Atlas Mountains, Morocco - anyone have any advice please?

[grwrockster]

I called in on a friend last night. We've done a few European trips, and he's been off work after some surgery, and it was his first day back at work in 3 months. Anyway - as soon as I got there, he launched into an idea - a ride to the edge of the Sahara!

He showed me a recording excerpt from a recent UK car-magazine telly programme called 5th Gear, where they did a feature where they tested a car over a 500km twisty road from Marrakesh that peaks at about 7000 ft in the Atlas Mtns. The presenter made bold claims that it was a better road than The Stelvio Pass and the Col de Torini! (I have my doubts about that claim, but still - Africa!)

The basic outline suggested to me.... Portsmouth-Santander Ferry (cuts out 550 miles through the less inspiring Atlantic coast of France, and saves trekking all the way from West coast to East coast of UK on boring motorways). Due South from Santander to the bottom of Spain (700 miles ish), and short Ferry hop to Morocco. Ride down the coast Tangier to Casablanca, then inland to Marrakesh (about 400 miles-ish I think). Then across this road (N9 I think) 300 miles or so, ending up near the Algerian Border and the Sahara. Then, find our way back again.

When? Early September 2012 being considered, and we'd have probably 2 weeks to do it all start to finish.

It really isn't more than a 'hey - wouldn't this be a good idea!' thing at the moment -but the idea really interests me. It'd be great if anyone out there can contribute anything that could be helpful / interesting / a must see / must ride / must visit / must be careful of etc. etc.

I'd be interested to get any feedback. Thanks!

[Sunbeemer]

I drove across North Africa 30 years ago, and it has probably changed since, but found people very hospitable to travelers (it's part of their belief), and ate everything from roadside kabab vendors and drank lots of mint tea. The only thing that made me sick was a hamburger from the Holiday Inn in Rabat!

Everying was negotiable, especially in the souks (bazaars) and the kids would take you anywhere for a few cigarettes. The roads in Morocco were mostly well surfaced, but not in Algeria and Tunisia (potholed).

People there do not like to have their picture taken (they believe it steals their souls) so ask first. And photographing anything official in most Arab countries is tabu.

You can get by with English in Morocco from what I can remember, but French is also handy (especially in Algeria) unless of course, you speak Arabic.

Marrakesh was a remarkable, magical place. Saw a guy outside the souk there coaxing a cobra out of a basket with a flute. It was mesmerizing and fascinating. I took a picture and got chased by the watching crowd. Lucky the car was nearby to escape in!

There were some amazing roads into the Atlas Mountains, but I can't remember which ones. Sorry.

[grwrockster]

Rich,

Thanks for the reply. Sounds like you had a great time 30-years ago!

I certainly love the idea of getting onto another continent overland. The British Consulate are a bit cautionary about some regions, but I reckon as long as you use your head and take sensible precautions it'd be ok.

We had no plans for visting neighbouring countries (it's still such a glimmer of an idea anyway at the moment - especially as one of the guys' health may not be up to it for a while), but in any case, I think the Algerian border is pretty impossible to cross nowadays.

Still, if the idea manages to grow into reality, I'll be very happy! I'll be careful where I point the camera though!

G.

[Sunbeemer]

Funny you should mention the Algerian crossing being difficult...yes it was, sort of. We just wanted to cross through it to get to Tunisia and needed to buy a 5-day transit visa, which is only available from the border station and only with Algerian Dinars, which we could only get from an Algerian bank (in Algeria, of course), but you can't (officially) go into Algeria to get the Dinars to buy the visa to get into Algeria. A bit of a dilemna. And we'd arrived at the border station after the banks had closed for the day and so had to sleep in a park in Oujda, Morrocco until the banks opened the next day. The next moring we were allowed to go to the nearest Algerian town (I forgot the name) to exchange some Morrocan Durham for Algerian Dinars and come back to the border to buy a visa to get back into the Algeria. I mention all this because this sort of paperwork run-around is not uncommon, and you need a sense of humor to keep your sanity.
But the best part of the story is that while we were parked outside the bank waiting for it to open (remember we had slept in a park and looked like it, a Gendarme walked up to the car and asked why we were parked there and we told him the whole spiel (in fractured French) and he asked if we'd had breakfast yet, to which we responded that we'd only eaten some oranges that turned out to have maggots in them, but we killed them with some wine. He walked across the street to a cafe and came back with (no kidding!) a silver tray set with four cafe-au-lait and half a dozen croissant delivered to our car window! And knowing we had no Dinar (as yet) he would not accept any money! It was an amazing introduction to a country that was full of pleasant surprises for the next three days of crossing.

[papasong]

hah!
I just got back from Morocco, and I just posted the message below on the BMW MOA site:

--------------------------------------------------
So, I did a 4-day solo motorcycle trip from Marrakech, south through amazingly twisty mountain roads, and then through the rocky desert south of the Atlas mountains - and east almost all the way to the Algerian border (and amazing sand dunes). And then north a bit to loop back through more rocky desert, small towns, amazing gorges, etc., and then a different twisty mountain road back to Marrakech.

I ended up renting an F800GS with top case and panniers from Reda Jabri at Palm Road in Marrakech;
http://palm-road.com/en/

Reda and his staff were incredible. The bike was in great shape, and Reda helped me plan the route, and also suggested hotels and B&Bs to stay in. He knew when I'd likely be tired, etc. He was the ultimate fixer in Morocco.

Anyway, I have many other details if anyone is interested. His business is mainly to take large moto-tour groups all around Morocco. But I wanted to go it alone, and he was really helpful in making it happen.

Feel free to contact me off-list if you have questions or want more info.

Jeff

[grwrockster]

Jeff,

Thanks for your reply (it just took me a while to check back and realise anyone had posted )

I looked at the renting idea, but an (admittedly brief) look at the cost of flights from UK seemed to make the trip far more expensive than the 24-Hr Ferry Plymouth-Santander, then ride across Spain to Gibralter etc. I estimate it'd take me about 4 days without killing myself to get from home in West Wales to set foot in Morocco on the morning of the 5th day (assuming the Ferry crossing to Morrocco being obliging time-wise).

Also, while I've ridden quite a bit in Western Europe, I've not spent any time in Spain (though rode the Pyrenees from Atlantic coast to the Med way back in '02). So doing the whole trip on my Rockster would probably be how I'd choose to do it if we are able to sort it out.

Right now the guy who suggested the trip has no bike yet after a crash last season, and also some health issues (hence no replacement bike yet, & which might mean we put the trip off for a year to allow him time to make it). Africa though.... it's a place and ride I've always fancied, so I hope to get over there at some point (on a bike of course!).