A diverse mixture of peoples from Arabs and Berbers to the Touareg put an especially colourful mark on the land on the very northwest of Africa. Date-palm plantations, brooks which get lost in the Sahara, forgotten villages under the snow-capped mountain peaks and vivid colors in a number of settlements ensure you that in addition to the unique motorcycle desert experience, you’ll also experience a true culture shock.
DAY-BY-DAY PROGRAMME
Day 1: YOUR DEPARTURE POINT – MARRAKESH
Please arrive at Marrakesh, a charming oriental city on the northern slopes of the High Atlas, where your motorbike will be waiting for you, latest by mid-afternoon. We recommend an evening stroll to the main city square Jamaa el-Fna with the famous storytellers and snake charmers, stalls selling freshly squeezed orange juice or meat skewers, and adjacent minaret of the magnificent Koutoubia Mosque. Overnight at the hotel.
Day 2: MARRAKESH – TIZI N TICHA – AIT BENHADDOU
The first riding day on our off-road motorbike tour in Morocco will take us off the road a kilometre or so from the hotel. Before reaching the High Atlas, we ride off the asphalt and through majestic mountains mostly on gravel roads, partly also on poorly maintained asphalt. An obligatory stop is on the Tichka pass. Till the Kasbah (citadel) Telouet we’ll ride our motorbikes along a narrow asphalt road which will later turn into slightly technical trails to reach the Kasbah Ait Benhaddou, included on the UNESCO World Heritage List and the filming set for many films. After a walk through the kasbah we ride off-road to the nearby hotel, opened in an ancient adobe-built fortress.
Distance:
Surface: asphalt, gravel and sharp rocks.
Day 3: AIT BENHADDOU – NOOR OUARZAZATE – SKOURA
After the breakfast we’ll ride our bikes from the hotel towards the east following the so-called Valley of the Kasbahs to the Kasbah Amridil in Skoura, where we will spend the next night. The daily stage will allow us to ride more or les technically, depending on each participant's desires and skills. After having ridden only 130 km in the whole day, we'll conclude the stage nicely tired.
Distance: 130 km
Surface: compact sand, gravel piste, rocks, dirt road.
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Day 4: SKOURA – IFRANE N AIT ZGHAR – AIT TOUMORT – BOU THARAR – DADES
We’ll ride our enduro bikes to the north this time and once again head into the High Atlas. Long, physically demanding, but a stunningly beautiful mountain stage will lead us eastwards on quite narrow and winding paths under the high ridges of the highest mountains of North Africa. In these very remote areas, we’ll quite often drive through villages, inaccessible by car, so the locals are not used to see tourists. The landscape and the living conditions there are pretty wild.
We will spend the night in the Dades valley in a nice hotel above the river.Distance: km
Surface: asphalt, compact sand, gravel piste, rocks, dirt road.Day 5: DADES – MSEMRIR – TAMTETOUCHT – TINGHIR – SAGHRO – NQOB
We'll refuel our motorcycles in the morning and then head over the 2,600 m high mountain pass and through the river Todgha gorge descend to the charming town of Tinghir and have a quick lunch there. Past oases with palm groves, where all sorts of crops are grown among the irrigation channels which require dedicated care and maintenance, we ride to the south end of the town where a magnificent view of the highest peaks of the Massif Saghro in the Anti-Atlas mountains will open to our eyes. It’s a day of fast pistes, numerous villages, mountain gravel bends through the abandoned mining "ghost town". Later, we'll take our motorbikes past dented peaks to the southern side of the Anti-Atlas where in the town of Nqob a far more desert atmosphere will be already felt.
Distance: km
Surface: gravel roads and rocky surfaces.Day 6: NQOB – MERZOUGA
A marathon stage on our dirt bike tour in Morocco will be set today through dry (?) riverbeds, past small oases and rivers that disappear among the dunes of southern Morocco, over the hills and under high cliffs. After a very long day on the bike, we’ll reach a completely African dusty desert town of Merzouga. Facial features of the locals mixed with the Touareg are much sharper and a very dark skin under the hoods of their white jelabbas offers an even sharper contrast.
In the distance, the mighty silhouette of erg Chebbi will rise ahead of us. It’s a huge set of dunes, at the base of which we’ll spend the next 3 days.Distance: km
Surface: asphalt, gravel and sand dunes.Day 7: MERZOUGA – DUNES – MERZOUGA
Here we are! The grand Moroccan heap of sand with sky-high dunes is at our disposal for discovering, getting stuck, jumping and sweating on our bikes.
Distance: km
Surface: dunesDay 8: MERZOUGA / DUNES – REST DAY
Saaaaaaand!!!
Distance: km
Surface: dunes.Day 9: MERZOUGA – RISSANI – ZIZ – MERZOUGA
If we get bored with the dunes, we’ll take our motorbikes direction north to the caravan town of Rissani and possibly further to the pleasantly cool oasis, stretching along the Ziz valley. On the way back to the south we cross the lunar landscape around different plantations and across vertical shafts of underground irrigation channels ghetarrat.
Surface: rocky desert and asphalt or sand dunes.
Day 10: MERZOUGA – ER-RACHIDIA
Early in the morning, we'll take you to the Er-Rachidia airport, where our services end. From there, you can take a flight with Royal Air Maroc to Casabalanca or keep exploring Morocco on your own.
Moroccan Desert Soul enduro desert adventure is intended for experienced riders with well-prepared bikes. You can also rent a bike from our fleet, in this case it will be delivered to you at the beginning of the adventure in Morocco. This adventure tour was created as an upgrade of the Tunisian Desert Soul enduro desert adventure for riders who want to discover new desert landscapes, its hauntingly beautiful nature and, in comparison with Tunisia, pretty rich culture. Due to the specifics of off-road riding on this adventure – a number of routes is only a single-track – our supporting vehicles do not follow us, we only meet them at the supply points. On some routes the assistance vehicles would take quite some time to reach us, on others it would be even impossible. This fact will define the dynamics of riding through the remote valleys of wild and beautiful Moroccan landscape. -
TERMS AND CONDITIONS
A valid driver's license is required to take part in our Adventure on the motorbike as we'll be also riding on public roads. We do not check your license, but prior to the first driving stage, you will have to sign a declaration that you possess one and that you will ride according to your experience and capabilities and entirely on your responsibility. In case of an emergency, the insurance company might require you to present your valid driver's license.
WHY DESERT SOUL
Different. Special. Unforgettable.
Afford yourself a crazy experience
in the dunes and oasis.
With us, you'll live a true adventure.
Years of experience in the Sahara and in conventional tourism.
You'll get a highly professional service.
Activities between November and March.
HAPPY CUSTOMERS
An unforgettable experience, always remembered with joy. Desert impressions get imprinted deep into the memories and all person that hasn't experienced that, missed something in their life.
~ Robert Brajdih
There are things you dream of in your life and those you make true. Tilen, thank you for doing the following... you made my yeras-long dreams true... that is, to conquer the desert! Tunisia 2012 will remain in my memories for ever while looking forward to my next expedition in your organization, Tilen. :)
~ Rožle Rogelj
