Morocco
Driving through the Sahara desert
Is it difficult to drive through the sahara desert? For us as amateur novice overlanders it was challenging but not difficult. In October 2022 we
6 november 2022
© 2024 Lewie and the Rover
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We travelled 16 days with our Land Rover Defender through the land of dust, dunes and dates. This was in October 2022. In total we covered 2400 km. We started in Tanger med and went down to the desert. Trying as many offroad tracks in Morocco as we could, avoid mass tourism and eat a lot of Tagines
Day 1 Algeciras – Chefchouen
Day 2 Chefchouen – Imilchil
Day 3 Imilchil – Gorge de Dades
Day 4 Tinghir – Alnif
Day 5 Camp Sederar – Merzouga
Day 6 Merzouga – Remlia
Day 7 Remlia – Mhamid
Day 8 Mhamid – Erg Chigaga
Day 9 Erg Chigaga – Foum Zguid
Day 10 Foum Zguid – Ouarzazate
Day 11 Ouarzazate – Atlas – Ouarzazate
Day 12 Ouarzazate – Ait benhaddou – Atlas – Marrakesh
Day 13 Marrakesh
Day 14 Marrakesh – Assif melloul
Day 15 Assif melloul route – El Ksiba
Day 16 El Ksiba – Tanger – Spain
– October 2022 –
There are multiple options to get from Europe to Morocco, we have chosen to take the 1,5 hour ferry trip from Algeciras Spain to Tanger Med Morocco (after crossing all of France and Spain). We bought our tickets online in advance which was very easy. We doubted if we should have printed our tickets and bring them on paper but when we arrived at the port digital tickets were accepted, so that is very convenient. When they scan your barcode you will receive your boarding pass and also the tickets for the return trip.
The ferry only took 1,5 hours but we left 1 hour later than we expected. On the ferry there is a Moroccan police office where you need to get your passport stamped, they will check this immediately when you arrive at Tanger med port. After the passport control you drive a bit further down and go through security. There they will check your papers and the papers of your car. You will receive a white small piece of paper that you will need to carry with you during your stay in Morocco. On return when leaving the country you must still have this piece of paper. Our car was checked by a police dog and then we were ready to go.
Our first destination in Morocco is Chefchouen. It’s a two hour drive from the port. We didn’t take the toll road but when cross country. We passed a few villages and were waved at by many people. Our first impression of Morocco was very welcoming. We stayed at campsite Azilan. It’s very close to the medina of Chefchouen only a 15 minute walk.
After we setup our camp we walked to the medina for dinner. We were very excited to try our first Moroccon dishes. The medina is beautiful, blue colored houses everywhere you look. We had dinner at Lala Mesouda. This place has a lovely atmosphere, very nice staff who speak a little English and delicious food. We ate so much our stomach hurt. Luckily we had a walk back to the campsite after dinner.
Our second day is a transfer day. We used this day to get from the northern part of morocco to the beginning of the Atlas mountain range. Our journey was almost 7 hours and we crossed a lot of villages, towns and even a city. The landscape changes every hour and there was one thing that surprised us. We never knew Morocco had so many Olive orchards, there are lots and lots of olive trees along the route.
After hours and hours of driving we chose to stay at a Gîte 2 hours from Imilchil. We read so many good reviews online about this place from Saadia and Mustafa and we couldn’t agree more. On arrival we were welcomed with open arms. Initially we planned to sleep in our tent but when Saadia showed us her house and the rooms of the gite we decided to sleep in the house. The room has it’s own bathroom with shower and toilet. At this point we didn’t know yet that on our way back two weeks later we stayed with them again.
Imilchil – Gorge de Dades
We started the day with a traditional Moroccan breakfast: Msemmen with butter and honey. Then we said our goodbyes to Saadia and her family and went off on our first piste.
For this trip we used the book Pistenkuh. It’s in German but it is so good!! There are loads of off road tracks and the book comes with GPX files.
Our route this day went from Imilchil to Agoudal crossing the Tizi-n-Ouano to Msemrir. This is one of the highest mountain passes in Morocco at 2.915m. On the first part of the track we passed a couple of cafes and we decided to stop for tea at Bou Azmou. We have grown to love Moroccan tea during our trip. It is a lovely place to stop very friendly owners and we planned out our route a bit further.
Next we stopped to walk around the area a bit. A local shepherd came up to us and wanted to show us a special place with a cave. We ended up on a hike with him and had a great time. After our hike we shared a cold drink and said goodbye.
The route continues through beautiful landscapes. At on point we passed two Belgians on their bicyles. They left their homes five months earlier and cycled all the way to Morocco. We gave them one our our full water bottles and took an empty one from them to recycle.
