A pavilion next to where we stayed overnight

Back to the Atlas
The charm of Lac Iriki is what you cannot rather than what you can see - in other words it's vastness. The ride itself was really easy, hammering over the dry plains of the lake with only a few patches of mud or easy sand in between.


View of Erg Chigaga from afar

To the east of the seemingly endless plains one can spot some of the most beautiful rock formations (which I missed to take shots of), and within the lake are a few auberges, appearing like little castle islands. A few words on these lakes: On a map Lac Iriki appears as a regular lake, stretching as an extension of the river Draa to the Southeast between Anti Atlas and Algerian border (or, according to google maps as a pond to the north of the actual lake). It is actually a seasonal lake that is dry for most of the year and, rather than a lake, an area of wetlands following floods. When carrying water, flamingos can be seen here.

One can theoretically follow the Draa to the very south, close to Western Sahara but we decided to leave the plains towards the mountains near Tissint, where we would hit tarmac again and continue for Foum Zguid and eventually Ouarzazate. For those who want to go on, I would carry spare petrol, enough water (10l per day per head) and food for a few more nights of wild camping. As said, I haven't been further south as a month wasn't enough to see it all, but on a map the area that followed further down the Draa seemed very remote indeed. So one should probably be prepared for that. Also bear in mind that Western Sahara gets close and there is no distinct border to Morocco. Whilst, for all I know, this is still safe territory and the Polisario won't just be roaming around outside the so called "Free Zone" (eastern of the Moroccan wall, so you won't accidentally cross it), it is still close to an international conflict area and some care should be taken. Needless to say: don't get lost in the desert!


Dromedaries on the plains of Lac Iriki

Leaving the plains one rides across more Hamada - for miles and miles! This is really a stretch of piste that brings shocks to a test. Leaving the piste, for the first time, I had to go through a police checkpoint, where I would hand out one of my fiches - a prepared sheet of paper summarising passport and visa info and from where to where I was going. The officers usually like that and it speeds things up a bit. But you could handover your passport as well - Moroccan police is generally not a hassle and uncorrupt (if you aren't a journalist, or they think you are - think Western Sahara and big time camera equipment!). I actually forgot to to copy my visa number, but nobody seemed to mind - let's face it: They are after dodgy fellows, illegally crossing the desert from Algeria and not the odd tourist passing through.

In Foum Zguid we gassed up and topped up our water reserves - this is why I recommend 10l/ day/ person. We had loads of water and topped up in between, but when we arrived in Foum Zguid we were out of bottled water and were already drinking from reserves we got at the desert auberge. Well, and some, let's say, would've liked to drink that water with a bit of Immodium. From Foum Zguid we went on through the beautiful, beautiful (!) Anti Atlas to Tazenakht, where we had some lunch. Apparently, people there weren't to keen on strangers, so we pretended I was a tourist guide and decided not to stay overnight but rather move on to Ouarzazate, where we should go separate ways.

Ouarzazatte is famous for its film industry (among others The Mummy was filmed here), but I was too tired to do much sight seeing and mainly stayed at the Hotel to relax and enjoy the AC - after all it was close to 40° C.