4 Days Merzouga KTM Desert Tour

This is the operator's short desert tour and its most technical per day. Four days, three nights, all of it on KTM 450 EXC enduro bikes, and all of it in the country southeast of Merzouga where the tracks run towards the Algerian border and the villages get further apart. Day one is a loop that establishes what the week involves: the Erg Chebbi dunes with their panoramas, the village of Khamlia where the Gnawa community performs the music their ancestors brought north across the Sahara, then Begaa, the last Moroccan village before the frontier, the oasis at Tisrdmine and Saf-Saf, with lunch taken as a picnic under the trees. Day two heads for Taous with its ancient rock carvings, on through Jdaid and its dunes and palm groves to the remote village of Ouzina, lunch at Ramlia, and a night at Tafraout Sidi Ali. Day three is the most interesting historically: the ruined settlement at Oubahlou that locals call the lost city, with its Portuguese-era remains, the mining village of Tijekht and its baryte workings, dry riverbeds and stony tracks, and Berber pizza somewhere in the middle of it. The final day runs the rocky Tizzi n'Rsass pass, stops at Om Lhadej, and finishes in Rissani, which was the capital from which the Alaouite dynasty that still rules Morocco originally came, before the short run back to Merzouga. The package is genuinely all-in. The KTM 450, three nights of hotel accommodation, an experienced guide, every meal, all fuel, an assistance vehicle with a mechanic, motorcycle insurance and bottled water are covered. Personal travel insurance, flights, drinks and private expenses are not. Requirements are firm and worth reading before booking. Minimum age 18, a full motorcycle licence, previous riding experience, medical insurance including repatriation, and your own riding gear and hydration system. The operator does not soften this: the terrain is varied, the days are long, and a 450 enduro in soft sand is unforgiving of riders who have not done it before.

Four days on KTM 450 EXC machines out of Merzouga, working the desert along the Algerian frontier on the kind of tracks the Paris-Dakar rally used to run. The route takes in the Erg Chebbi dunes, the Gnawa musicians of Khamlia, the oasis at Tisrdmine, the remote settlement of Ouzina, the abandoned Portuguese ruins that locals call the lost city of Oubahlou and the baryte mines at Tijekht, before finishing through Rissani, the original Alaouite capital. Departures run from 9am and need a minimum of two riders, all 18 or over with a full motorcycle licence and genuine off-road experience. The bike, fuel, insurance, all meals, three nights of accommodation, a guide and a support vehicle with a mechanic are included.