15 September - Marrakesh to Taroudant through the Atlas

We returned to the bikes on the morning of departure and all was well. We got organized and on the road around 9:30am, and I set the GPS for Taroudant via Tizi n’Test pass on RN203. We were told it’s a beautiful paved road through the Atlas mountains, and we were not disappointed. It was an amazing (paved) serpentine road that gradually winds its way up through small mountain towns, one of which we stopped for a late morning break.

I pulled into the first place that looked like a place where we could get a coffee. It was no more than a guy sitting at a table in front of an open kitchen at the front of the building. He promptly cleaned the table and welcomed us to sit down. We ordered 3 coffees and he put a pot on the the stove. While we had our coffee he also brought out some homemade lentils, fresh bread, and mint tea. It was a perfect mid day snack. We noted that the bread is becoming fluffier as we travel south. 

We continued our way up the pass and took the obligatory picture at the summit. We were above the clouds and the rocky mountains protruded in the distance. We worked our way down the other side and were treated with more curves than the ascent had offered! We also passed a couple herds of long haired goats grazing on the side of the mountain. I had a blast, but I think the passenger on the other motorcycle was not so pleased with all the curves.

We descended into the valley and into the city of Taroudant for our stay that night. We booked a riad inside the old city--once again there was a mix-up with the online booking and I did not have a room. The manager of the riad where Mark and Ranee were booked hooked me up with a local tourist ‘fixer’ on thet street, and he helped me search for another room at another place. He invited me to hop on the back of his 50cc scooter so we could go check out some other places. So off we went, down and through the winding cobblestone streets to find me a room.

The first place we stopped did not have any availability, so off to another one we went. The second place had a room, with air-conditioning, breakfast and parking included for $25! Can’t beat that, I’ll take it. It was only a 5 minute walk down the street from where Mark and Renee were staying.

We took a walk down to a fast food restaurant for dinner and got a salad and tacos.I got a nice impression from Taroudant; it's not so touristy. The locals were very nice and seemed to be going about their own business. The streets were busy late into the evening as we’ve experienced in other places. 

16 September - To Western Sahara

This was technically the first day of our journey away from the popular areas down the coast of Morocco. We’re still 2-3 days away from the Mauritania border.

The destination was El Oatia on the coast, but at our morning stop Ranee was struggling to keep her eyes open, explaining that they didn’t get much sleep the night before due to the small hotel room and noisy air conditioner. So we  adjusted our target for Gualmim, which would make for about 150 miles for the day instead of 250.

The weather was beautiful and cool in the 70s and 80s most of the day which was unexpected. The lodging selection was somewhat limited and we chose a place just outside town advertised as an oasis camp that also has rooms. It was cheap and had good reviews.

The place was a little hard to find, located within an area just off the highway that had many buildings. We wandered our way on the dirt road through the property, following the signs for the hotel. We finally found it and knocked on the gate. We were greeted by a nice lacy who lives there.

Inside was a nice courtyard area with about 4 rooms around the perimeter, a sitting area, and shared bathrooms. There was also a rooftop terrace and two resident cats that were nice. It was just fine for a stopover and the hospitality was great. It was a family run place and the only complaint was how long it took to get dinner. We were expecting dinner to be ready around 8:00 and it was not ready until 9:45. It was quite uncomfortable and I considered going to bed without dinner, but we joked about it and patiently waited. When it finally arrived, it was delicious. It was a vegetarian meal with rice, potatoes, carrots and eggplant.

17 September - Gualmim to Tarfaya

Less population, desert dunes, and long highway stretches. The scenery stretched out into longer vistas and more distance between towns. Careful eyes on the road are necessary because in some places the sand dunes creep into the highway. At one point we had to run through a 2 foot wide patch of sand and it was a bit startling at 50 mph. There are signs every 5 miles to watch for wild camels crossing the road, and we did see a few. The coastline was very rugged and primarily composed of high cliffs for many miles. It was easy to pull off the road and go get a good view of the ocean. We stopped for a break and went to check out the cliffs. Not too close, of course, as it is evident that they are constantly eroding into the sea.

While we were stopped, a cyclist (we had passed earlier on the road) came up to us to ask us about our trip. He was Moroccan, from Casablanca, and he was pedaling to Dakhla and back! I can’t imagine traveling this desolate area alone on a bicycle. I told him he had a nice bike and gear. We exchanged contact info and parted ways.

We made it to Tarfaya and stayed at the main hotel on the highway as you arrive in town. It was not great, but not bad. Just good enough for a stopover. I have a feeling there will be many more of these types of hotels to come.

Tarfaya is a small town on the coast, with a port as well. Near to the Canary Islands, I would guess you may be able to sail to there from here. It’s not much to write about; quite dirty and unremarkable. However I saw many old ‘Series’ Land Rovers which are really cool. It’s a bit intimidating setting out on foot in these small towns because everything looks so unfamiliar. Especially at dinner time, it can be a little tricky figuring which restaurants are serving food and if it’s anything we want. Our experience so far is that the people are very friendly and even the roughest streets are quite safe. You can't judge a book by its cover. Sometimes you just have to step outside your comfort zone and be confident and friendly. Usually you get the same in return.

We settled at a ‘Snack’ restaurant, a common type of place we have found in Africa. This typically indicates it is a fast food restaurant. You can get tacos, pizza, soups, sandwiches and juices. We’ve learned that we prefer this, especially because the locals eat later at night we don’t always want a proper restaurant that may take longer to finish the meal. 

18 September - Tarfaya to Boujdour

We set off after breakfast, topped off our gas and headed out of town on the N1 highway. It was very humid and overcast but it made for nice temperatures. Again, today consisted of very long stretches of highway, greater than 70 miles between towns and gas.

The route options for today were to travel 150 miles to Boujdour or travel 380 miles to Dakhla. There’s nothing in between the two, so we must choose. We decided to delay the decision until we arrived in Boujdour.

As previously mentioned, there are many police checkpoints in Morocco and they usually wave us through. Well, our luck has run out and we were waved in once yesterday and twice today. They’re always friendly, and simply request to look at our passports and ask us where we’re going. It has not bee any trouble.

We arrived in Boujdour, and I was already 20 miles into my gas reserve, so we pulled into the first gas station we see. I was also running a little low on Dirhams (cash), so I gave the gas attendant all I had and it filled my tank 95% full. I found an ATM after dinner to re-stock my cash stash.

We found a nice lunch place and had some food and discussed the plan. We can’t enter Mauritania until the 20th, and we are a little bit ahead right now, so we decided to stay here for the night. The hotel pickings were slim, and we visited 3 before we found one that is acceptable. The best hotel we could find cost 10 dollars per person, and it’s almost as bad as you would think a 10 dollar hotel is: not super clean, no A/C, and hit-or-miss plumbing. Only one of the three available showers work, and it has no shower head — only a hose hanging on the valve. Oh well, it gets the job done.