Sahara Desert

Six nights from Agdz to the Erg Chegaga dunes, guided, five days of riding on a lightweight scrambler or bobber, with a night under canvas in the desert.

The desert camp is what this one is built around: traditional Moroccan tents, a campfire, a cold drink and the Sahara going quiet around it, which is a different proposition from a hotel with a view of the sand.

Agdz opens it, a green valley of palm gardens where the Draa comes down off the mountains, and the contrast with what follows is the point. The route then crosses Lake Iriki National Park, the largest in the country, including the dry bed of Lac Iriki itself, before reaching the dunes of Erg Chegaga, with a sundowner on the highest of them. Dry river crossings supply the hard work, through the fine powdery sand the locals call fesh fesh, which is the one surface a light bike genuinely struggles with. Isolated Berber villages and local souks fall along the way, and the Tamegroute pottery cooperative, known for a green glaze made with henna, is on the route. Around sixty per cent of the riding is on quiet asphalt and forty per cent off it.

A guide, a support vehicle and a smartphone with the route loaded are provided, the field is capped at twelve riders, most of the accommodation has a pool and alcohol is available every evening. The cooler months are the season, since Chegaga in summer is not rideable. Some riding experience is required but no motorcycle licence, according to the operator’s page. The starting price given is €1,450, which is worth confirming against the price on application recorded here.