12th day, april 27th, 2023

Sidi Bibi – Tafraout

After breakfast, I left the wonderful Takat campsite, which I wholeheartedly recommend. Monique, the manager, does a fantastic job! I headed south towards Tiznit and rode my bike into the town centre for a brief look around the medina. Apart from the scorching 37°C heat at 11 am, I couldn’t find any secure parking for my bike. And, wearing my full riding gear, I quickly abandoned the idea.

So I headed on eastwards into the foothills of the Atlas Mountains, taking the R104 road. I climbed over 1,300 metres and was hoping for cooler temperatures, but my dashboard showed 40°C! I stopped for fuel at Goumar and cooled down with some apple juice.

The road was fantastic, twisting, well-maintained, and cutting through a "Martian" landscape of red rock formations dotted with tiny hamlets. It was so hot that my phone, which I use for most of my photos, stopped working!

Along the way, I passed a few bikers and, as is customary, we greeted each other. So I’m definitely not the only motorcyclist touring Morocco.

I arrived at the Tazka (https://camping-tazka.com/) campsite, where Mohamed, a young man from Tafraout, gave me a warm welcome. At first, I wasn’t too impressed: no shade, a dusty, hard-packed ground where I couldn’t even stake down my tent properly. With the hot wind blowing, setting up was a bit of a struggle. However, there was an electrical outlet to charge all my gear. I was the only guest at the site.

Mohamed kindly offered to prepare a chicken tajine for dinner, an invitation I couldn’t refuse. The campsite also had a washing machine, which I used to do laundry before enjoying a much-needed shower after the hot day.

I was a bit worried about sleeping in the tent, the heat lingered, and even at 7 pm the temperature showed no sign of dropping, unlike what I’d noticed along the Atlantic coast. Tomorrow, I’ve booked a room at a hotel in Bigoura.

Today, I covered 177 km in 3 hours and 30 minutes.