Author: Keith

On Thursday we arrived in Atar on the Adrar plateau in Mauritania after a two day ride through the dunes of the Sahara. The ride was one of our most exciting yet. We embarked from Nouadibou on Wednesday morning after a large night with the African Surfers. Stone managed to discover a forgotten bottle of Cameroonian whiskey which had lay dormant in the back of their 4×4. It had been destined for a village chief, luckily forgotten, and somehow managed to make itself appear again in Mauritania. This is just as well as alcohol is also forbidden here and unlike Morocco it’s not legal for non-Muslims to consume the stuff. It was an excellent evening and a fine way to part company.

The ride through the Sahara was blistering but beautiful. There were no roads so we were following trails and plains, navigating the easiest paths through. The directions are pretty simple, follow the train tracks east to Choum always keeping them to your left. Never go north of the tracks because the whole border between Mauritania and Morocco is mined! Once you get to Choum turn south and head along the heavily corrugated piste to Atar. Simple really!

The train tracks in question are the rails of the world’s heaviest and longest train in the world, the Nouabhidou to Zouerate train which carries iron ore from Zouerate to the port at Nouabhidou. Cars (and bikes) can be carried on the train, either on top of the ore carriages or on their own flat beds, passengers just sit in cars or on top of the train! There are no passenger carriages!

We actually saw the train pass as we were setting out and it is a sight to behold as it comes into view. Even as it trundles past you it continues right into the horizon as far as you can see!

Once we left the tarmac and headed for the tracks we hit the first obstacle, and it’s one we should have expected, soft sand! Our bikes were heavily loaded with our normal baggage as well as a combined 80 liters of fuel for the 590 km journey. We immediately got stuck in the sand, much to the amusement of the locals who came out to watch the spectacle. After a fair bit of sweating, pushing and swearing in the 30 degree heat we managed to get both bikes onto firm ground and lower the tire pressure to something which would give us traction in the sand!

After this it was much easier going and we soon got used to the tricks of sand riding. Keep momentum and don’t stop in soft sand or on uphill slopes is the trick!

By evening we had made some good progress despite a late start and we had burnt enough fuel that we could empty the 30 liters we were carrying on the back of the bikes into our tanks, moving the weight forward and making the bikes much more agile and even fun in the sand.

We made camp a kilometer from the train tracks in a secluded and untouched part of the desert next to a large rock to shelter the tent from the desert wind, we didn’t need to worry though because as night falls the wind stops and a peace and calm descends on the desert like nothing you have ever felt before. You really do feel the peace around you and sounds travel for miles. It was a wonderful feeling to be out in the remoteness of the desert cooking noodles on our stove with just each other and our thoughts for company! Such a departure from the hustle and bustle of city life and so much of what this trip is about for the two of us. Getting away from it all to listen to our own thoughts uninterrupted.

To our surprise we found some remote villages scattered along our route through the Sahara. These folks are in the middle of nowhere with no real connection to the outside world except the train. However they still manage to harbour some of the ‘Donnez moi un Cadeau’ (Give me a gift!) brigade. One crowd of villagers surrounded Keith and the leader came forward before the others carrying his baby girl. He handed Keith his child and the kid was gorgeous but then came the ‘donnez moi un cadeau’ line. It kinda spoiled the moment. What had appeared as a warm hearted gesture was only really a ploy to get money.

The desert crossing alternated between pretty hard ground and well defined tracks to dune fields with no clear way through. It was exciting and challenging for the two of us, particularly on the second day which found us both going through the dune fields wondering if our calculations on our fuel consumption would be correct.

As we approached Atar, mountains appeared in the distance and then approached. Then more trees started to appear. All a welcome sight after the clumps of grass and dunes we had been riding through all day.

Eventually we climbed up a pass onto the Adrar plateau and started to see more signs of civilisation before we rolled hot, sweaty and very dusty into Atar. The first thing we did was head to the closest restaurant for some real food and the most refreshing fizzy drinks in a long time! Parts of the journey had been so sandy that Keith managed to empty half the desert out of his boots outside!

More pictures have been added to the Mauritania gallery.

