Morocco, here we come! (MCT 1702)
....and then there was the last day already of this Tour! Wih mixed feelings we started again (yes, again..!) under a clear blue sky downhill from Chefchaouen for a nice half day riding through the Rif mountains towards the border crossing near Ceuta. Enjoying the last riding part in Morocco (ok, except then the flat tire of John..) we finally entered the border Morrocco/spain. But luckily for us, this time no very long queues, and the crossing itself went all together pretty smooth. So plerfectly in time to catch the ferry back to Algueciras in Spain. And after a last two hour highway stretch, we arrived safe and sound back in our starting hotel in Malaga! A big thank you for this great group of riders for the great atmosphere in the group and the nice days we spent together! Hope to see you all on anothere Edelweiss tour someday!! all the best!! Ted, Pablo and Björn
Our final whole day in Morocco!. Unblievable how fast time passes by when you are having fun!. Again a beautful day to ride: a short part out of the city of Fes, lead us to a small bumpy mountain road with beautiful views. As soon a s we were over the pass we saw already the excavation site of Volubulis. This famous excavation site has a lot of hidden gems. Beautiful mosaic floors which seems to be from a couple of years ago, but are really from the 2th century. After we had a nice cup of coffee at the site, we went of in northeren direction towards the blue city of Chefchaouen , where we started the Moroccon adventure!. Through nice and swerving roads over the High Atlas, everybody enjoyed this wonderful day in this colourful country Concluded with a nice dinner in our well known restaurant in Chefchaouen, everybody went up for their last night on Moroccon soil
Well, a rest day....? Not really! Ok, sleep in a litlle bit , but at 09.30 sharp theere was our local tourguide Ahmed again, who took us this time together with two other guides, to downtown Fes. A very interesting day with visits to a tile shop, the famous lether tannery which is also an UNESCO site, the oldest university of Marocco, and all guiding us throuhg the nice medina (old city) of Fes. Concluded with a nice lunch in a beautiful authentic restaurant, made the day very interesting. And after a couple of hours relaxing the majority of the group wfent walking donwtown to the Medina again in the vening to try the famous camel burger in a trendy restaurant , where we also had the enjoyment of a musical jam session Great evening to finish our stay in one of the nicest king cities in Morocco!
With the great memories in the back of our heads we said goodbye to the beautiful oasis of Erfoud with our fantastic hotel to set off for the longest riding day of our tour : from Erfoud to Fes. Leaving the warm temperatures of the desert area, we now heading back north towards the High Atlas mountains in which we will ride the major part of the day on altitudes between 1500 and 2000 meter. But first we followed the green ribbon of endless plalmtrees along the Ziz river before we reached the Atlas mountian. An astonishing ride in this motorcycle paradise. After a long morning ride we had a coffee stop and gas fill up in Midelt. Strong winds today over the mountain plains but a clear blue sky makes all the difference! Heading further north we reached a small mountian village where we had a genuine road bbq. Delicious! Our last riding part through the ski aea of Ifrane and then slowly descending towards our home for the next two nights: Fes! Safely arrived we enjoyed our dinner with a great evening view over the old town of Fes Awesome day, great group!
What a fantastic 2 nights/restday we had with this great group in the most southeast corner of this tour! Half of the group hopped after yesterday's riding day on their camels to spent the night in the desert in a genuine Berber camp. It took them about two hours of "saddle torture" to go to the camp where the ~Berber camelboys prepared a fantstic meal. A memorable night which no one can forget. The other half of the group styed in the supernice hotel in Erfoud like it was in a hotel of a lerisan fairytale of 1001 nights. Great atmosphere, very good food and a relaxing environment. Today the "hotel" group went out for a nice rest day ride and were back in Erfoud around 13 .00 hr to relax a bit before they went together with the other group to hop this time on some quads to do a desert ride. Everybody enjoyed this very much . After thisthe whole group was pretty exhausted. So after the nice dinner buffet, we had a short meeting where worldtourer Lemy Gresh and Cees Wijman both received their world tourer polo shirts because they did both already 5 tours with Edelweiss. Good to have you guys! A memorable day at a memorable Place!!
Today a hot riidng day ahead. Usually the most hottest part of the tour, and so it was it also this time! In the morning the first highlight of the day was the beautiful Gorges du Thodra which made a big impression on everyone. After the coffee break we went on in eastern direction where tourguide Ted prepared us again a very nice picnic! Every piece of shade around the support van was used by the entire group. Again on the bikes to the last part of this tour into eastern direction: Erfoud. And for about half of the group there is aother highlight coming up: the overnight stay in the berber desert camp including the camelride forth and back. But more of that tomorrow!
