FYI, for those who’re interested, i was telling my wife a few weeks ago that one of the few places i’d still like to visit is morocco. within a week of uttering this statement, it became known to me that orbea has a sister company - a travel company - that puts on some pretty exotic MTB trips in places like bolivia and mongolia, and in december they’re hosting a trip to morocco. it’s from december 3rd thru the 11th, and this is an MTB trip thru the atlas mountains, which is the specific part of morocco i want to visit. this happens to be over my wife’s b’day, so, the whole thing seems tailor made for us. we’re in.
i’m writing you all because i inquired and there are some spots left. there’s 15 people or so who’ll go on these trips. we pay 1600 Euro, stay in excellent hotels (or top level tents for only 1 night:) eat very well and ride nice equipment. in this case, full suspension orbea occam bikes.
this appeals to us because i don’t want to have to schlep bikes. the wife and i have a pair of orbea alma 29er hardtails coming here to the compound, but at the compound they’ll stay - i don’t want to travel with them.
this isn’t a business opportunity for me. if any of you folks do sign up, it will not affect the price i’m paying, nor are we spiffed. i just thought i’d let you know about what seems to me a cool trip before the spots are filled.
if you have interest in this, PM me or post to the thread and i’ll put you in touch with orbea travel.
I thought you had no desire to ride the mtn. bike? We would both be in, but I am doing La Ruta November 2-5 along side my wife and then Trans Andes in January. I have a teammate for you in Chile if you want to join us? I am sure will be hooked after your trip.
The High Atlas Traverse is one of the greatest MTB rides on the Planet! Though I believe a week is a little short.
You’ll gain a whole new perception of the Islamic World for one thing. The riding is excellent and the sights are out of your wildest fantasies. I loved it.
Last May I did the Titan Desert, a 6-day MTB stage race that crossed some of the areas you’ll also be riding through, and absolutely loved the experience. Morocco is certainly not only desert! I imagine you’ll love it too.
Rebecca Rusch, the American MTB racer, was also there and she had serious food poisoning at the end of the event, so I would advise a little extra vigilance with your food and drink.
Have a nice trip!
Nuno
PS: IMO, the perfect machine for that terrain is a HT 29er more than a 26er full-suspension such as the Occam. If I could, I would take the Alma. (I was on a Niner Air 9, similar to the Alma.)
That sounds awesome. I’ve spent a fair bit of time in Morocco and raced there in the Marathon de Sables.
Do exercise caution in your travels though. Morocco borders Algeria and border incursions into Ouarzazate from Algeria by kidnappers for hostage purposes is now common place.
In Rabat, Casablanca, Tangier and Marrakech the water quality is exceptionally poor. The government is on the cusp of a potential “Arab Spring” uprising with some factions verbalizing dissatisfaction with the current government, which has been in place some time.
Get your shots, check the government travel advisories on the State Department page, make copies of your passports and travel visas and use this resource for medical and security information.
Frontier Medex has a very useful daily situation report you can subscribe to for free that is digested from intel gathered by current and former government assets and used by professionals around the world.
It also may be best to not document the exact dates of your travel on the web. We need you back.
If I could go I would be your PSD for the trip.
Here is one of my favorite photos shot on my last trip. Taken at the Casbah in Marrakech:
With one of the (then) heads of state:
And with Capt Dale Dye, USMC (ret) on the set of the movie “Rules of Engagement” filmed in Morocco:
Sorry Tom but I’m a bit amused by your recommandations:
-incursion into Ouarzazate from Algerians to kidnap Moroccans or whomever? In which film have you seen this scene???
-water quality is extremely poor in Marrakesh??? don’t you know this is the exact opposite. The air and water are exceptional and make this city and its surroundings a heaven for asthmatic people in particular.
What do I know about Morocco?: no I haven’t ran the Marathon des Sables…but I’ve lived in Marrakesh for 15 years.
I was sick for 2 years from water (tea) I drank in Morocco.
2 years.
And Andre, might want to update your security briefing (from Global Security .org):
“The potential for terrorist attacks against American interest remains high in Morocco, but the government of Morocco continues its efforts to identify, locate, and disrupt Islamic extremist and terrorist cells that are operating in this country. The security services of Morocco have had many successful arrests and subsequent prosecutions of members of terrorist cells living and operating in Morocco. Those arrested in recent years have been linked to radical extremism, and some have allegedly been associated with regional and international terrorist groups.
The Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group (Groupe Islamique Combattant Marocain-GICM), which is affiliated with al Qaeda, poses a threat to domestic security, according to the U.S. Department of State. The GICM was implicated in the bombing of commuter trains in Madrid, Spain, in March 2004. Islamist militants responsible for a terrorist attack in Casablanca in May 2003 belonged to another group called Salafiya Jihadiya. Following the incident, Morocco arrested several thousand Islamist militants and sentenced nearly 1,000 for terrorism-related activities. The government also took a variety of measures to tighten security and crack down on potential terrorists.
