From the Treasures of Atlas to the Gates of the Desert. 9-day Private Motorcycle Tour in Casablanca, Morocco

On the private motorcycle tour, you will cross the first of Morocco's mountain ranges, the Middle Atlas with its secular sources and magnificent old cedar groves.

Highlights:

• Ziz Gorges

• Its Oasis and the famous Legionnaire's tunnel

• Dades Gorges

• Khenifra National Park

• Todra River

• Assif Melloul

• Atlantic Ocean

Duration: 9 days and 8 nights.

Departure: 26.02, 12.03, 16.04, 21.05, 26.05.

Includes:

• Motorcycle rental and fuel

• Accommodation (8 nights at 4/5-star inns or hotels)

• Food (breakfast, dinner daily)

• Compulsory insurance coverage

• A private guide

• Transfer (airport)

• Assistance vehicle and transport for the luggage

Optional: Full equipment. Minimum 2 people. Competence level: beginner, intermediate. The circuit is modulated according to the level of the participants.

Motorcycle: KTM 790 Adventure R. Terrain: 50% roads 50% tracks.

Daily journeys: between 150 and 420 km.

Mileage of the tour: 1700 km.

Equipment: preferably trail outfits and boots.

Please note: On the eve of departure, you will receive a safety briefing (conference room) and a presentation of the circuit and vehicles. There is a deposit of €1,000 per each bike reserved by credit card when customers sign the rental agreement.

Cancellation policy: 30% non-refundable advance payment. In case of cancellation due to covid, the tour can be rescheduled for another date.

Riding through the passes of the High Atlas, you will observe snow caps, gorges and oases that border Ziz and the Tafilalt Plain. From there, the famous dune areas and the gateway to the Moroccan desert will open before your wheels. This journey will take you to the gates of the great southern desert, passing through its western part, the road of thousand kasbahs and the gorges of Todra and Dades. Also, you will head to the M’Goun UNESCO Global Geopark, a structural reversal of a Jurassic basin with remains of dinosaurs and largest land mammals that have never lived on Earth. The park features famous and spectacular footprints of sauropod, theropod dinosaurs and many deposits of bones. The tour will offer you to take the route of the first explorers and combine research, discovery, culture and tourism.

Day 1. You will transfer from Casablanca airport to Mohammedia and get accommodated in the4-star Sphinx hotel that is located only 50 meters from Mohammedia beach. You will receive a welcome package, get a safety briefing in a conference room, as well as learn about the tour program and the vehicles.

Day 2-3. Mohammedia - Azrou (342 km), Azrou - Midelt (300 km). Departing at 8:30AM, you will set off on the journey on a very good surface. The first day on the road will only be asneak peekof the scenery offered by the routes of the Middle Atlas. You will embrace the magnificent turns and become more confident on your bike. You will take the roads that are unknown to the general public, the heritage of the protectorate and the work of the convicts of the time. Once you arrive at the spa town of Oulmes, you will try the local specialty, a skewer of chicken cooked on embers. Then, you will cross one of the green lungs of Morocco and the most beautiful park of centenary cedars in Africa, staying for the first night in the very heart of the park among the cedar groves in Le Palais des Cerisiers.

Day 4. Midelt - Merzouga (250 km). After two saturated days filled with discoveries, you will observe the scenery of the Ziz valley and rest in the pleasant setting of Merzouga. You will be able to see the Milky Way after dark, sitting by a campfire. The program will also include the introduction to sands and desert tracks, and you will climb dunes on camels to admire the sunset.

Day 5. Merzouga - Alnif (200 km). The tour will continue in the great south and at the gates of the desert, and you will discover the land filled with prehistoric traces that was once a lush savannah. You will see cave paintings, Neolithic necropolises and Precambrian geological formations that date back to the times when the Earth was still a single continent.

Day 6. Alnif - Dades (236 km). You will leave the great south to return to the heights of the Atlas by taking the Jbel Siroua. There, basaltic formations and eruptions have shaped unique and magnificent landscapes. You will experience the hospitality of the locals, having a great, 100% organic meal. On a plateau at around 2300 meters, you will descend to one of the most beautiful gorges in the South, Todra, and its 300-meter cliffs. You will pass to the Dades Gorges along the timeless path and stay there overnight in the most beautiful Auberge in the region.

Day 7. Dades - Zaouiat Ahansal (190 km). You will take one of the highest and most magnificent tracks in Morocco, reaching a whitewater canyon. The scenery will be reminiscent of Colorado, and you will visit the famous sandstone cathedral, overlooking the river. You will stay for the night in the Auberge de L'Akhansal that features stone and wood decor, having marvelous dinner and then breakfast in the morning.

Day 8. Zaouiat Ahansal - Imilchil - Khenifra (260 km). From Akhansal, you will cross Assif Meloul. There, the Berber populations have carried out titanic work in order to create the trail that winds along the river of Assif Melloul all the way to Imilchil. You will get familiar with the myths of old Berber tales, and, after a delicious meal with organic vegetables and olive oil at an orchard, you will proceed along the road to the cedar forest and the Middle Atlas. On this day, you will stay overnight at Khenifra National Park.

Day 9. Khenifra - Mohammedia. You will head back, taking the road that winds along in the lakes. You might also make a small detour on the coastal road, passing the Atlantic Ocean and stopping at a restaurant to try some local fish and seafood. Once you get back to the hotel, you will visita Moroccanhammamand then have a goodbye drink and a small prize ceremony for the participants of the tour.