Western Sahara - Camping

[AndySabb]

Hi all,

Working out my Route from the UK to Gambia in Jan 2006. However, hit a little impasse. We wanted to limit our driving to about 250-300 miles per day as we can take a leisurely pace.

However, in Southern Morocco the road between Tiznit and Layoune seems to be about 380 miles. Can you camp or stop anyhwere on the way? Is it safe to simply pull off the road and camp. We wanted to take some ten days driving Morocco.

Any help appreciated.

Andrew

[Jose Brito]

Hi,

You can bushcamp all the way down.
However, there is a small camping, some 30km north of Laayoune, called "Camping Bedouin".
I do not have the GPS coordinates, but there is a sign on the road marking the place. It is to the west, in relation to the road, and you drive about 3km from the paved road. The piste is very well marked. Very nice place in the southern margin of sebkha Oum Dba.

Cheers,
José

[sebm]

Le Roi Bedoin Camping is at:
N 27° 27.7 ', W 13 ° 3.1 '

Séb M

[nomiskx]

I stayed at this camp site for a few days and then did some riding around the beach dunes there looking at old ship wrecks. I'd recommend it... the campsite has bedoiun tents, goats, home made cheese and a communal dining tent like a circus top hat tent...

You can drive / ride along the beach here for about 90 miles too which is great.


Simon

[Stanley]

Howdi,
There are plenty of places to just pull off the road and camp but it is windy and it can be difficult to find a place out of the wind.
To be honest it is not the most exciting drive in the world it is a good place to bite the bullet and get a miles under your belt making up time for more interesting places to come.
Cheers
Stanley

[Jil]

Hello travellers !

I'm currently in Morocco, and I would like to know if it's easy, or at least posssible, to travel in Western Sahara alone with my Honda NC700X ?
I mean, except the main paved road, what are the tracks where it's safe to travel (water and fuel on the way, plus minimum traffic to be helped in case of problem) ? My fuel range is 300-350 km.
I have good tires, but my bike is not an enduro one, so I have to stay on hard tracks and avoid deep sand. I plan to stay on the tracks indicated on the Morroco Michelin map.
Thanks in advance for your advices !

[Chris Scott]

Must say I would not wander around alone first time down there on a somewhat inappropriate bike, unless you are comfortable with your NC in the dirt. It takes only one hole, rock or soft patch to send you flying. May be nothing but a tumble - may be a cracked engine.
Being a flat plain, the tracks are not so well defined as they are up north and the further south you go the more chance there is of drifting off a track into a minefield (very small chance though it is).
I would start by exploring dirt parallel to the coast road, then see how you feel. Apart from Smara and possibly Assouard down south, there are no fuel stations. I get the feeling traffic is minimal too; will be either local disgruntled Saharawi or military.
I would not use the Michelin map as an up to date interpretation of tracks. There will have been many more made and more infrastructure since that map was last updated - but it doesn't add up to much that is useful to a tourist, afaik.
Try and download the tracks that go with the French Gandini guide (see below), if you're into that sort of GPS-ery. Or even the whole guidebook. But ideally you'd want a few days study before jumping in.
And if you're in Morocco now (as I am) you may find it quite hot down south still.

[Jil]

Thank you very much Chris !
If I go there, I think I will stay on the main coastal road N1, it seems more appropriate given my bike and the fact that I travel solo.

[PaulD]

We were just there & is beautiful (& very easy to camp)http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...1&d=1477817571