MCT2504 Morocco Tour
Before the actual tour of Morocco starts, some of the tour members arrived earlier to sightsee Andalusia's beautiful city of Malaga. Sue, Miro and Leon enjoyed a wonderful day in the city together with Angela.
Today we finally get on our bikes. We cover the first leg to the ferry on the motorway, giving us a chance to familiarize ourselves with the bikes. After crossing over to the African continent, we're still in Spain, and an exciting border crossing awaits us, complete with slightly confusing paperwork and procedures. But we enjoy the hustle and bustle, and finally, we can cover our first few kilometers in Morocco, marveling at the beautiful blue old town of Chefchaouen, where we have our first dinner and spend the night in a riad.
Today we set off on the trail of Roman history in Morocco. In the north of the country lies the largest and best-preserved Roman settlement in North Africa – Volubilis. But first we leave Chefchaouen on one of its two beautifully winding roads, which leads us to the nearest gas station. We didn't manage to fill up yesterday. But now, with a full tank, we can continue on our way. Morocco has always grown olive trees. In recent years, however, agriculture in Morocco has grown significantly, leading to an increase in olive production. Along our route, we pass several olive oil production facilities. Once we arrived in Volubilis, the group took the time to visit this historic site. After our tajine köfta lunch, we covered the remaining distance to Azrou where Holger was waiting for us at the hotel with delicious hop juice.
Today, motorcycling was the main focus, and after a brief visit to the Barbary macaques in the cedar forest, we set off towards the Atlas Mountains. All day long, we had the foothills of this magnificent mountain range to our left and breathtaking views of the plains to our right. Besides the scenery, another highlight was lunch at a typical tagine and grill restaurant halfway along our route, and last but not least, the exhilarating ride over the Tizi Adoumez Pass just before reaching our accommodation. With a spectacular view of the Bin el Ouidane reservoir, we ended this warm summer day tired but satisfied.
What can you say about this marvellous part of Morocco to describe its beauty? We'll go with the saying "A picture says more than thousand words" If you have been riding through an arid country for a couple of days, then you are more than surprised to find a large lake/reservoir amidst the dusty area. The temperatures started to rise the closer we were getting towards Marrakesh. And also the wind was our travel companion today. In the morning we went on a new route for us. Adventurous as we were, we found one of the most beautiful gorges and roads of the country. It led us to the Ouzoud waterfalls. They are the largest waterfalls in Morocco. After lunch, our backcountry route took us once more through scenic rural Morocco. It was such an enjoyable ride, soothing the eye with earthy colours. Marrakesh, on the contrary, was receiving us with its usual hustling and bustling vibe. We are looking forward to exploring the mystic city tomorrow.
Marrakesh is probably the most described oriental city of all. Many stories, books, and films have been written or made about it. Even if these stories and films may sound fantastic to us, they certainly contain a grain or two of truth. For us today, it's time to air out our motorcycle boots and get out our hiking boots. After a leisurely breakfast, we set off by taxi to explore Marrakesh's medina. Jalil, our guide, first took us to the Jewish quarter of the old town, where we visited the synagogue. Then we strolled through the souk, the huge market in the medina. To explain: medina means old town, and a souk is the market within the medina. Here in Marrakesh, the souk is divided into its different crafts in different quarters. After a very interesting visit to one of the herb shops, where we learned all about their healthy effects, we ended our city tour with a walk across Djemma al Fnaa, the main square in Marrakesh, followed by lunch above the rooftops of the old town.
We continue southwards, crossing the High Atlas Mountains today. The spectacular Tizi n'Tichka Pass takes us to 2290 meters above sea level before we turn onto the plateau towards Telouet. There, we visit the partially ruined but still beautiful Khasbah of the former Pasha of Marrakech and have lunch at a local Berber restaurant. The following stretch through the Ounila Valley takes our breath away with its ever-changing, colorful rock formations, and the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Ait-Ben-Haddou is no less captivating. Leon's birthday celebration brings this wonderful evening to a fitting end to this wonderful day.
From our beautiful Kashbah Hotel in Ait Benhaddou, we set off again this morning through the high desert landscape. Even though we are not yet in a sandy desert, at 1,300 meters we are on the plateau of a rocky desert. The beautiful, expansive landscape, bordered by the Atlas Mountains in the distance, accompanies us on our way to the famous Dades Gorge. But before we get there, we make a sightseeing stop at the film studios in Ouarzazate. Some of the most famous films have been produced here. At the entrance to the Dades Gorge, Holger serves us a delicious picnic at lunchtime. The drive up the famous curves and into the valley of the Dades Gorge is the final highlight of today's journey.
After a cold night on the plateau, the day greets us with a wonderful sunrise and the first rays of sunshine warm us as we set off for the Todra Gorge. Although this valley is spectacular in itself, it is not yet the highlight of the day. After an excellent picnic that Angela served us by the side of the road and a scenic route through the foothills of the sand desert, we mount our camels. We ride these elegant and majestic animals through the sand dunes for a while until we reach the desert camp where we will spend the night. We end the day with an excellent dinner and an introduction to the nomads' astronomical navigation, and are already looking forward to tomorrow.
Greeted by the rising sun, we enjoy a delicious breakfast in our desert camp. Then, part of the group returns to the hotel by pickup truck, while the rest of the desert fans ride back on camelback. At this point in the tour, everyone enjoys a laid-back morning in our beautiful hotel before a special highlight awaits us in the afternoon of our rest day here in Merzouga: a ride in a sand buggy or quad bike in the dunes.
After yesterday's long day of riding, we deserved some rest and slept in. Then we embarked on a sightseeing tour of Fes, first visiting the square around the King's Palace and then admiring the art of ceramics at a vocational school. Next, we enjoyed a leisurely stroll through the world's largest medina, visiting several workshops and, of course, buying some souvenirs. In the afternoon, everyone explored the city on their own before we met up for dinner at a specialty restaurant. Another eventful day came to an end, and we fell happily and contentedly into bed. Tomorrow, we're back on the motorcycles.
If you start thinking of Chefchaouen again, you know that this Morocco tour is slowly but surely coming to an end. This morning we left the bustling city of Fes and continued our ride back to this fantastic little blue city in the Moroccan mountains. Our riding highlight today was the backcountry roads through an area that I affectionately call 'Little Andalusia'. The winding roads in this part of Morocco surely are another sign that we are getting closer back to Spain. It simply reminds you of it with all its hills and olive trees, and of course, with its great twisties. Once we've arrived in Chefchaouen, most riders in the group got changed and went for a walk into the town center. I guess a lot of last minute souvenir shopping was taking place this afternoon :) A delicious dinner in our cosy hotel pushed us into the perfect condition to go to bed early
For the last time on this tour, we leave the bustling town of Chefchaouen behind and head straight for the Spanish border and the ferry port. You never know how much traffic to expect at the border, but this time we were lucky and were able to cross from Morocco to Spain very quickly. We took the highway back to our start hotel in Malaga. A big thank you to this fantastic group from Holger and Angela! It was our pleasure to show you the beautiful Morocco in all its facets. See you on the next tour – we're already looking forward to it.