Day 13 – Agadir | Tarfaya

Agadir-Tarfaya

September 14th, 2011

Covering the 636km from Agadir to Laayoune was the mission today. It was extremely slow going getting out of Agadir and got lost more than once in the southern burbs, and stuck behind the odd donkey as well. Finally found our way out onto the N1 heading south towards Tiznit which is about 100km south of Agadir. The route takes us due south and inland from the coast, which curves away to the south west, through scrubby rocky desert with a few scattered trees. It is very slow going with heavy traffic and lots of jockeying for position and some crazy drivers as well, albeit not as bad as in Nigeria – there is a semblance of lane discipline here! Am only averaging something between 55 and 70km/hour putting  Laayoune some 10 hours away, and I don’t really relish riding in the dark here on a sea coast with mist and trucks involved. So by the time I reach Tiznit I’m already pretty sure that we’re going to pull up short somewhere, probably Tarfaya, about 90km shy of Laayoune. The problem is that the number of places to pull up are going to start getting pretty few and far between once we’re past Tan-Tan and reach the Atlantic coast again. I also don’t relish the prospect of meeting the military gents in the dark either as Laayoune is just across the border in the Western Sahara, although Morocco maintains that it’s an integral part of Morocco. But I understand that there is a fair Moroccan military presence there and I prefer to deal with them in daylight!

The road quality is not bad actually, and in some places it’s as good as a main highway. South of Tiznet the traffic thins out and the highway winds up into a small range of low hills and mountains and it’s actually a fun biking road. The countryside is stark to say the least, but the bizarre thing is that it is not searingly hot. In fact it’s the prefect temperature for biking and even a little chilly frankly. According to Lonely Planet, Morocco is a cold country with a hot sun! Was not expecting it to be anything but baking this far south! There are some great vistas across the open plains that are interspersed with mountains Further south we come to the dusty town of Bouizakarne and the road turns on a more south westerly direction, although at this point we’re some 50km from the ocean. The terrain opens up into an immense arid plain with electrical transmission towers in a perfectly straight-line disappearing into the distance parallel to the road. Again, it’s not burning hot here, but this is certainly “Big Sky Country”, with the sun on the road and a brilliant blue sky overhead.

Another 100km further towards Tan-Tan there’s another set of arid hills that the old girl bombs up and then down again, with some super vistas of the surrounding plains as well. Descending the far side, it’s getting into mid to late afternoon and I catch a glimpse of the first massive sand dunes I’ve seen in the distance. It’s literally like a wall of sand, perhaps 150m high, so off course stop for some pictures with the bike in the foreground. Off course road trip pictures tend to be solely shots of the same bike, it’s only the background that changes! I was not expecting these dunes to be so huge, like a shifting mountain of sand. But I think there will be some more along this journey. The bike roars on.

Descend into Tan-Tan, and there is a statue of two huge camels at the entrance to the town. We haven’t spotted the real camels yet, but I’m sure they’re around. Fill up with gas there and a couple of guys are interested in the bike and where we’ve come from, they assumed that we’re Dutch thanks to the plates on the bike, and wish us bon voyage as we head back onto the road. From Tan-Tan the road heads across a small stretch of plain to the coast on the Atlantic ocean and upon reaching the sea it veers west along the coast for another 220km to Cape Juby at Tarfaya, which is literally opposite the Canary Islands lying off the African coast. This coast is a mecca for surfers and wind surfers alike who come here to the empty beaches to take advantage of the Atlantic rollers and often high winds off the ocean.  As we turned west along the coast there were a number of random surfers walking with boards along the road in the middle of nowhere.

The sun is starting to set as the old bike motors along this coast road, there’s also a moistness in the air from the ocean and it’s tough to keep the visor clean as the sun sets. Visibility is not helped by the fact that the sun is setting exactly in front of me. So spotting a small herd of camels we pull off the road for a break. Take a walk over to the cliffs edge and there’s a droop of a hundred fifty feet or so to the rumbling ocean. The edge of the sandstone cliffs doesn’t look too safe but manage to get a few shots along the beach and of the cliffs into the setting sun. Nice break, but it’s really getting chilly and still have nearly a hundred miles to Tarfaya, which we know there are two hotels at. Motor on for another couple of dozen miles and stop for a snack in in the twilight at Sidi Akhfennir – chocolate chips and a coke!  Straight run now of 60 miles to Tarfaya, and it’s really getting dark, although I don’t particularly relish doing any stretch of this road in the dark frankly. We’re stopped by the police at one of the not infrequent road-blocks and asked to pull out our passports for the first time. A small delay and we’re on our way again!

After a not totally pleasant 40 miles we arrive at Tarfaya. and find a friendly lodge who helps us secure the bike and they rustle up a fish tajine for us. Delicious as the chills had started to set in by the time we arrived. Time to turn in. Need early start tomorrow as we have another 600km to put down before Dhakla tomorrow night, and there’ll be more sand I expect as well.