Bad advice which will lead to hyponatremia and you'll wash the sodium out of your body. There's no good reason to drink more than four litres per day, and in mid April I'd suggest two litres is a good target to aim for.

I tend to drink tap water rather than bottled. If you are drinking bottled water you need to be aware of the contents, for example, Ciel (made by Coca Cola) is basically tap water with loads of chlorine, and Sidi Harazem is good for cleaning dentures (I'm told) due to the minerals.

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"For sheer delight there is nothing like altitude; it gives one the thrill of adventure
and enlarges the world in which you live," Irving Mather (1892-1966)

And make sure to take rehydration salts (and use them!). The thing riding in desert or very hot countries is that:


1 - you do not realise how dehydrated you are. As you get dehydrated, you lose concentration and coordination, increasing the risk of crashing, especially off-road - so as said, make sure you drink regularly;


2 - you sweat a lot and lose lots of salts. Low levels of electrolytes can result in diarrhea, constipation, cramping etc... Hence the rehydration salts.


My two cents based on my experiences... guilty of all.

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Maria

www.franglais-riders.com

Cheers guys, really helpful advice.

Like it's been said, if it gets ugly I'll turn around.

Cheers

Well. After losing some water and only having kept 3 litres of it in April 2016, I almost died from dehydration. By noon had already drank 3 liters. And it was when it started getting really hot in the desert, North of Merzouga. After finding a water well in the mountains, I didn't have enough force to lift the pouch. Got saved by nomads, the ones in this tent. It took me two hours to get back on my feet.

Whatever floats anyone else's habits, I would NOT risk my life on only two litres of water per day... Especially in the South ;-)

How hot does it get mid April in Merzouga region?

I've ridden on 40C crossing Spain in July, that was painful...

April is three months before the hottest part of the year, but it could reach high 30s/low 40s. I've been on Lac Iriki in January when it was 30ºC, and I've experienced 39ºC in June.

In literally 50 or more visits to Morocco the highest genuine temperature I've recorded was 43ºC near Foum Zguid in October. There's temperature displays outside most banks but the numpties have mounted the sensors in the sun and they record 10ºC, even 20ºC higher than the actual shade temperature.

The whole of the area south and east of the High Atlas is a massive semi-arid region due to being in the rain shadow of the mountains. The surface is mainly stones and earth but in a couple of small areas, sand has been brought down by the Ziz, Rheris and Draa rivers. These 'ergs' are not desert. They are even less the 'Sahara Desert' as the locals would like you to believe. The geological term for this area is 'Pre-Saharan Steppes'.

This map shows where the Sahara actually is (basically Algeria and Mali).

The largest town in this area is Ouarzazate. In the summertime this is normally slightly cooler than Marrakech as it's at 1200m, against M'kech's 450m. Merzouga is at 800m, so normally a bit warmer than Ouarzazate.

Hydration is really important and it seems what happened to Massive Lee is an accumulated shortfall rather than the effects of just one morning. I concentrate on staying well hydrated and then always start the next day chüg-a-lugging half a litre before setting off.

Packets of rehydration salts are useful but many years ago I was on a 14-day trek with mules finishing up with an ascent of Jebel Toubkal (4200m) when 12 of the party came down with D+V. Rehydration packs quickly ran out and I made up many bottles with a mix of 6 tsp sugar, 1 tsp salt to 1 litre of water.

What you need most is the sugar and salt which is why when you arrive at hotels you are often served with welcoming refreshments of sweet mint tea and salted peanuts.

Posts #11-12 and #18 on this thread talk a lot about high temperatures and the effects.

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"For sheer delight there is nothing like altitude; it gives one the thrill of adventure
and enlarges the world in which you live," Irving Mather (1892-1966)

i'd agree that you need a hell of a lot of water and added salts/sugar to travel hot pistes especially gnarly sandy ones.

I'd say each pick up of a 650 with lots of luggage would cost about 400mm in water minimum and a little sit down in the shade afterwards. Repeat 20 yards further on and then you start to worry!

After while you get better, but 6 litres over 100km was far to little for me and I had to ask some lovely Berbers for some water. they were ever so kind sat em down for a mint tea, a chat and in the end we all took the piss out of me for being an idiot.

I count it as one of my finest moments!

We rode only 90km of gravel with pocketed dirt every 300-400 meters on a small sport bike 2up, didnt see anything myself but the shoulder of the road n the potholes in the dirt, some side glances only let me know I was missing some great views. Tiresome and stressful. Forget the mileage , be informed and prepared, maybe do some dirt roads before you get there or leave. I bought a bike just for that before our next Big ride, many more dirt miles to do before then also.

Id say the sands around the really 'desert' places will be really difficult and will eat water very quickly.

look for more of the gravelly mountain trails that will be just opening up in April.

tend to be less of a tourist trap and easier to ride, even 2 up.

if you get confident, you can try for more sandy desert trails.

If you get to Beni Tadjite, ask for Mustapha at the modern petrol station. He has a lovely guest house, speaks only French, but he might get Lhousine over who is a lovely chap with English and will give you some lovely tales.

Its a nice place and very un-touristic.

if that is a word!