Trucking through the Sahara - a guide for touring cyclists

Having tried—and failed—to find a freight ship to take us in one move from Dakar to Agadir, we took various steps to get us back here. These included a van out of Dakar, some very enjoyable days of cycling and a once-in-a-lifetime tour of Mauritania in a 4X4. And finally, a huge cross-Saharan lorry section from the border town of Guerguerat** all the way to Agadir. We wanted to provide a quick summary of how we went about this, with our two heavily loaded touring bikes, in case it is of any use to anyone else.

**Note: Guerguerat is shown on the map as a way up the road from the border where there’s a military post but it also refers to the place just over the Moroccan border.

Our approach was as follows:

• On arrival, we booked into the Fyndy Hotel as it's decent value and right next door to the truck stops / truck café
• We also frequented the café that's next to the border gates to see what came through. Many empty refrigerated trucks crossed from Mauritania, most of which stopped just past the border to close their rear door after inspection

• On the day before we wanted to leave we asked the hotel manager about trucks north and he took us to meet his friend at the truck stop. He was the main truck coordinator and he said he'd try to find us a truck going to Agadir and let us know
• The next morning we got up early and went to the truck café for breakfast. We made ourselves known to the truck coordinator and waited
• We soon realised that none of the trucks in the truck stop were heading north, which makes sense as it's on the north side, so we waited until the border gates opened (around 9-10am) to see what came through
• After a while we realised that the truck coordinator and his helper only stopped some of the trucks heading north, so we decided to do more asking around ourselves. We headed down to the border gates to try to chat with drivers as they stopped to close their rear doors
• We also told the border police our plans in case they had any concerns or in order that they might help us
• It seemed most drivers we asked were only going as far as Dakhla. Until, finally, one driver told us the next lorry behind him was off to Agadir. We raced out to see it drive by us and up the road. Thankfully it then pulled into the truck stop we'd previously been at
• We cycled back, into the mad headwind we were striving to avoid, and sat to wait for the driver to return to his truck

• When he did, we asked and were immediately welcomed by Mohammed to join him on his ~1500km Saharan crossing
• We had planned to put the bikes in the trailer and then reattach the luggage to add some padding before strapping them (we carry straps) to the side. In the end it was all a bit rushed and Mohammed insisted we put the luggage in the lower (undermount) box. This was pretty sandy but no problem for our panniers. We took personal items and food into the cab
• We had reorganised our panniers so that one contained all the gear needed for overnighting - we planned on putting up our tent up and sleep next to the truck
• We left around 2pm in an air-conditioned and really plush cab
• There was only one passenger seat, so Beck spent the whole journey on one of the bunk beds. Not so comfortable in the end and no seat belt

• We had planned a trip of around three days but Mohammed had other ideas and basically did it in a oner. When we stopped to kip, at Laayoune, we slept for about three hours. Us on the bottom bunk and Mohammed on the top bunk. Otherwise it was just brief food and toilet stops. That's it. I wouldn't say that it felt wholly safe (loud music and open windows were a thing) but it was extremely fast and didn't involve a change at Dakhla, like the coach seems to

• We were stopped many times for police document checks but they only asked for our fiche once. We had fifteen copies printed at a shop two doors down from the café next to the border gates. Hopefully we'll get asked for them over the coming days
• At one point Mohammed told a policeman that the police at the border had instructed him to take us. We don't know if that's the case but it certainly seemed useful to let as many people know your plans as possible, and also to get stuck in yourself to make it happen. Being too passive seemed destined to result in a much longer wait at the border town
• We tried to get Mohammed to tell us in advance where and at what time he planned to drop us in Agadir, but we struggled a little with communication in pigeon French. In the end it was quite late in the day at a roadside a good way from town, and the unloading was as hectic as the loading
• The bikes were also decidedly damp from being in a trailer that was cleaned out and then driven through the intense Saharan heat. They had also moved a little, which I had predicted but didn't really have time to sort en route. If I took this trip again, I'd try to be a bit more insistent about loading and checking the bikes
• We decided to pay Mohammed around what the coach would've cost. Apart from driving us, he had paid for all food and drink en route. It still took all of our powers of persuasion for him to take the payment at the end, which is unbelievably kind of him

Overall, we had a great time with Mohammed. We also really enjoyed seeing places on our way back that we'd cycled through before (more on that soon). Despite being quick, it was also a pretty epic drive. It really hammered home the enormity of our ride down some months ago.

After all the socialising and loss of control over our destiny that has accompanied our trip since reentering Mauritania, all the way to Agadir, we are resting a little and keenly planning the next stages, which will be back on our bikes! We've already really enjoyed cycling again, even though we've only moved about 20km from where Mohammed dropped us off...

Oh, and please feel free to get in touch if you have any queries about our Saharan Truck Odyssey that we haven't included here.

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Note: As mentioned, there is a coach option that seems to go from outside the Supratours office in Guerguerat (border town) to Dakhla, where you'd then get another coach up to Agadir. We didn't investigate this option in great detail but we were told there is a through ticket and that they are very used to transporting touring cyclists. For better or worse, our alternative truck trip will forever remain in our memories.