Adventuring through Morocco: From Marrakech to Ait Benhaddou

09th April 2023 | Marcus Leach

The road snaked ever higher as we reached the snow line of peaks that continued to rise all around us. A combination of the stifling heat and increasing gradients was enough to slow our pace a little, yet there was no danger that the following Sahara Challenge convoy would catch us before the summit of one of Morocco’s most famous passes.

At 2205m, Tizi n’Tichka was originally constructed by the French military in the 1930s to provide a faster route through the Atlas Mountains to Marrakech, deviating from the old caravan trail linking the kingdoms of Timbuktu and old Sudan to the north of Morocco. A fitting road then for myself and Nick Howard to be ‘racing’ the modern-day caravan convoy over the mountains and down to the ancient ksar in Ait Benhaddou.

Our day began with the growing chorus of adhans sung by muezzins across Marrakech, just one of many reminders of how far from home we were. It’s not every day that you set off on a bike ride in Morocco, but today was one such day. As our pace quickened, the snow-capped peaks of the Atlas Mountains looming over us, the cacophony of noise that is Marrakech fading behind, I found myself chuckling. It still seemed surreal that we were in Africa; after all, it’s not your typical destination to visit in a motorhome.

It was a feeling that Kim and I had had ever since arriving in Tangier Med Port the week before, having met up with the Sahara Challenge team in Seville, ready to spend a week combining our own trip, The Big European Odyssey, with their journey down to the desert. We’d had many moments on our travels where we’d had to stop and remind ourselves of the places we were in, given how unusual many were, but to be on African soil, in a motorhome, was the most surreal of all.

If you’ve never been to Morocco before, it can be something of a shock to the system arriving in North Africa for the first time, and as long as you are accepting of the fact that this is an adventure travel destination (as opposed to an ‘everything’s as expected and going perfectly to plan’ trip in Europe), you will soon find your feet and learn to embrace the total contrast in life and culture that is to be found here. But then, isn’t that what travel is all about anyway? Embracing new experiences, stepping into the unknown, and opening our minds to new cultures?

For us, there was no culture shock, having travelled here several times before, just the need to adjust to travelling as part of a convoy for the first time. When you spend the best part of a year on the road travelling at your own pace, it can take a few days to settle into a different rhythm, especially with two small children, but thankfully it was a smooth transition and before long Harrison and Dorothy were in and out of the caravans, helping with the cleaning and fitting in as part of the team.

One of the most appealing aspects of travelling in Morocco as a family is how highly revered children are here, so much so that they are often the centre of attention when you are out and about, no matter what time of day. While fantastic, as they feel fully included, it can make seemingly simple tasks a lot more difficult and time-consuming. A case in point is the day in Marrakech when it was my and Kim’s task to source all of the ingredients to cook dinner with.

Navigating the labyrinth of souks in Marrakech can be confusing (but fun) at the best of times, let alone when every other stall owner wants to fuss over the children, speak with them, and offer them fruit, or a handful of dates and olives. Not that we minded as it was wonderful to see their confidence in engaging with people and practicing their pidgin French and Arabic, something that caused much amusement with the locals. With all the spices and fresh produce finally bought, it was back to the campsite ready to prepare a Moroccan-inspired banquet worthy of such an adventure.

It’s one thing cooking for a family of four on a Cadac, let alone a team of twenty-five with a film crew and photographer capturing the process for good measure. All I can say is thank goodness Cadac does a giant paella dish that can double up as a makeshift tagine; otherwise, there may have been a few hungry stomachs. As it was, the dish was soon simmering away as the sun began to set, Dorothy and Harrison were busy making fresh orange juice for everyone, and the sound of chatter floated through the air. These are the moments that touring is all about, the ones we will look back on in years to come and say ‘Do you remember that night in Marrakech?’

For Nick and me, the following day will also be remembered for many years, our ride taking us first through villages where it seemed as if every earthen-coloured building had prised itself from the land below, and then into the heart of the Atlas Mountains on roads that have to be ridden, or driven, to be believed. For all of the staggering beauty of Europe’s better-known mountain ranges, there is no parallel to the Atlas, where at times it feels as if you’re riding on a different planet, such is the way the rock is warped and twisted into countless dizzying peaks.

If the Atlas can feel like another planet, then Ait Benhaddou, located in the foothills on the southern slopes, can feel like stepping back in time. With its ancient earthen buildings surrounded by high walls dating back over eight hundred years, it’s little wonder that the ksar, set on the other side of the river from the newer part of the village, is a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site. It was here that we would somewhat reluctantly wave goodbye to the Sahara Challenge, as they headed for the dunes of the desert, and we began our journey towards the Anti Atlas and the promise of a different kind of adventure.