Morocco 🇲🇦 - Flat Tyres, Bazaars and Off the Road
Sven Walther
A flat tyre to warm up
We continue south. There are fewer people and the landscape gets rougher - which is to say, better.
We turn onto the first track, stop, and: pffffff. We have won ourselves a flat. Changing a wheel is on the tour’s training programme anyway, we are simply bringing it forward a little.
Rougher - and therefore better
With the wheel changed, the group heads on to the overnight spot. We instead drive to Errachidia and have the tyre repaired.
A view of the abandoned old town
Afterwards we are parked with the best possible view of the abandoned old town, among palms and camels.
Palms and camels are part of the deal now
And then comes the one-more-thing of the day: we visit a family who cook for us superbly.
Erfoud
Today is the last long stretch before things go offroad.
The first stop along the way is a petrol station. Nine expedition vehicles arriving at once causes moderate to considerable chaos - but at around one euro per litre of diesel, that is easy to live with.
On the way to Erfoud
Then we head to the bazaar in Erfoud. There is everything here, it bustles, and occasionally as a European you are better off not looking too closely.
At the bazaar
Loaded with assorted vegetables, very good pickled olives and harissa, we head slightly off the road to camp wild. For the next few days there will be no shops, no petrol stations, nothing.
From here it gets empty
Off the road
Now we are away from all roads - from today it is tracks only through Morocco.
We learn our first lesson on tyre pressure and get to apply it on the track straight away.
Tracks from here on
Then we stop to practise “driving to within five centimetres”: forwards and backwards through a tightly marked course. It sounds harmless. It is not.
Driving to within five centimetres
The wind slowly picks up, and the sand starts to move.
Camped in the middle of nowhere
We spend the night in the middle of nowhere beside beautiful dunes.