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TRAVEL FEATURE - MOROCCO CLEMENTE ROUCHE
LET ' S SHARE A TEA TOGETHER
Who never dreamt of Morocco ? Of this land where the word adventure seems to be native . Where the harsh landscapes meet the tenderness of its inhabitants . Where its culture and history remain a mystery to so many of us . The gateway to Africa , the first desert leg of the gruelling Dakar rally for decades ; this part of the world has been on my radar since I first started riding , inspiring my waking dreams , and fuelling my subconscious desires . Last winter , I felt more magnetised than ever - so close to my familiar France but a world away from my daily routines . The time for a Moroccan odyssey had arrived …
The last few years had been a real adventure . I ’ d been lucky enough to explore a sizeable portion of the world . I ’ d travelled India , Australia , New Zealand , and I even shipped on my beloved KLR650 , aka Baloo across the Atlantic to explore South
America , a trip that took almost an entire year and 40,000kms , from the Brazilian Amazon to the Chilean deserts and Argentinian glaciers . I don ’ t like to overuse the word ‘ epic ’, but my South American journey truly was an epic , a chapter of my life that challenged , inspired , and shaped me in ways I had never experienced before , and I know this is largely because I was on a motorcycle .
Before this most recent trip across Morocco , I ’ d spent four months during the winter of 2021 / 22 following an intensive off-road route along the Trans European Trail ( TET ), covering some of the best rural riding Spain and Portugal have to offer . By now , Baloo truly looked like a veteran of the road less travelled , like an old rock star after years on tour still playing hard . Despite the crashes , scratches , signs of rust and other scars , the bike still felt tough , capable , and hungry for more adventures , as did I .
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