Week 15 , Is it possible to cross the Sahara Desert by bicycle? TOTAL 5643 KM

After all the drama of having to backtrack to Rabat to sort out my incorrectly dated Mauritanian visa I was eager to get back on the bike and try catch up lost time. If you are intending on travelling through the region be sure to be very clear and adamant on post dating your visa at the Mauritanian embassy or you will be issued with 30 days from date of application. I returned to Essaouira to grab my gear that had been stashed at a very accommodating fellow’s place by the name of Jawad, he offers day trips by horseback in the region and is based in the small village of Diabat, since wealthy investors have moved into the area due the increasing influx of tourists, a new 5 star hotel along with a spade full of quad bikes have moved into the once sleepy village of Diabat that none other than Jimi Hendrix himself use to frequent back in the day. The spin off has been near catastrophic fore Jawad and his small equestrian business, so if you happen to venture through the area, go for the old school, clean green, four legged option appose to the  four wheeled and support small local business when and if possible.

Heading down past Agadir roughly 175 km south of Essaouira, stopping only long enough to send a few postcards back to South Africa, something I thought quite pricey at Dh7-50 Moroccan Dirham($1) a stamp times two to get to South Africa, keen to reach Guelmim the gateway town to the infamous Sahara desert. The scenery leading up to Guelmim is nothing short of spectacular as you hug the Atlantic coastline  through undulating hills home to the magical Argan oil which till now has been more effective than most painkillers I have tried to keep the ever creaking knee pains at bay. Fancied by the local livestock as well as the they go to all lengths to reach the small nutted fruit that litters the cliff sides of the region.

Through the ancient town of Tiznit and finally reaching Guelmim and the gates to the most sparsely populated stretch of land on the planet, the great Sahara Desert. Heavily laden with extra water and supplies I left the town of Guelmim with a combined sense of awe and intrigue, wondering what conditions lay ahead. From Guelmim to Tan Tan is a 125 km stretch that you need to be self sustainable for my first night under Saharan skies was quite magical and not one I will forget for a long time, learning to be alone is a byproduct of long distance cycling in the solo form and it prepares you well for the desert and its silence.

Cycling in the Sahara is both intensely physically and mentally tiring as you fight winds in the physical form and battle the mind and what it serves up on long winding stretches of nothing, reaching Tan Tan to restock on water and fresh fruit and vegetables my panniers packed to the brim, I dug into the long hot climb out of town heading west towards the coast where I was hoping for cooler conditions as a result of a sea breeze, I was rewarded as I went straight for the Atlantic ocean, jumping straight in my first wash for days as I stood knee deep on the edge of Africa, my hemp soap in one hand as I slapped the ocean surface with the other.

From Tan Tan to Tarfaya is  roughly a 200 km stretch with the small village of Sidi Akhfennir sanwiched halfway between the two, sizeable enough to restock on water and a gift of Sardines from a local fisherman I continued through the desert flanked on both sides of the road by dunes snaking over and around them en route to Tarfaya. So as it stands at this poin t as I type this blog from solar power, yes it’s possible to traverse as far as Tarfaya, what lays ahead, only tomorrow will tell.