Quads por el Agafay

The Agafay begins forty-five minutes south of Marrakech, where the palm groves stop and the ground turns to grey shale and dry riverbed. Your guide fits the helmets, runs the briefing on a flat stretch, and rides ahead of you rather than behind. The machines are 350cc automatics, so ten minutes is enough to learn them.

Two hours of tracks follow: dry wadi beds, shepherd paths, a climb to a ridge where the High Atlas holds its snow until May. Halfway, a bivouac of black canvas and layered rugs, where mint tea and almond crescents arrive while the engines cool.

This suits travelers who want a morning of exertion before a slow afternoon, and it sits well with dinner in the same desert once the light goes. Riders must be sixteen or over. Dust is part of it, and a scarf helps.