Other preparation included reading a number of books on the topic to understand what to take, how to prepare the motorbike, and doing an offroad driving course with BMW in Germany – which helped greatly even if I had already done much offroad travel with lighter bikes. As you will hear often from Moroccan guides „Chi va lento arriva, chi core veloce muore“ and this is exactly what you learn on the course: As slow as possible, as fast as necessary. Not always easy when you are trying to balance 250kg between your legs standing up. The remaining preparation included a trip to Touratech in Germany for protective parts for the bike, GPS and very importantly, GPS maps for Morocco. A paper map and Lonely Planet guide were bought from Amazon. Off-road tires I bought in Berlin and had them mounted when arriving in Tangier.

 The idea of going to Morocco with a bike was born two years ago when riding through Jebel Sarhro on an Arab stallion. It was winter and in the Atlas I experienced one of the coldest nights I have ever spent in a tent. The colours of Morocco were so beautiful and the gravel roads just invited adventure travel by motorbike. On another trip with enduro bikes in South Africa with my brothers, I finally decided it was time to buy a bike again. A friend of mine has travelled through Africa extensively and I followed his advice to choose a BMW 1200 GS, also made famous in the great books of Deon Meyer that are riveting from the first page.