On Reflection by Roy Howard

High Atlas Explorer - September 2006

I was going to write ‘On Reflection’ when Beth and I first arrived back from Morocco, but I needed the time to look back on what we’d done. I remember when I was about 14 years old I went sailing in the Baltic.  I didn’t enjoy it that much at the time, especially when we nearly capsized in a storm coming down the approaches to Kiel. I promised myself that if I managed to step onto dry land, I would never sail again. Three weeks later, for some insane reason, I was saying to myself, I wish I could do that again!

I joined the Army as a boy soldier and continued sailing for many years on various types of boats ranging from dinghy’s to small yachts and three masted schooners like the Malcolm Miller and Sir Winston Churchill. I also sailed on the boat called British Steel that Chay Blythe sailed the wrong way round the world – she was renamed British Soldier and an army crew sailed her in one of the first round the world races.

So why the ramble? Sometimes we don’t appreciate the many diverse and beautiful sights and cultures that are around us and fully available to us.  It’s easy to lie on a beach and think how wonderful it is, until you do something that is totally different.  When you actually do some exploring, you find that there’s a bigger world out there.

Last year, as novices, we went to Tunisia with Paul and had a fantastic experience. Having never driven over anything other a farm track, it gave us a good insight into what we could achieve with the right leadership.  So when we decided to do another trip, we had no hesitation in choosing Paul Blackburn of OneLife Adventure and Morocco was the chosen destination.

When we started driving in Morocco, it soon became apparent that it would be totally different to Tunisia.  It seemed as if we moving up a division. The tracks were narrower, the mountains were generally higher and the going was much harder.  The tracks were very diverse, ranging from hard, stony pistes to very narrow mountain passes with sharp hairpins where we had to reverse on edges to get round due to the size of our vehicle.

One thing will always stick in our minds. When leadership is required you need to know that the expedition leader will lead. This was done with extreme professionalism when we managed to find ourselves in an awkward position on the Cirque de Jaffar.  With the edge of the road, loose from the previous night’s rain, collapsing under us, we found ourselves in a precarious position, leaning over the edge. Going forward was not an option.  Paul, using a winch and various strops, managed to save the day, not once but twice. 

He then managed to reverse us back up the pass for about half a mile to the top of the mountain. When we were sitting drinking tea with the experience behind us, I can assure anyone who might be looking for the cheaper option to consider the following - when you’re sitting on the top of a mountain and you looking at 300ft drop, you don’t worry about the cost.  You hope that you made the right decision in expertise.

So ‘On ‘Reflection’, I have a natural terror of heights.  On the ‘devils mountain’ I thought back to when I was 14 years old on the boat in the Kiel approaches and found myself asking whether I wanted to continue.  But I overcame the moment and was glad that I did as not to have continued would have been a major regret. 

• Did we have a good time ?
• Did we get the most out of ourselves and vehicle ?
• Did we enjoy the diverse culture of Morocco, from the mountains to cities and towns?
• Did we enjoy the different types of driving ? 

The answer to these questions is a definite yes.

But I have to ask one more important question.

• Did we get value for the money we paid ?

The answer is a total yes. With the best leadership being demonstrated when it’s needed, the price is irrelevant.