Tag Archives: Merzouga

Desert days…Dad said it´s Desert days … :)

After hills, cedars forest and climbing up and down the mountains, finally it is time for some good Desert rides.
Mom drove me till Merzouga and while approaching the landscape changed completely, trees and green all of the sudden disappeared and left spaces to astonishing colours!
Arrived at Erg Chebby, incredible desert with high dunes surrounded by black stony hamada and the good part is that it is finally very dry and hot (38°C) but pfff I am a bit sick… started to leak from my water pump and I feel a bit the heat. Luckily Ahmed, our new local friend and guide, assured in 2 days I will be very well treated on a nice and cosy beauty-farm in Zagora.
After a lazy afternoon where Dad, Mom and Ahmed drunk a lot of Moroccan Whiskey (mint tea) we went to a cosy hotel for the night – the coming day I was ready! Some coolant liquid addition and we started. A slow ride around the Chebby, the sand finally! My wheels where spinning a bit but after a while Dad understood (thanks God) how to drive me on soft sand. We passed by a very stony black desert and then very close to the Algerian border where we stopped in a nice oasis, water, palms, goats … soo nice…time to move back to town, wind started to gain strength and visibility dropped but Ahmed knows every inch of that place so in a short while we were back home safely – Mom I must admit was a bit worried 😛 ….
But the nice part yet has to come… Merzouga to Zagora about 250 km of piste, a path where the famous Paris-Dakar vehicles were passing and running – we were just slow pacing and enjoying the ride… 🙂 … was incredible, such varied scenarios opened up under my wheels, hamada with rocks, tolle ondulé … (me don´t like it – I tell YOU), dry – since long but not for long – lakes where I had the chance to run fast … (me like that MUCH MORE) and sandy patches, small dunes where I was fast enough to float and proceed at decent speed! …Such a great day!!!!…. I will remember it for all my life… wind came up strong toward end of the day but finally we arrived in Zagora… Ahmed brought us to the beauty-farm “Chez Ali Racing” the best workshop in town, and after a bit of chat plus another couple of Moroccan Whiskeys we decided to start my treatment the coming day… so now time for a good sleep.
Thanks Mom and Dad… I really enjoyed our ride..but thanks to Ahmed too …I felt a bit lost when visibility dropped but he knew the way very well 🙂

 

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