The
expedition will attempt an isolated
trans-Saharan trading passage across the Adrar and Tagant
regions of Mauritania, before entering Mali where we have the
option to continue, cross-country
to Timbuctu.
Our
route links a series of ancient desert towns or ksours and
was for centuries travelled by pilgrims bound for Mecca and the
massed camels of the fabled salt and gold trading caravans.
Traditional nomads still pilot their animals through the barchan
dune fields and stony hamadas, but the days when caravans of up
to 30,000 would tread these passages are long gone and the ksours
themselves (now world heritage sites) are rapidly vanishing under
the advancing sands.
A measure of the route is that it formed two of the toughest sections
of the 2004 Lisbon-Dakar Rally. We'll take things a little more
slowly, but this is still a formidable Saharan passage by any
standards. Fuel stations are scarce and the support vehicles will
bear heavy reserves, especially on the epic 800km run along the
Tagant escarpment. It is not possible to ride this route without
4x4 support and, other than the Dakar racers, few bikers have
made the journey at all.
For the main part, we will follow tracks or shantis threading
a rideable path through the terrain, for some sections we will
have to traverse open and unmarked desert.
The riding is engagingly varied, with fast, smooth cruising across
open plains; painstaking crawls over rock; camel grass dodging
and throttle-thrashing through the dune fields. It is not ideal
terrain for beginners and a rider with little off-road experience
or riding a heavy bike could hit a sharp learning curve.
The heavily laden 4x4’s have their own challenges and at
times we will all have to work hard and learn fast – this
is a real expedition not a routine tour.
• Extraordinary riding in stunning
Saharan landscapes
• Fly-in and fly- out
•
Ride unladen
•
All desert route, no surfaced roads
•
Options to reach Timbuctu & see the Dakar Rally
