Western Sahara

Saturday 12 Jan (mileage 3 piste, 266 roads, total 1824)
I set off just as the sun was rising, and ride through Goulimine, the ultimate destination of my first Moroccan trip in the early 1970s. Goulimine beads (glass trade beads) were in vogue and I had driven with friends over what was then the piste of the Tizi ‘n Test in a Series I Landy and ended up buying an amunition chest full of them. In those days the town was tiny with no modern facilities, now it has changed out of all recognition.

The famous glass beads of Goulimine

The road after Goulimine runs parallel to and 15 miles from the Atlantic, and I enter a damp cold sea fog that lasts for the next 65 miles. It is iPod time and I listen to ‘Breaking Glass’, the saxaphone blasting soundtrack to the film staring Hazel O’Connor which, for Trivial Persuit fans, was produced by the late Dodi Fayed.

Coming the other way are convoys of military-looking olive drab pickups with canvas backs. But they are not military and when I next fill the tank I see the reason–they are buying the subsidised fuel in southern Morocco and selling it further north. With each truck holding probably 2000 litres in the pickup bed, a convoy is the equivalent of a petrol tanker. There is no ‘san plomb’ petrol below Tan Tan so I filled up with the subsidised leaded petrol at less than 40p per litre.

I’m short to be riding a 1200GS Adventure, especially off-road when you need to dab a foot occasionally. My solution is to fit a special low seat for trips involving off-road travels, but with an ‘AirHawk’ inflatable saddle on top. When riding on roads I can increase the pressure and raise the overall level to a commanding position to see over the tops of cars, and when I need to I can deflate it without demounting. The AirHawk is also more comfortable than the standard seat, and I add a few more puffs of air to the saddle before setting off again.

Past Tan Tan Plage (El Quatia) the road runs by the Atlantic with wonderful views.

One of the problems riding in Africa is the omnipresent sun, especially when constantly riding into it when heading south as I am. I am using Pampers ‘Sunnies’ sun screen wipes intended for babies which don’t sting the eyes and are a total UV block. Nevertheless I still need a buff over my lower face to protect the skin from drying and I regularly use lip balm. And this is in winter.

Goffre d’Akhfennir, a natural sea grotto

I bypass Tarfaya, noting the sign to the Saint-Exupery museum for the return trip. Antoine de Saint-Exupery was a test pilot, then in the 1920s and 30s an early pioneer of the air mail service that linked the various west african Fench colonies, and used to feature on the back of the old 50FF note.

My final destination for today is Le Roi Bedouin (Bedouin King) campsite run by Luc and Martine. It’s three miles off the road in the middle of nowhere next to a sebjet, a depression flooded in times of rain, fed from a calcified waterfall.

Calcified waterwall in the foreground with Le Roi Bedouin in background

I rent a ‘bungalow’ for 50 dh (£3.50) and pay an extra 15 dh for sheets, blankets and pillow. During the day a wind turbine takes advantage of the constant wind from the sea, topping up the batteries for nighttime lighting. Martine does a mean camel and date tajine–highly recommended. Any leftovers are fed to the goats, who return the favour by producing goats cheese.

There’s a group of three guys in a 1.2-litre something who are driving in the Plymouth-Banjul rally. The rally rules involve not paying more than £100 for the car and this one looks well used. They are looking for some other cars in their group and I tell them I had seen one of them earlier, a Latvian-plated Audi painted in black and white zebra stripes.

Tim