birding.html

http://newtonstringer.blogspot.com/2009/12/some-more-morocco-pics.html

http://newtonstringer.blogspot.com/2009/12/house-bunting-in-marrakech.html

 

[dantheman]

You mean Dakhla?
Have a good one it will rock big i am sure.

I'm afraid that one was actually deliberate, but well spotted nonetheless ...

And I'm sure some report or another will be forthcoming ... the trip is definitely all go now with 3 intrepid bf members making up the team, with cameras, notebooks and our consumate birding skills (cough, splutter...) at the ready I'm sure we'll be reporting back some excellent birds in due course ...

 

[orniodesigns]

I would be grateful if someone knows good fossil collecting spots near birding sites. I know there can be fossils every where, but I cant spent whole holiday turning stones... There is photographing and birding to do.

 

[Jos Stratford]

I would be grateful if someone knows good fossil collecting spots near birding sites. I know there can be fossils every where, but I cant spent whole holiday turning stones... There is photographing and birding to do.

I found a near perfect fossilized tortoise on my first visit to Morocco, just lying on the bare sand.

 

[turkish van]

I found a near perfect fossilised tortoise on my first visit to Morocco, just lying on the bare sand.

Cool. Do you still have it?

 

[Richard Klim]

I would be grateful if someone knows good fossil collecting spots near birding sites.

Around Erfoud in the Tafilalt it can seem that everyone you meet is selling fossils - major dealers in the town, hoteliers, roadside stalls in the collecting areas...

Richard