Seguro que si has llegado hasta aquí es porque el viaje en motote enamora, pero dudas sobre si es difícil conducir una moto por...
25/11/2023
Have you ever thought about taking a motorcycle trip to Morocco? Are you afraid? Would you like to experience riding through the famous dunes of Merzouga? Then keep reading the blog of onationbikes!
Preparativos para viajar en moto: la idea
It all started with a dream, one of those silly ideas that gets stuck in your head and you know it’s here to stay, taking a motorcycle route through Morocco. At that time, I didn’t have a bike for off-road tracks, so we considered renting or buying one, doing the trip, and then selling it, but it was too much hassle. Two years later, now with my own Ténéré 700, we seriously planned to ride through Morocco on a trail bike.
It wasn’t until June 2023 that the three of us confirmed our participation in the motorcycle trip to Morocco, so we only needed to set a date and plan it ‘a bit,’ the minimum, as this is our style of traveling or at least it was up to that point. We were going to leave in August since that was when we had vacation, but we were warned that we would die of dehydration on its long and unusual roads. So we finally planned it for the end of September, when the extreme heat has already disappeared and at night it could even be a bit cool (though that might be an exaggeration).
The First Contact with the Country
There we were, after 12 hours of highway, tired and exhausted, in Almería catching the ferry. We got off the ferry, excited, only to face our first setback. We had to fill out visa paperwork (we recommend doing it on the ferry, as there is a guy who makes sure all passengers fill it out, but he forgot about us as we were connecting the Cardo, mission impossible). Well, we did it quickly, and off we went to enter Morocco on a trail bike. But no, first we had to go through customs. We were checked by a cop who looked like he was from a Lego game, wearing a Primark-style biker jacket with "Police" written on the back in a shoddy way. However, his mustache was immaculate. They checked us (actually quite quickly), and now we could head to the Hotel in Nador.
Rutas en moto por Marruecos
Upon waking up at the hotel, we took the first track to El Aaiún, with the idea of heading down to Merzouga via tracks. After an exhausting day and several falls, still on the track at night, we continued. With these two stubborn people, I went on a motorcycle trip to Morocco, I thought.One more fall on my part and I was on edge, so the mission was to find a decent hotel to spend the night.
We still had 3 more hours of asphalt route to find something (the “decent” part would be for another day). The next morning, we didn’t want to see another track, so the mission was to get to Merzouga as soon as possible (the GPS indicated almost 11 hours). Approaching the desert camp, the GPS indicated a left turn where it seemed a beach of sand began, but on very flat ground, so I thought it would be easy.
Just stepping on it, you understand what it’s like to dance with a bike: from side to side. An hour had passed, we took out the Africa Twin 5 times, my bike 3 more times, we were exhausted and couldn’t see the camp, as there are 115 and all look the same. Also, the pitch-black night made everything unrecognizable; no path could be seen. At the moment of highest anxiety, a guy appeared in a 4x4 who took us to the correct camp, as everyone arrived in these kinds of taxis, leaving their vehicles in the nearest village… but as Hassan told us, “Crazy Catalans, like Berbers”,no risk, no victory.
Las dunas de Merzouga
The next day, still incredulous about the situation we had experienced the day before and after a morning of total relaxation, we tested our bikes in the dunes. And that’s what the motorcycle trip to Morocco was about, taking our bikes and testing the soft, yellow sand of the country. After 20 falls in total and about to give up, a character arrived on a Honda Scoopy 50, climbing the dunes effortlessly, to recommend we lower the pressure to 0.5 bar.
We did so, and the difference was very noticeable, but still, our heavy bikes were too much for three beginners, so back to the camp, albeit with a big smile. The next day, continuing our trip to Morocco, we rented a 2019 KTM 450 EXC, which allowed us to climb the dunes all the way up, and descend… incredible. One of those experiences you must do before you die.
The End: saying goodbye to the trip
Having fully experienced the Saharan adventure and eager to change locations, we headed to the coast. Specifically, to Essaouira with the intention of catching some small waves. It took us two days to get there, a tedious journey full of endless straight roads and arid landscapes, and upon arrival, we weren’t greeted with anything much better. There were no waves, so we had to go further, continuing our motorcycle route in Morocco to Agadir. There, we were able to surf at a beach where they rented out horseback and dromedary rides (tourism that creeps me out), but once that was done, we felt Morocco had nothing more to offer and decided to head towards Tangier to return by ferry to BCN.
En Onationbikes puedes hacer la ruta de tus sueños: un viaje en moto a Marruecos, ¡haz click y consulta toda la información!
Consulta nuestro vídeo sobre ¿Cómo preparar tu moto antes de ir a Marruecos?
¿Qué neumáticos me monto? ¿Dónde cojo el ferry y cuánto cuesta? ¿Qué vamos a visitar?
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