TRAVERSE 53
TRAVEL- MOROCCO
LEIGH WILKINS
IT ' S NOT BEAUTIFUL, BUT IT ' S HONEST
The Docker Apollo doesn’ t look like much. At just over 100cc, it’ s barely a whisper compared to the much larger adventure bikes I’ ve thrown a leg over before. But in Morocco, where life flows more like a meandering stream than a racing river, it’ s just enough. Just enough to buzz through the alleyways of medinas and just enough to crawl up into the High Atlas without frightening goats or grandmothers. It’ s also just slow enough to make you notice everything. And noticing everything, it turns out, is what Morocco is all about.
David, a rider from the United Kingdom, and I picked up the bikes in Ouirgane, a sleepy little village on the banks of the Wadi Nafis Oued Nfiss. A few day earlier, we ' d used the bikes for a week, exploring the Atlas Mountains with Martine and Amine from Desert Rats tours, so knew the bikes were perfect for an adventure further south.
The Docker Apollo’ s had been left at Chez Momo, a beautiful accommodation that reflected the colourful history of Morocco, a perfect place to start and finish an extended adventure. The Apollo’ s ran and felt right. Morocco isn’ t a place for polish; it’ s a place for grit. And grit, the Apollo had in spades.
The road between Ouirgane and Taroudant is one of those journeys in Morocco that seems less plotted on maps than stitched into the fabric of the land. It’ s not the fastest route. Nor is it always the easiest. But for those with a taste for wandering, especially on two wheels, it’ s a road of quiet revelation, each curve a story, each village a whisper of something older than asphalt.
Leaving Ouirgane behind, the red earth gave way to olive groves and almond trees, their leaves dusted in silver. The road climbed gently at first, skirting steep slopes where
TRAVERSE 53