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BMWs we would inclines on our off-road have needed specialised wheels. paddle tyres resembling Moroccan salad With dinner of around a and chicken Tajine a group of with campfire shared Touareg men, semi-nomadic indigo wearing their traditionalit was a scarfs, blue turbans and a Later we climbed magical night. under a jet-black large sand dune with stars. sky, brimming returned to sleep We eventually tents, deep in the in our Bedouin of silence, desert, to the sound precaution of having taken the upside down to leaving our boots by lizards or id unwanted visits desert foxes avoid f and scorpions. Snakes saw their tell-tale live here, too. We when we morning the in tracks again to watch climbed the dunes turning the rays the sunrise, the a l ndscape into s
RT SAHARA DESE goes, As offroading one this is the big
G
WHAT ARE THE ROADS LIKE?
“The roads and road conditions are not the same as Europe. You can forget about those beautiful, nice, wide Tarmac roads. usually really narrowRoads are in Morocco and you get big trucks on them, and you get loads of animals like goats, people, and and loads of dogs. sheep, camels “All those things you need to be mindful of, but then riding in Morocco, people are very friendly and generous, generous with space on the road as well; they’re all very aware of bikes.”
CHAR RLEY BOOR RMAN’S MORO OCCO TIPS arley Boorman ha ntless times. as ridden in Africa He’ nches and even ’s done tours, bike th he gruelling Parisar Rally. We talke nturer about ed to the motorcycle ridiing in Morocco
T
Sahara h is it. The mighty e his i nine Desert – covering million square kilometres times larger and almost 100 average summer the UK – where
HOW MUCH DO I NEED? TIME
CHARLEY BOORMAN
“Give yourself loads do big days because of time. Don’t all you’ll be doing is riding from A to B, and there’s so much to see in Morocco and so much to experience – you want time to see it all. “You’ve got Marrakesh, which is incredible, you’ve got the Atlas Mountains, then down on the other side you’ve got the huge sand dunes. You can go out and stay in these beautiful Bedouin tents in the middle of the desert. There’s ancient ruins and a lot of history here, and tons and There’s beautiful tons of hotels. hotels all along the stunning coast food is brilliant.” as well, and the
WHEN SHOULD
ABOVE: Charley knows Morocco
well – and loves riding there
I GO?
TOUR
Another unforgettable volcano extinct destination is the near Erfoud. With Gara Medouar, crater walls, it soaring 2800ft-tall to hold African was once used to Portugal slaves being sold the – hence it’s nickname, ‘Portuguese Prison’. out for ruts You need to watch the gravelly access and dips along the front road and I lost in patches of innumerable times it’s such a dramatic deep sand, but you’ll feel inspired rock formation inside the crater. to film a movie the first, mind, You wouldn’t be the location for because it’s also Mummy The Mummy, The of Persia: The Returns, Prince and most recently Time, Sands of of (it was the lair Bond’s Spectre Blofeld). the evil villain
DESERT KING OF THEbased in Casablanca, offers
(both road Wheels of Morocco, and six set tours of fabulous tailored expeditions s with a large selection from their Atlas and off-road) here are The snippets destinations. .nett : www.wheelsofmorocco
’S MOROCCO
IS IT SAFE?
TIPS
“Morocco is very safe. One of the big things people who come to Africa worry about security. Morocco is safety and is moderate Muslim a very country, they’re very relaxed about they’re very strict religion, but about robbery and thieving. It’s just not tolerated here at all, and you can have severe consequences if you’re caught stealing. So, it’s a safe country to travel around in and travel by yourself, you can easily no problem.”
“The weather here is very changeable, so I would say always bring really good kit and make sure you have WHAT ELSE plenty of IS “It’s really important warm stuff. THERE TO DO? to choose the right time “There’s loads of year. Usually of stuff February, March zip lining, mountain to do here: and April are really good times when it gets warmer biking, and to come, but you for cycling, can of course be Tour de France unlucky and get kind of cycling rubbish weather. is really big here But normally it because of all the would be clear French influence. blue sky,16-20ºC, chilly at night, “There’s people but you’d get that everywhere, anywhere. especially when you “I remember years desert. You think go out into the ago we got you’re in the snowed in going middle of nowhere up the Atlas and you think Mountains. there’s no one here, and then “We were 20 bikes some kid comes over a d th h
k 19 www.mslmagazine.co.u
GOIN SOLO G MO L ROCIN CO
WORDS
& PHOTOG
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TOURING IN IRELAND BMW F850GSA & TRIUMPH TIGER 800
MOTO OTO GUZZI V85 TT
STYLE AND SUBSTANCE IN EQUAL MEASURES
BIG
MUSCLES BRAIN & PRESENCE DUCATI DIAVEL 1260 S
TT GUIDE
GET READY FOR THE BIGGEST RACE EVENT OF THE YEAR No.705 June 2019
SOLO
RAPHY Y: Chris
Adve Scott coun nture how try. Andriding is if a Chris to go anyobig in the exce Scott.about iit ne know rpts Here solo from are , it’s s a som his ttrave e ls OFF
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