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North Africa Topics specific to North Africa and the Sahara down to the 17th parallel (excludes Morocco)
Photo by Lois Pryce, schoolkids in Algeria

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Photo of Lois Pryce, UK
and schoolkids in Algeria



Trans Sahara Routes.

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  #1  
Old 10 Jun 2011
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Make the most of the fun dirt tracks in 'mainland' Morocco (for ideas see Morocco Overland, among other sources), because once past Tan Tan options for off-roading while alone are pretty thin or risky, all the way to NKT.
200 miles off road is pretty ambitious up north, but if you want to explore some dirt roads and hang on the way, give yourself 3-4 weeks door to door.

Ch
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Old 12 Jun 2011
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uk dakar uk
myself and my good lady did the trip last june on a tiger and 650gs,like chris says once past tan its risky off road and another factor to put into the equation are the road blocks/checkpoints,our worst day had us stopped about 15 times all with the demands for passport details as a minimum and sometimes 5 minutes of questions,all in it took us about 12days from blighty to Dakar averaging about 200to250 miles a day all down the atlantic road. We were passed by a lunatic in a car doing about 150km/hr but apart from that we hardly saw another european once past Tiznit,lastly the further south you travel the poorer the people and the more corrupt the regime so make every thing secure on the bike, i used steel cord and small padlocks to secure stuff to the bike
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Old 14 Jun 2011
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It's possible to do Nouakchott to Dakar in one day, I did this back in Jan on my 650GS. Many hours delay at Diema. The track leading up to this border is fun, the first and last bit of off road in a while. Many hours riding in the dark is much less fun

If you want some off-road in Mauri, there are several places where you can just ride parallel to the main road in hard sand. If you have a GPS it's easy to keep track of where the main road is, even if you don't see it. That way you can venture out into the desert a bit, cross some small dunes and ride hard at around 80Km/h, the sand here allows it. Fun and relatively easy riding.

Good luck!
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Old 15 Jun 2011
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In Mauri should be fun going off road towards the sea south of Noadíbou and visit lovely Bank d'Arguin; then going the old N-S route on the beach all the way to Nkt. There is a 12 km stretch of soft sand dunes to pass.
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Old 15 Jun 2011
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Originally Posted by Chris Scott View Post
Make the most of the fun dirt tracks in 'mainland' Morocco (for ideas see Morocco Overland, among other sources),

Ch
We can heartily recommend loads of the routes in Chris's book. Highlights: MS6, Iriki, Assa - Smara. Get in quick, though: the road builders are even busy on the top of the Assa -Smara leg (May 2011).
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Old 27 Jun 2011
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Originally Posted by guzzibob View Post
We can heartily recommend loads of the routes in Chris's book. Highlights: MS6, Iriki, Assa - Smara. Get in quick, though: the road builders are even busy on the top of the Assa -Smara leg (May 2011).
MS6 is a route I'm really looking forward to doing, I hope they don't make too much of it tarmac!
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Old 27 Jun 2011
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Hopefully it will be a while before they seal MS6. I could be wrong but I'd also be surprised if they ever seal MW6 (Assa-Smara) as described in the book. It's an old Dakar rally stage that goes through nowhere. Perhaps they are renewing the military road from Assa down to Zag along the border?
There are some great routes in the West. Got any pix, Bob?

Ch
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Old 27 Jun 2011
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Hi all,
It looks like they were getting ready to seal a small section right at the Assa end in Feb last year, but agree with Chris, I don't see this extending very far.
There's a whole lot of nothing between there and Smara.
2 (568) | Flickr - Photo Sharing!
A great route, I'm really glad we did it. Certainly wouldn't attempt it as a lone vehicle though, a bit too long and remote for that.

There are loads of photo's here.
Morocco 2010 - a set on Flickr
I never got around to splitting them down though I'm afraid. If you hover over the thumbnails, Smara - Assa starts at number 2(465)

Happy travels
Sam
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