Leaving Merzouga the piste is easy to follow but once we passed the dunes and headed into the valley it became harder to follow as the route varied considerably because of the high rain fall over the last month.
Video Clip -
The Road to Zagora
|
|
|
)
)
|
|
|
)
)
The terrain we covered along the piste ranged from sandy sections, muddy sections and the few slow rocky bits. The usual 'corrugations' where evident on all open sections.
) |
) another local heads our way |
During one of the river crossings, Steve managed to find to only mud to
get stuck in. Most of the previous car tracks had passed through this
section so we had thought it was passable. See the video clip for more
action.
) |
) |
) |
) |
We should have covered
100km of the 200km route today but the route had changed so much that we
started getting conflicting information from each of the villages we
passed through. The afternoon was progressing so we eventually had to call
the day to an end and find a place to bush camp.
) Getting more conflicting options |
) |
Bush Camping
Debbie writes ... Today was a very intense day! Not only did we have to concentrate on following our GPS route over challenging terrain, but we also had to contend with the hoards of local villagers. No sooner had we stopped to check our maps and GPS, then a whole crowd of people had gathered around our landys. All wanting to be helpful ... all wanting some dhirum, bon-bons, stilo, clothes, etc. It was incredibly draining and very tiresome! After our final exploit with some aggressive locals, we decided to look for a remote spot and bush camp for the night. We found an isolated area behind some hills and waited until it was dark before we set up camp. I felt very scared as I was aware that we were situated between two villages - one of which had friendly people, but the other not. We woke very early the next morning and headed off as soon as the sun rose - to avoid more people. But as soon as we turned the corner ...