After arriving in Dakhla we met some really wonderful folks and stayed in a chilled and friendly camping site nestled alongside the beach. The place is a virtual mecca for kite and wind surfers. Although not being surfers of any kind ourselves we enjoyed it immensely because of the people we me there, it’s been the first place we both felt truly sad in departing. The folks there were really kind and helpful. A big thanks to Colin and Freya for being so welcoming and showing us around.

On our second day in Dakhla Colin brought us to a local technical school to meet a class of students studying to be freezing technicians. We talked in English about our adventure and about the lives of the students in Dakhla. It was a very interesting session and was probably as enlightening for them as it was for us.

While in Dakhla we also met a Spanish couple, Borza and Patricia, who were coming back from Senegal. They left Madrid 2 months ago on a Honda CB 250 and are in the final stages of completing their journey back home. The funny thing about these guys was that Borza only passed his bike license in October and then decided to set off to Africa with his girlfriend accompanying as pillion. I really empathise with Borza. I only passed my license recently and had very little riding experience when I undertook this trip. It’s great knowing you’re not alone.

While crossing over from Western Sahara there were some scary moments. There’s a a 7 km sand trail with mines on either side between Moroccan controlled Western Sahara and Mauritania. The place is littered with burnt out and blown up vehicles. The trick is to ride on the tracks made by other vehicles. Foolishly I didn’t zip up my tank bag and lost my V5 vehicle registration document and mobile phone there. We decided to go back and thankfully found both beside each other at the beginning of the trail.

We’re now in Nouadhibou, Mauritania. We arrived here three days ago after bumping into three South Africans at the Moroccan border. These guys originated from Cape Town and are traveling on to London. They came back to Mauritania after being denied entry at the Moroccan border on a stupid technicality. They’re on a similar trip to ours but in reverse. They’ve taken 11 months to get to where they are now. You can check their website out at www.africansurfer.com. On the other hand we know of 3 other South Africans, on KTM’s like our own, who’ve done the same trip in 60 days. I think we’ll aim for something a little in between.

Jeremy has become the victim of an eye infection which we believe to be conjunctivitis. We tried one form of antibiotics which have only seemed to make things worse. This morning things were worse, so after a consultation with an Algerian Doctor we’ve now switched the treatment to something a little stronger and are hoping for the best.

Depending on how Jeremy’s eye is tomorrow we will either go to Choum and Atar in the Adrar region, along the railway line as planned, or if his eye is not responding to the new treatment we’ll go down to Nouakchott. There’s better facilites there and we can organise Visas for Nigeria and Mali while we wait for a full recovery.

We have added the final pictures and captions to the Morocco gallery and we have now added a new gallery for Mauritania with more pictures to follow.

Finally we left Morocco behind us and are now in the Moroccan occupied territory of Western Sahara. What a difference! We’ve been on the road killing kilometers for the last few days. We’ve been keeping the speed around 80-90km/h so as not to ware out the desert tyres. We made Dakhla today and intend to push on tomorrow to Nouadhibou, Mauritania, passing the tropic of Cancer as we go. From there the plan is to ride eastwards into the Sahara alongside the railway line which links Nouadhibou with Choum. It should make for an interesting few days. One side of the track is a minefield ,won’t be going near that, and the other is sand trail littered with old pieces of broken track. The Rough Guide strongly advises against this route without the aide of a guide. Where would the fun be in that?

On the way down through Western Sahara we’ve been stopped almost every 30-60km. Initially I found it off putting but the Moroccan police temperament goes a long way to making amends. One guard was almost inviting us around to his family home while another humoured us to no end as he went on at length about Morocco’s #1 export. ‘Columbia has theirs and we have ours’. It was hilarious hearing this from a police officer.

We’ve uploaded a few more pictures to the Morocco gallery. They’ll be the last additions.

It’s been over a week since our last post and there’s been good reason for that. We’ve been busy. We reached Agadir as planned after negotiating one of the most treacherous roads in Morocco. Think very bad non marked mountainous roads with slow trucks a dozen and irate drivers trying to overtake them at any opportunity. Then picture all this done at night. It was scary!