On May 16, 2003, a cell of Islamist terrorists belonging to a group calling itself Salafiya Jihadiya bombed a series of Jewish targets in Casablanca; 45 people, including 12 suicide bombers, died in the incidents. Indicating that terrorism is a continuing threat, in June 2002 the press reported that Morocco had foiled an al Qaeda conspiracy to attack British and U.S. Navy vessels in the Strait of Gibraltar with explosives-laden dinghies. Morocco arrested three Saudi Arabian nationals in connection with the planned terrorist strike, which appears to have been modeled after al Qaeda’s raid on a U.S. Navy ship off Yemen in 2000. Following the Casablanca bombings in 2003, Morocco began to crack down on Islamist militants, including both Salafiya Jihadiya and the Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group (Groupe Islamique Combattant Marocain-GICM). In late 2005, Morocco dismantled several al Qaeda-affiliated cells that had been plotting attacks in the country. Altogether, Morocco has arrested 3,000 suspects, about 1,000 of whom were jailed on terrorism charges, since the Casablanca bombings. The United States has recognized Morocco’s support for the war on terrorism by designating Morocco as a non-North Atlantic Treaty Organization ally.”
Very sorry you got sick for 2 years because of drinking tea there. I certainly feel for you.
As far the terrorism acts you relate, it seems the latest date from 2005. But you’re right again: it could happen in December 2011. Like you could get in trouble going to a hair salon in California.
I have to agree with you Andre, it is too bad that isolated incidents get blown way out of proportion. I spent 3 weeks in Morocco working the Eco CHallenge, and traveling down the coastline looking for secret surf spots. The place and people reminded me a lot of baja mexico. It is a desert on the ocean, with a mountain range running down its spine. Since those are two of my favorite places to live and visit, it was a natural for me. The people there were mostly laid back, and I never felt that they were overtly religious, if much at all. They were hard working lower income folks that didn’t seem to mind not having a bunch of shit.
If you want to talk about some bad places to go, Morocco is certainly no worse than many cities in this country, and I’m sure I get more crap for my baja trips than if i were to go back there. It was a beautiful country and projected a pretty stable government. I cannot speak to the water situation, as I always drink bottled water when traveling abroad. Just don’t forget that ice is water too!!!
I’m jealous of Dan and Tanya’s trip, they are going to get to see some really beautiful mountains, and the way they should be seen, on a MTB…
just returned from Morocco 2 weeks ago. I never felt the least bit “threatened” and people were wonderful. Checked State Dept reports and really nothing of concern at present. There is “some” political grumblings (far more in USA), but NOTHING like Arab Spring stuff- the King seemed genuinely well liked and spoken off. (though more than one person told us- when we were in a car or clearly “alone” that there used to be a LOT of concern about speaking against or criticizing the gov’t for fear of “secret police” and informants. Hard to know how much of that is real and how much is intentional propaganda by gov’t to prevent dissent. Nevertheless, MORE than one person, unrelated, seemed to know or at least believe that some people who were critical of gov’t “disappeared” in the past. The impression really was that this was more a thing of “the past” though and that people feel pretty free to talk.
We were only able to spend 6 days there but I must say that we really enjoyed Fez, but Marrakesh- not so much. It was much more “touristy”- though we really only had time to spend in the Medina (old part of the city), which is like saying you only saw Pier 39 in San Francisco or Hollywood Blvd. in LA- so of course it was touristy. From Marrakesh we did do a day trip up into Atlas mountains- spectacular. We had originally planned on spending a few days at a place up in the mtns but plans changed. We did not spend any time in Casablanca. It was described as a “big city” and the area near airport and train stations was quite industrial (again, not surprising). We took the train from Fez to Marrakesh- scenery was very nice, NOT “dessert” (which is what I naively expected).
Last thing- I really don’t know what the water quality is- except to say I spent the 3 prior weeks in southern Africa (some of it VERY rural) w/o any GI problems at all. However, I have had “GI issues” for the past 2 weeks since returning. I have no idea if it was from something I ate/drank in Morocco or just a plain old run-of-the-mill GI virus caught from another passenger on the 32 hours of plane rides home. (though if I had to bet… it would be the “snacks” in the departure lounge @ Casablanca airport-- you know when you have a “gut feeling” about something… and you ignore it…? Well, now I’ve been “feeling my guts” for about 2 weeks). Next step is stool culture…
One last thing. December in mtns will probably be COLD (at least at night). I’m sure the trip itinerary will give you good guidance AFA clothing. Enjoy- I’d go back in a minute if I could get time off from work again (and thought I could take another 30+ hour plane ride again, soon).
Also, mountain biking is definitely the way to go AFA biking in an Arab country. After seeing them drive… I could NEVER, EVER, EVER (ever ever ever) imagine trying to ride a road bike there. This was my first time in an Arab country. I thought driving in BOSTON was bad… I promise I will NEVER complain about US drivers ever again. It’s not that they were rude or mean or inconsiderate. On the contrary- it’s just that they drive as if there were no lanes. Sort of a combination “anarchy” and may the best man win. Having said that, there were traffic cops with radar EVERYWHERE. People did not “speed”- it’s just that the “lane” concept was pretty nonexistant. And Marrakesh was an entirely different kind of congested bike/moped/donkey cart hell. Lots of bikes but only saw them used for transportation. No lycra seen.
(btw- southern Africa was even worse. Cars all drive on the shoulder so that faster traffic can pass in the “normal” lane. I saw quite a few road bikers in South Africa (Cape Town and Stellenbosch areas). I don’t know how any of them stay alive. In fact, one of our drivers told us they get hit quite regularly. Ouch.
