Route to Erfoud from South of Morocco

[inyang]

Hi All,
Need some help with routing to Erfoud from the border with W Sahara.

I will be entering Morocco from the South and plan to ride to Erfoud to meet my wife.

She is taking part in the Rally de Gazzelles, Team no. 161 if you are following!

The rally starts from near Erfoud and ends at Foum Zguid.

Questions:
1. How is the N12 from Bouizakame (N1 to N12) to Foum Zguid?
2. Or take the N1 upto Inezgane then N10 East?
3. Go up all the way to Marrakesh and come down using the N9 to Ourzazate?

4. How is the route from Ourzazate to Erfoud? N10 or N12


Am looking for the path of least resistance, tarmac rather than piste.

Bike: KTM 690R, lots of load on it

Riding up from Lagos and leaving by March 10. Rally starts March 20

Followed post and replies given to Nuno Silva for same area. Hi Nuno, are you following the rally route?

[Tim Cullis]

1. Good surface, scenery a bit repetitive. From FZ head north on R111 (N12 east is piste).

2. Good surface, longer, scenery a mix of boring and interesting

3. You could take the new motorway which runs alongside the N8 from Inezgane (boring), alternatively the much nicer route via Taroundannt and over the Test pass. Very little traffic on the Test pass. N9 to Ouarzazate over the Tichka is OK surface.

4. Good surface.

[inyang]

Tim,
You are the man!

Thanks

Already got lots of stuff from your Morocco database. Am printing your fiche template for use in Mauritania and Morocco.

Thanks again.

[Nuno Silva]

Hello all

Inyang, I just noted your question. I will be in the area later than you. my plan is to be in Tata on April 2nd, and then drive to Zagora on piste as much as possible. Roughly I will be following Cris Scott's MA9 and MS5 routes (or the Iriki if dry- the Gazelle route). May be MS5 is also an alternative to you after Foum Zguid, as from all the info I got here at the forum, and with some friends travelling down there, MA5 is quite good condition from FZ direct to Zagora(graded most of the route). I believe that even full loaded big bikes will managed to get trough without problems. It will also avoid a lot of km going north.

Good luck for your wife at the Gazelles. One of my life's dream is to enter a rally in Marocco, so going to the gazelles is really great!!

N

[Tim Cullis]

You obviously missed the Inyang's comment, "Am looking for the path of least resistance, tarmac rather than piste."

The N12 east from FZ to Zagora is approximately one-third graded gravel (with gaps where floods have struck), then one-third earth with some tricky sand bits, then the final one-third graded gravel. Whilst it's certainly doable, it's not what he asked for.

Tim

.

[Nuno Silva]

Hi,

well, you are right... especially for the sandy sections, something that I was not aware, to be honest. Thanks for the advise!

n

[inyang]

I should be off Saturday morning (March 10)

First stop Lome to do some work on the bike, then head up to Burkina Faso

Keep you guys posted

Wrote the rally team head or whatever asking about seeing herself during the rally. They pointed me at some high price tour that will take me from Paris to Casablanca so for the rally dinner.

Makes my expenses on the trip looks really low (when I compare it with the tour price!)

[inyang]

Morocco was nice (pretty cold and windy now though, Barcelona is warm)

More details when I catch up with stuff

Thanks for your advice on routing

I ended up taking some funny routes though.