We stayed three nights in Agadir kipping in Rohans swank 4 star hotel room. It’s most likely one of the last laps of luxury we’ll experience on the trip. On our first night we found the joys of alcohol again. It was the first bar we’d seen or been to in Morocco. Alcohol is not appreciated/allowed in the Muslim world and is not illegal but is just not done openly. We dived back in with much gusto and enthusiasm. The following day we were regretting it. While in Agadir we met some locals and after Rohan left for Libya we ended up in a relaxing little surf town just north of Agadir called Taghazout. We still haven’t left. Khaled, one of the locals we met, rented us a room there. It’s ridiculously cheap and perfectly placed sitting beside the sea.

While in Taghazout we’ve chilled out quite a lot. I think it’s the first time Jeremy has actually relaxed since quitting work. Mariah one of the other locals we met brought us to a cool trance party in the mountains. It was full of new age European hippies in camper vans and a few like minded Moroccans to boot. We’ve also now had our first proper off-roading adventure. On Wednesday we left most of our luggage in Taghazout and departed for two days. On the first night we camped near Foum–Zguid before attempting a 150k off-road trail leading to Talouine. The trail we undertook started excellently and ended in the same way however it didn’t end in Talouine.

While in the mountains we were invited in for tea and even cooked a fabulous and unexpected cous–cous by a very welcoming and friendly Berber village. We had a similar experience when we went off-roading with Rohan in Agadir on a small 4k trail. It’s these types of encounters which really make Morocco shine. The people are so warm and welcoming and expect nothing in return save your company and some stories. The trail was not without a handful of hardship. There was a 10k section in the middle where the trail ended. It took us two hours of bouncing and falling over rocks to navigate our way to where the trail resumed. That part I could have done without. Jeremy the sadist seemed to think it was the best part.

The plan from here is to get booster injections today and get our bikes serviced before heading down to Mauritania. This could take the best part of a week as we need to fly in a new master clutch cylinder for my bike. For now we’re just refilling the mineral oil as it seems the master cylinder has developed a slow leak. It’ll work for now but if I sustain another big bash it may ground my bike and become a nightmare to get fixed. Especially if this happens somewhere remote. Jez has updated the route page and I’ve created a Morocco gallery. The last time there were some technical difficulties. There’s a few pictures from our off-roading which have to be uploaded but I’ll get around to that later.

Thanks to everyone for their support.

Cheers K+J

After 2 weeks wheeling around Europe we eventually arrived in Morocco last Tuesday. We crossed the border at Ceuta. The crossing in itself was painless but took a lot more time than we had planned for. Getting lost in Ceuta didn’t help either nor did spending an hour scouring for the KTM dealer located there only to find it closed for siesta.

From Ceuta we had intended to ride down to Fez. The night came upon us faster than expected so we made an unplanned stop in a town called Chechaouene. The town lies on the foothills of the Rif mountains. Apparently this is were the word ‘reefer’ comes from. Rif is pronounced reef in French. These mountains being the primary weed growing location in Morocco we were approached at every turn by locals trying to get us to sample the fruits of the mountains. We’re getting old and boring now so we declined and instead found a great restaurant overlooking the entire square.

Morocco has been a bit of a shock. It’s the first time I’ve been put outside of my comfort zone on the trip. Things are really different here. People still farm the land with animals pulling their equipment. The roads in rural areas are dotted with horse and carts. There’s these great little kids who randomly cheer you on as you pass them. It’s kinda like Ireland 20 or 30 years ago. There’s also the poor people trying to make a quick buck out of the rich foreigners. You can’t really blame them.

We’re in Rabat now. The administrative capital of Morocco. We rode here along some really amazing roads. There’s some pics in the Morocco gallery to check out. The reason for coming here was to obtain our Mauritanian visas. We’ve been told we’ll have to wait until tomorrow which is just as well as my clutch died today and we had to spend a couple of hours bleeding it and replacing the clutch fluid. A job neither of us knew how to do before today. The damage probably came from the Ronda accident.

Tomorrow we will try to ride down to Agadir in one go. We’re going to be visiting Rohan, a friend of Jeremy’s. He’s been able to rent a bike and we’ll be attempting to go off-road around the anti-atlas mountains. It should be good fun.