• Date: Nov 07, 2024
• Starting Location: Erfoud, Morocco
• Ending Location: Erfoud, Morocco
• Mileage: 0 Km distance
• Total Mileage So Far: 999Km (620.7 Miles)

Breakfast

Today, we had another great breakfast at the Xalupa Kasbah. The usual omelette station suited me just fine. So, after breakfast we had a leisurely morning, and then we headed to the Dry wellls.

The weather

Another perfect day to visit the local attractions.

Visit to the dry wells

At about 10:00 AM, we got on the bikes and headed out of the North side of Erfoud. About 15 miles outside of the city, on the Right-Hand side of the road, we spotted a small hut. The hut is inhabited by a woman, who claims to be more than 100 years old, but she’s just not sure how old she actually is.

She does not speak Spanish or English, so our hopes of getting a robust tour disappeared. Instead, we opted to read from some prepared notes, which described how these wells, which number about 5000, have been dug over the years. Each new well dug when the previous well begins to run dry.

It’s quite a site to see, looking into the dessert, with 5000 mounds, each representing a well that previously drawing water from the underlying water table.

With this video, you can see what the wells look like on the inside, and also what the landscape looks like, when pock-marked with abandoned wells.

Lunch

Lunch was very tough, and I did not tolerate the victory by Donald Trump very well.

Afternoon Activities (A very busy day)

Buggies in the parking lot

As we were about to leave Xulupa for our dessert adventure, I noticed a number of buggies which were parked in our driveway. I took a look around, and then found one of the folks that was part of the buggy expedition. It seems that they’re on a tour of Morocco, but instead of making the trip on Motorcycles, they are driving buggies across the dessert, and from place to place. The trip was scheduled for 5 days, and I’m pretty sure they’ll be having a ball.

The drive to the dunes

The scenic overlook

We drove up a pretty technical road, and at the top, we were presented with a view of Erfoud from a distance.  We could see the king’s castle, and faint images of small rectangular patches of land used to capture rain water.

Fossils

Out in the dessert, enroute to the dunes of the Sahara, we find that this area is rich with fossils of animals that lived thousands of years ago.

We found numerous fossils of turtles that roamed the sea millions of years ago, and are now immortalized as fossils forever. Inside the “visitor center”, we found that some of the fossils have been turned into furniture, and nik naks. In fact, the most surprising fossil was the Fossil coffee table.

Dry lake bed

The Sahara gets only XX inches of rain each year.  But, only 2 weeks ago Morocco was hit with a pretty significant rainstorm that caused some flooding in some cities.  But, in addition to the bedlam that it created in the cities, it rained in the dessert.  And, the dessert in question is the Sahara dessert, which covers the Easter region of Morocco.

After travelling for about 3 hours across the dessert, we approached an encampment.  Actually, this encampment was much like a very small city, with a couple dozen buildings. But, more importantly, in front of these buildings was a pretty large area, perhaps 25 acres or more, and instead of being a dry bed, on which we might have ridden our bikes, we found a lake.  Our guides commented that they had never seen any water in this lake bed, but they had heard that during the rainy season, it rains enough to create some mud.  But, this was not mud, this was a full-fledged lake.  Truly a remarkable event.

The Sahara

Motorsports and camels in the Sahara

Camels

5 folks rented camels and took a 1 hour trip across the Sahara. They were picked up by a 4×4, and taken back to our starting location.

Quads

4 of the folks in our group rented quads. They did the same kind of maneuver as we did in the buggies, but I suspect that their guide was a little bit less enthusiastic about the quads, so the buggies may have been more fun.

Buggies (Side-by-sides)

3 of us rented buggies.  These were modern Can-Am buggies.  These little things had a lot of torque, an excellent suspension system, and tires with low air pressure.  So, we loaded ourselves into the buggy, and out into the Sahara we went.

We spent an hour riding through the dessert, and truth be told, this was one of the most fun experiences that I’ve ever had.  Years of track experience, coupled with some off-road experience on the bike gage me a healthy start to the steep learning curve.  Nah, it wasn’t a steep curve.  The onl thing that you needed to know was to always apply more throttle.  The buggy will commit to whatever you beckon.

Exfoliation and massage

Elizabeth and I had booked an Exfoliation session (Called a Hammam), and also a massage.  The reservation was for 7:00, but once we were out in the dessert, it became clear that we would not make it back to the hotel in time for our session.  So, the guides took over and managed to get the hotel to delay our start time by 30 minutes.  We arrived for these spa treatments 30 minutes late, but they were really nice, and we really enjoyed them.

Report from the Road

The Xaluca hotel

Dinner

After these two different spa treatments, we were completely wiped out, and although we had imagined that we’d finish the treatment and go to bed, we found that we needed some food before going to bed.  So, at the hotel bar, we ordered a burger with fries, and a beer.  This burger really hit the spot.

What will tomorrow bring

Tomorrow, we’ll ride to Dades Canyon, stopping at Todra Gorge along the way. We’ll end our trip tomorrow just about 4 miles from Morocco’s most famous mountain pass. We’ve heard that the views in Todra Gorge, and Dades Canyon are breathtaking.