Again a wonderful sunrise in our great hotel. After the morning brief it was time to follow out tour in eastern direction. After a short photostop complete with camels and a stunning view over the valley we followed our way to the first highlight of the day: the Atlas filmstudios. Guided by anlocal Berber tourguide we made our way theough this big film complex with all kinds of mock-ups for films like the Gladiator, Game of Thrones , Jewel of the Nile etc etc And after a nice ride in the valley of roses tourguide Bjorn had prepared us a nice picnic in the Gorges du Dades. Then it was time to explore the rest of the Gorges dud Dades which has some really nice roads and some beautiful switchbacks After this nice riding day we arrived at our nice hotel in Boumalne du Dades
Today wel left the big city towards the high Atlas mountains. Perfect riding weather took us up towards the high mountian pass of Tizi n tichka, at a height of 7414 ft or 2500 meter. The majority of the group members were riding on their own towards the top of the mountain pass. Stunning views and so very good opportunities to take some nice pictures. At the coffeestop everybody was gathering again and after some nice strong coffee we took off in two groups over a bumpy road towards Telouet where we first had a tour into an old kasba house followed by a delicious lunch in a berber tent restaurant The last beautiful part through the mountains took us to our beautiful kasar hotel in Ait ben Haddou All together a fantastic riding day!!
What a gorgeous day for exploring the old city of Marakesh under the guidance of Ahmed, our local tourguide with his outstanding knowledge of all the inns and outs of Morocco and especially his hometown Marakech. Visiting a palace, the souk with it's endless small streets and numerous craftsmen, an interesting herb shop made this day a very interesting one After shopping the group had some time off in the afternoon to visit other interesting places or just got back to our very nice hotel to relax a couple of hours In the evneing most of the group took off to the Djemna-al Fna, the "place of the Beheaded". A very lively , busy and interesting place what is even an Unesco heritage site because of it's incredible variety of storytellers, snakecharmers, vendors, etc etc And of course we had our dinner in one of the numerous stnad-up restaurants where the cooks and waiters are eager to entertain their guests. A wonderful evening and a good end of our stay in Marakech Djemna -el Fna plaza at night. Wonderful place!
Soon after we left our new hotel in Rabat, we hit the coastal road in southern direction towards Casablanca. It is amazing how much the roads improve every year in Morocco Another piece of highway, then through rush hour in Casablanca, and then the big minaret of the Hassan II mosk is already appearing on the horizon Everybody was very impressed by this fantastic building, which is one of a few in the world , which can be visited by non-muslim people Leaving here around noon, we followed shortly the Moroccon riviera towards a beach club with a great Restaurant where we had a nice and relax lunch A last coffee and then 250 long stretch towards our next town : Marakech. Again a ride through this time the evening rush hour, and around 6 pm we arrived at this fantastic spot Before dinner Ahmed our famous local tourguide showed up to introduce himself and inform the group about the city tour the next day All together a great day in this nice part of the world
On this second day in Morocco it was clear that is would gonna be anotheer nice and sunny day. The first sunrays already shined over the blue city of Chefchaouen. Tourguides Pablo and Bjorn were leading the two groups through the mountain roads west of Chefchaouen in western direction towards our next stop in the capitol of Morocco Out of the mountain area the two groups merged together to go to the lunchstop at Moulay Bouselham at the Atlantic coast A last stretch of highway towards Rabat and the second riding day in Morocco was a fact
We are in Morocco!! Today we went off in the Spanish enclave of Ceuta in the early morning with 26 persons on 18 bikes and a support van towards the Moroccon border. Since we were there early the border crossing procedure went very smooth......also thanks to Pablo's great knowledge of the French language!. There is a rumour going on that he will be hired as "helper" by Moroccon customs ;-) After a nice long coffeebreak along the seaside we went on the excellent coastal road towards Oued Laou, where a nice seafood lunch was prepared for us. And after the last free riding part through the wonderfull valley towards Chefchaouen, the riding part of the day was done! Before our dinner everyone took the opportunity to stroll around in the souk of the Blue City Great day!
What a great day to start this tour! Super nice riding weather. One group started off with Tourguide Pablo to do the ‘Ronda’ route and the second one with Tourguide Ted to Gibraltar. Both groups had a great first riding day. Meeting again at the ferry landing in Algueciras, the Morocco tour had really begun. With the fast ferry to Ceuta at the African continent is always a special moment
And so the tour has started officially! All 23 customers arrived safely in Malaga, Spain. Some of them already one or two days earlier to get rid of their jetlag, and enjoying the beautiful weather at the Costa del Sol in Andalusia. After the welcome briefing and the bike hand over we had a nice dinner together and after that one by one everybody took off for a nice long rest including one hour time change! Tomorrow the ride begins!