A lot happened on this route it was a very exciting day. The next encounter was with a group of insane guys from UK, Norway and Australia who were doing a rally on monkey bikes. They got dropped in the middle of the night in the desert, got their bikes and had to make their way back to Marrakesh within a couple of days. Unfortunately one of them had a bad crash just before we passed them. Some French guys stitched him up but he couldn’t get back on the bike and had to see a doctor. They asked us if we could take him. We made some room between our stuff in the back of the rover and shoved him in. There was one more problem, his bike. We drove past two local teenagers on a scooter and the guys asked them if they would ride the mini bike back with us to the next village. They agreed and the boy had the time of his life! He went first and showed us the way to the medical post, then there was us in the defender with the wounded in the back and then 5 guys on the monkey bikes.
It took maybe an hour or two and then we dropped them off at the medical post. We continued the route to Gorge de Dades and arrived there at sunset. Not too far from gorge de Dades we stayed the night at .. campsite. There we ate on of the best meals of our trip. The daughter of the campsite owner cooked tagines for us and they were delicious. Lots of veggies, spices and egg on top.
After the delicious dinner we decided also to have breakfast at the campsite. We did not regret this as again the food was very tasty and prepared us for a new day of adventure.
We drove to Tinghir filled up on fuel and got some groceries and then embarked on a new off road track. The track starts at the village of Thinerir and passes a couple of small towns. The beginning of the track is not very spectacular. We used the route from Pistenkuh which marked this route with 5 stars. We were wondering when the 5 star part began but soon we found out.
This route goes straight through the mountains with peaks around you as far as you can see. There are multiple options for wild camping along the way. We spent a couple of hours resting and taking the scenery all in. We waited for the sunset which was absolutely amazing. Then we finished the last part of the track through oasis you only read about in book and see in films.
We spent the night at Camp Serdar. Very friendly owner who welcomed us eventhough we arrived quite late and in the dark. We cooked some dinner and went to bed.
Tinghir – Alnif
Camp Sederar – Merzouga
We had a slow morning and enjoyed a delicious Moroccan breakfast on the campsite. After breakfast we chilled a bit and made a plan for the day. We decided to drive to Merzouga and prepare for our sahara adventure.
In Merzouga you can find a gas station and there is a small center with a couple of shops to get groceries.
We stayed at the blue gazelle. They have a roofterrace with a view over Erg Chebbi sandunes.
This was the day we were both excited and scared for: taking the Rover into the sand dunes. As we don’t have experience with this we were a bit nervous going into the dunes by ourselves. But, luckily because of the great overland community and spirit we got in contact with other overlanders who invited us to join them into the dunes. Team @76overland is very experienced in desert driving after living in Saudi for 8 years. They provided excellent instructions and made us feel in control and safe! We cannot thank them enough for the great morning we had together!
After our dune driving lesson it was time to go deeper into the sahara. We drove in a group of 4 cars from Merzouga to Remlia to attend a pizza party in the middle of the desert! We had great fun and spent the night there.
Merzouga – Remlia
Remlia – Mhamid
The morning after the pizza party we drove from somewhere near Remlia to Mhamid. There is no road but when we went there were tracks from other vehicles that crossed this part of the desert so we could follow the tracks. Of course we also used our GPS to make sure we were heading in the right direction. We started the route with one other vehicle from the pizza party and ended up spending the next couple of days together. We had great fun and became friends.
In Mhamid there are a couple of shops, a gas station and an ATM so we stocked up on these essentials. We stayed the night at a kashbah / campsite but not something we would recommend here. There was a large group having dinner at the restaurant and we think we were unfortunate because of that. We didn’t get to eat the Morocan delicious food but got some spaghetti with vegetable puree. Ah well, nothing to do about it – this is also part of the experience.
From the campsite we drove back into the desert again from Mhamid to Erg Chigaga. A spectacular route with epic views. We stopped a few times to take it all in. After a couple of hours of driving we saw the big sand dunes of Erg Chigaga. We let down our tire pressures to 1 bar and went into the dunes to find a camping spot for the night. As part of the adventure our friends got stuck.. but luckily we had all the recovery gear we needed from our partner euro4x4parts!
We found an epic spot surrounded by dunes. After setting up our camp we went for a walk and experienced a spectacular sunset.
Mhamid – Erg Chigaga
Erg Chigaga – Foum Zguid
This morning we set out for the last part of the sahara route. We were all looking forward to it as you cross an epic dry lake: Iriki. It was completely dry and flat so after bumpy slow driving in the desert we could finally get some speed again. Only problem is that the Rover doesn’t go very fast :-p
We stopped at a place somewhere along the route in the middle of nowhere for tea. After that we made up the plan for the next day. We enjoyed our time with @lostwithlarry so we decided to camp another night together. But first we headed into Foum Zguid town for refilling on water and got lunch at a restaurant.
Our camp for the night was surrounded by breathtaking views again. We had a lovely evening and sat outside until midnight. However, a couple of hours after we went to bed it started to get very windy. So much that it got very uncomfortable in our tent so we slept inside the car.
