Sahara Desert Tour – 6 Days from Agdz to Erg Chegaga

Erg Chegaga is the big one: Morocco's largest field of dunes, well beyond Zagora, and considerably less visited than the Erg Chebbi dunes near Merzouga. Getting there on a light 125 rather than a loaded adventure bike is a genuinely different experience, and it is Desert Rats' particular argument for this tour. The route opens in Agdz, in the palm gardens at the head of the Draa valley, crosses Lake Iriki National Park, which is the largest national park in the country and mostly a dry lake bed, and reaches the erg from there. The surface split is around sixty per cent winding asphalt and forty per cent off-road, with the roads chosen for their emptiness. The off-road content includes dry river crossings through fesh-fesh, the fine powder dust that swallows a wheel and takes real effort to ride through, so this is not a soft option despite the small engines. The company's stated requirement is some riding experience; no driving licence is needed for the Bobber, which is tuned from 50cc to 125cc and legal on a standard car licence. Published highlights beyond the dunes: a night in a traditional Moroccan desert camp with a campfire and a cold drink, a sundowner on the highest dune of Erg Chegaga, the palm gardens of Agdz, the pottery cooperative at Tamagroute where the distinctive green glaze is made with henna, isolated Berber villages and the local souks. Most of the other accommodation on the tour has a swimming pool, and alcohol is available every evening either through the hotel or from Desert Rats directly. Practicalities are the same as on the company's other routes. Twelve rider places per departure plus the guide, a support vehicle with a full medical kit following the group, guides and drivers with medical training, and navigation by a smartphone the company hands out with the route loaded into Outdooractive. Riding gear is not supplied and riders should bring their own. A refundable 200 euro damage deposit is taken in cash at the start of the tour, and the booking deposit is 400 euro with the balance due thirty days before arrival.

Desert Rats' newest route, and the one that gets riders onto the Sahara without putting them on a heavy bike to do it. Six nights and five days of riding, starting in the green valley of Agdz and working out across the dry lake bed of Lac Iriki to the dunes of Erg Chegaga, on the same 125cc Cimatti Scramblers and Bobbers the company uses everywhere. The split is roughly sixty per cent winding asphalt to forty per cent off-road. A night in a traditional Moroccan desert camp and a sundowner on the highest dune of Erg Chegaga are both on the published highlight list, along with the Tamagroute pottery cooperative and its green henna glaze. Twelve rider places per departure.