Mountain Bike

Best ever mountain bike trip! 250km from the High atlas to Chigaga dunes! we were a group of four, and completed a 5-day mountain bike ride in december-january 2012/2013 with maroc nature. it was to some of us the "best ever" of any sports holidays ever done (and between us - there have been volumes of those before). everything, from logistics, choice of cars, to camps, to guest houses, to cooking and food and friendliness of staff, to the outstanding and superior quality and choice of the mountainbikes themselves, the route we rode, and our local leads, everything was picture perfect. i am sorry if this sounds over the top, but it actually is understating the facts. we will definitely go back, and do some more! and last but not least, marocco rocks! it is a great country full of lovely people and absolutely breathtaking natural scenery.

Fantastic mountain biking experience, 6 days of mountain bike riding from Marrakech through the beautiful Nature of Morocco finalizing in the middle of the desert south of the Atlas mountains. The top quality Cannondale bikes and the fantastic support from Maroc Nature team made this tour exceptional. Thanks to Hassan and his team for a fantastic and memorable trip. Morocco, we will be back...

Fantastic guides and support service provided over the 6 days spent mountain biking in Morocco and around the atlas mountains. All inclusive package included transfers and accommodation, support vehicle, along with guides. Two, three day trips were organised to carry a bunch of novice bikers through the basics of biking whilst operating at altitude. The guide, mstafa, was very knowledgeable and a great pleasure to work with. Many thanks! I would recommend this strongly to all of my friends!!

We chose this mountain bike trip in Morocco for our honeymoon. Typically we are low-budget, self-sufficient travelers and infrequent vacationers, so spending this much money for 10 days felt very extravagant to us. With that in mind I knew we had set our selves up to be disappointed and critical if the trip failed to impress. Our experience was quite the opposite: The trip flowed seamlessly, well organized and professionally hosted. 

Accommodations were all very different from each other, and each one delighted and enchanted in its own way. I am shocked at other reviews that state the accommodations were nothing special, I guess it's perspective. However, I have worked at 4 star hotels and traveled quite a bit for work, staying in high end hotels and I preferred every single one of the places we stayed on this trip. (I don't want to say too much because the surprises enhanced the enjoyment). Food was based on traditional Moroccan fare and was plentiful and good. In particular I enjoyed the movable lunch time feasts (luxurious) and mid-morning shady snacks.

The rental bikes are decent: current, entry level, full-suspension Cannondale 29ers - they were totally adequate for the riding on this trip. Speaking of which, we would have preferred more single track trail and less two-track primitive road... but even that didn't detract much from our overall enjoyment. Much of the travel is what Hicham called "Morocco Flat" which means rolling, lots of ups and downs... some of the ups are long, steep and rugged. This is not a trip for the unfit - though there's always the option of getting a Land Cruiser ride, but that sort of defeats the whole point.

Hassan scheduled this trip to work with the travel dates we had available, we started communications with him in early 2015 and paid our deposit mid-summer. Until two days before the trip no one else had signed up for it, but right before we set off we learned there was an additional guest. He was an excellent addition to the trip, and I'm guessing made the dynamics even better because we could pair up for conversations along the way - freeing us up to be a bit more couple-y than if it had just been us and the guide. Also we were handed a refund which we weren't expecting and didn't have to ask for.

Talking of guides: Hicham is an amazing companion for this trip. He is cheerful, funny, smart, kind, attentive and genuine. His warm, easy-going attitude and willingness to answer any and all questions about Moroccan culture and traditions, the lands we were biking through, things we encountered along the way were a highlight of the experience. When we didn't have questions he made sure we didn't miss out on things that we didn't know to ask about. He works incredibly hard, biking and talking with us all day, but when we got to relax in the shade at lunch time, he was assisting Yusef our driver in preparing our meal. In the evenings he joined us for dinner, basically he's on the clock all the time; I know that must be tiring but he is always enthusiastic and doesn't seem at all jaded with, what for him, is a job after all.

Our driver was Yusef, and I think I understood correctly that the driving is contracted from a separate company. He and Hicham are used to being a team and work efficiently together. Yusef followed behind at a slow pace and discrete distance, which was not disruptive to the remote experience. He was also kind and attentive to our needs, he was always helping me to refill my camelback.

We live in Alaska, and as such the estimations from our Moroccan team as to "cold" night-time temperatures was not our experience. I used a 1.5 season sleeping bag and found it plenty adequate, even too much at times. 
I used bike specific sandals and biked the entire trip comfortably with no socks. A large capacity hydration backpack seems like a must - our traveling companion just used plastic bottles and had to stop if he needed a drink.
Lightweight trail running shoes with shorty lightweight merino socks were perfect for the hiking day. 
I used a Revelate Designs "Mountain Feedbag" on my handlebar for my camera, that made it easy to shoot on-the-fly photos.
We took snack bars and nuts along with us, and while we technically need them, it was nice to have options to snack when there wasn't a planned break, especially in the evenings when there was often quite a lull between arriving at our accommodations and dinner being served.

As we don't travel often, we are unlikely to return to Morocco in favor of experiencing somewhere new... however, if time and resources were unlimited I would love to return. The country is laid back, progressive in many ways and a sheer delight to travel in. I would love to go back and try out one of Mountain Bike Morocco's enduro tours. I have absolutely no reservations in recommending this company and wish there was a 6 star option!