After the horrible night we were in need of a relaxing day. Our initial plan was to do an offroad track from Foum Zguid to Taliouline but we decided to go to a campsite in Ouarzazate instead. Coincidentally – or not- this is also where our friends were heading so we ended up spending another day together. The trip there was a bit longer than we expected but we were very happy with our choice.
We stayed at l’Escale de Ouarzazate and it was wonderful. There is a swimmingpool and the food at the restaurant is excellent.
Foum Zguid – Ouarzazate
Ouarzazate – Atlas – Ouarzazate
After a good night sleep we were well rested and ready for a new day of adventure. We were deciding between two routes:
Option 1: From Foum Zguid to Taliouline
Option 2: From Taliouline to Agouim
We decided to go for option 2 and unfortunately we were a bit disappointed. It was supposed to be an off-road route and would take 2 days to complete. However, they are working very hard on the roads in Morocco and this particular route was freshly paved when we got there. The first half of the route was not off road anymore. After a couple of hours we finally got what we came for: gravel roads.
Even though the first part was not what we expected the second part was epic. At a certain point we were at 2700 m altitude. This is the place where Patrick popped the question and we had our special moment together.
After sunset we drove back to the campsite in Ouarzazate.
We started this day with a visit to Ait benhaddou. It was only a 10 minute drive from the campsite.
Then we decided to head over to Marrakesh. The road was terrible, at lot of traffic, a lot of construction so it took a lot of concentration and energy.
We stayed at Le Relais de Marrakesh. A great base to safely leave the car when visiting the city and also a relaxing place with swimming pool.
Ouarzazate – Ait benhaddou – Atlas – Marrakesh
Marrakesh
We spent the morning at the pool just relaxing and chilling a bit.
From the campsite you can get a taxi to go to the city. At the reception there is a list where you can write your name and time you would like to go so that you can share the costs with other guests. When we were there it was 150 dirham one way regardless of the amount of people. After dark the prices increased to 200 dirham.
We wandered around the souks and bought some souvenirs. After walking around the whole afternoon we found a bar/restaurant with rooftop terrace: Cafe Arabe. They serve alcohol (which is not very common in Morocco) and the food is delicious! We were lucky to get a table while walking in, if you are planning to go here it’s best to reserve upfront.
Time to leave the city. It was nice to see but we prefer nature over cities.
We drove towards Azilal and took the R302 into the mountains. Again a beautiful route with epic views. We decided to stay at Dar Ahansal a campsite / hotel. Lovely place with beautiful surroundings. They have their own vegetable garden and while we drank our tea we saw the chef harvesting veggies for dinner.
Marrakesh – Assif melloul
Assif melloul route – El Ksiba
Our last day in the Atlas Mountains and we wanted to make the most out of it.
Only we made one mistake of not filling up on fuel before we entered the mountains. So we searched for fuel stations on google maps and there was one point indicated. When we arrived we didn’t see any sign of a fuel station. While we were looking around us a girl came up to us and asked what we were looking for. We explained we needed fuel and at that moment the whole village came and one guy called another guy and before we knew it we were getting directions from a guy who jumped on the back of our car. We stopped at a small shed and a man openend the door. There was a huge stock of jerrycans filled with fuel. So we bought a jerrycan from them and filled the rover up again.
Then we continued the R302 and passed the famous Cathedral rock. It was quite impressive to see but we didn’t stay long because we were on our way to another off road route along the river ‘Assif Melloul’.
The route was epic: a small road carved out of the rocks. There is a steep drop so you have to pay attention! Luckily we didn’t meet any oncoming traffic, if you do you might have to drive backwards a few km’s to pass each other.
After the route we drove back to the place of Saadia and Mustafa. We stayed there at the beginning of our trip and had such a lovely time we decided to go back.
Saadia prepared a lovely Morocccan breakfast for us again. We didn’t know it yet but this was our last breakfast in Morocco.
On this day we drove back to the north of Morocco. We planned to take the ferry the next day. We couldn’t find any nice campsites in the north of Morocco near Tanger and while we were driving we spontaneously decided to change our ferry tickets to leave this day.
We called the FRS customer service and it was very easy to change our ticket at no extra cost. Before we knew it we only had one hour left to get to the port. Luckily we made it in time to catch the 18.00 ferry from Tanger med to Algeciras.
We had such an epic trip! From meeting locals to making new friends and from the atlas to dune driving. We can look back and say this was probably the best experience of our lives!
El Ksiba – Tanger – Spain
Is it difficult to drive through the sahara desert? For us as amateur novice overlanders it was challenging but not difficult. In October 2022 we
The ferry from Algeciras to Tanger med In october 2022 we took the ferry from Algeciras to Tanger with our land rover defender. For us
Fuel in Morocco on a 4×4 offroad trip We toured around morocco in our landrover defender in October 2022 for 16 days and this is
© 2024 Lewie and the Rover