- Date: Nov 08, 2024
- Starting Location: Erfoud, Morocco
- Ending Location: Dades Canyon, Morocco
- Mileage: 292 Km
- Total Mileage So Far: 1291 Km (802.2 Miles)
Breakfast
As is often the case, we start with an early breakfast at 7:30, and then retreat back to our rooms to finish packing for the day’s ride. We meet in the lobby at 8:45, where Paulo will brief us on today’s ride, including duration, key waypoints, mileage, altitude, and weather.
The weather
It’s Morocco, and aside from the unseasonably large amount of rainfall about 4 weeks ago, every day has been just about perfect. And so, today is yet another perfect day for riding the hills and mountains of Morrocco.
The Ride
First 75 Km were completed very quickly, and then things started to slow down a bit. The trip into Todras Gorge, and then continuing into Dades Canyon would be done at a much slower pace. The ride to Dades was on narrow mountain roads, but the road from Dades to Dades Canyon was much slower, and there were times where it was very difficult to pass the cars and trucks ahead of us.
We are lucky that these bikes accelerate like they do. This level of performance of these bikes makes them well suited to take advantage of short passing zones, with blind turns. While we never pass as we go through a blind turn, there are still situations where we make a decision to pass, but then realize that there is not enough road, and so we gently back out of it. But, this is just how you have to ride a motorcycle on these narrow, windy mountain roads.
Coffee/Tea stop
Coffee in a small village, on the edge of the road. Bikes were parked across the street, always within sight. While at the coffee stop, we noticed that we were now in camel country, and we saw a few trucks that were open backed, and that were filled with camels.
Todra gorge
Todra gorge is a fascinating place that is at the source of one of the local rivers. The gorge is formidable and quite large. Its able to handle a lot of water when the rains come, but when it is the dry season, the upper gorge is empty, or near-empty of water. However, at Todras gorge, there is a spring that provides water to residents that are downstream.
We were able to see the source of the water, emerging from the ground before us.
The school with the children
When we finished with the gorge, we headed back out of the canyon, and after about a 30 minute ride out of the canyon, we came to a local primary school. The school is a project of IMT bike and with each trip that IMT Bike makes into Morocco, they bring donations of clothing, school supplies, and other things of need for these people.
INSERT PICTURES OF THE SCHOOL
Lunch
Today’s lunch was at the home of a Moroccan family that offers their home to travelers to eat and stay overnight. Lunch was made up of many salads, many olives, followed by a vegetable tagine, with egg.
The music session
At the end of lunch, the locals took out some drums, and some other primitive percussion instruments, and I felt a calling from beyond. I simply had to get up and play a little bit of drums.
I started on a jambe, then moved to a Tambor, and finally I began playing a rim from an old car, using a knife and fork. I had a ball, and the audience was stunned that so much rich African rhythm could come out of the primitive instruments.
Henna Tattoos
After lunch, some of the ladies in our group got henna tattoos on their hands. Elizabeth got a pretty elaborate tattoo, which looked really nice, and very ethnic. I had so much fun playing the drums, and watching her get the tattoo that I paid 200 Dirham to the husband, but he didn’t tell the wife, and she came after Elizabeth for a 100 Dirham to pay for her Henna tattoo.
Giving away pens to the children
When possible, while we’re stopped for coffee, tea, gas, or just stopped to visit a spot along the road, we try to share our immense wealth with the local children. In the past, we’d share candies with these children, but over the years, we’ve learned that rather than catering to their sweet tooths, it’s better to outfit them with pens, so that they can be better students during their school day. Here’s a video of us handing out pens at a coffee break along the way.
A report from the Road
We talk about the ride, and spend some time talking about the school that we visited, and also about Todra Gorge.
The hotel
This night, we stayed at the Riad hotel BaHammau room 22. We got to the room, took a shower, and headed to the bar. Unfortunately, no one seemed to be ready to serve us beers. We eventually found one of the staff that was more than happy to open up for us. We had our first chance to purchase the Golden Beer of Morocco. This beer was a crisp, clean lager, and we enjoyed it a whole bunch.
Dinner
Tonight’s dinner was the first of two birthday celebrations on the trip. Bob was celebrating one of the larger number birthdays, so we shared some wine with him, and enjoyed dinner. The food was traditional Moroccan, with a beef Tagine leading the way.
What will tomorrow bring
Tomorrow, we ride to Zagora. Our ride will take us over two mountain passes, the second of which is the Tizi-n’Tazazert Pass, which will take us to 2200M above sea level. We’ll exit the pass, and make our way to Zagora, which is yet another town, located on/in an oaisis.
