On the trails of the Paris-Dakar Rally

On the first day of travel, we gather with our off-road vehicles at 8:00 AM in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, built by Gustave Eiffel from 1887 to 1889. The official start takes place right here, just like at the Dakar Rally. You have the opportunity to join the guide from Germany with your off-road vehicle and arrive in Paris together as a group. After a brief introduction and some instructions, the journey starts directly.

The day's goal is the highest dune in Europe, the Dune du Pilat, with a height of 110 m, a width of 500 m, and a length of 2.7 km running north-south near Bordeaux in Arcachon. Afterwards, we continue to our first hotel along the route. In the evening, we eat at a cozy fish restaurant right by the harbor.

After we caught sight of the Atlantic for the first time on our journey, which will meet us again many thousands of kilometers further south in significantly warmer regions, we head over the foothills of the Pyrenees into Spain. After a short mountain pass crossing, the route takes us over the high plain of the Iberian Meseta all the way to Burgos, our destination for today.

We will spend the night in a small, cozy country hotel and wind down the evening with tapas and beer.

One does not know exactly where one is. The north of Spain is sparsely populated, and the expanse of the landscape as well as the surroundings remind one of images one knows from experience trips in America.

On the evening of the third day, we stay overnight in a hotel in Talavera de la Reina, from where we set off on the fourth day to our last destination on European soil. We need to cover kilometers so that we can reach the goal of the fourth day early and still have some time for beautiful Seville after we check into our hotel.

Spain's fourth largest city has one of the largest old towns in the world, alongside Venice and Genoa.

In the morning, we set off early in Seville and cover the last kilometers to the ferry port near Gibraltar. Here, additional participants of the Paris-Dakar Rally expedition join us. After we have crossed over, we need to customs clear our vehicles and complete the entry formalities before we can cover our first meters on African soil.

Since it can take a while based on experience, we will set up our campsite in the Moroccan hinterland not far from Tanger Med. The first camping night lies ahead of us – slowly, a real sense of adventure is coming up.

The route along the coast takes us to Rabat, the capital of Morocco and the seat of the royal house, before we turn off towards the Atlas Mountains via smaller roads. The Atlas stretches about 2,300 km through Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia.

The traffic is lively and unusual, and driving requires a lot of attention and concentration. We slowly make our way through the foothills of the Atlas towards Ouzoud, where the first mountain passes are already waiting for us. In the evening, we set up camp at a small campsite in Ouzoud.

This day gives us time to pause, check the vehicles, and let the impressions of Morocco sink in. The route continues through the impressive foothills of the Atlas Mountains.

The driving routes remain varied and challenging, but the day is intentionally planned with a bit more time. It is a good opportunity to prepare the vehicles for the upcoming desert stages.

We spend the evening together in the camp.

In Asni, a mountain village in the High Atlas at the foot of Jebel Toubkal, the highest mountain in North Africa at 4,167 m, we set off together towards the pass height of Tizi n’Test. Even though the distance is not particularly great, it takes almost a whole day until we reach our daily destination, the city of Taroudant on the other side of the mountains, with our expedition vehicles.

On the narrow mountain road, anything from a donkey to a 40-ton truck can come towards you.

The journey continues through the south of Morocco. The landscapes become drier, broader, and more original.

This stage connects local culture, impressive mountain regions, and varied routing. The group is advancing further south, away from the bustling cities and closer to the Sahara.

The rhythm of the expedition is now familiar: drive, adapt, set up camp, and move on.

The first major desert stage lies ahead of us. For two days, we will drive through the western foothills of the vast Sahara towards the desert town of Smara. On the way, we pass the disputed border between Morocco and the former Spanish-administered Western Sahara.

The history of this region is still palpable today – in the mentality of the people as well as in the language. While French is widely spoken in Morocco, we suddenly get by with Spanish here. Our choice of where to spend the night depends on the distances we can cover over the two days. We set up our wild camps where the landscape and the moment dictate.

It goes along a dusty track by the Saguia el-Hamra, which carries water for most of the year, until we finally reach the coast. El Aaiún, the largest city in Western Sahara, is now not far away, and if we make good progress, there will still be time in the afternoon to park the vehicles, stretch our legs, or take a bath in the Atlantic.

In the evening, we camp again at a campsite, where there are finally showers again.

For two days, we will cross the vast landscapes of the Sahara along Western Sahara and Mauritania. For this stage, we also reserve the right to choose the quieter route along the coast towards Dakhla on the Atlantic, depending on progress and group dynamics.

This passage offers either "pure Sahara" with intense stages or an alternative more relaxed variant along the coast with long beach passages and subsequent re-entry into the desert. A stop in the surfer town of Dakhla is also possible along the coastal route if needed.

While Morocco is a term known to many, Mauritania remains an unknown country for many travelers despite its size of 1.03 million km². We cross the no man's land to the checkpoint in the middle of the desert, where we deal with the entry formalities for Mauritania.

Here it is said: Europeans may have invented the clock, but in Africa, time counts differently. We set up our camp after the border in the midst of the dune landscape.

We follow a section of the approximately 700 km long route of the Mauritanian iron ore train over about 350 km off paved roads, before continuing to Atar. This stage is challenging and we need two days to reach the oasis city. The legendary train transports iron ore from Zouerate to the Atlantic and is considered one of the longest freight trains in the world.

Atar was once a significant center of Moorish high culture, which gave the country its name.

After four to five days in the Sahara, we drive back to the sea and experience one last time a mix of paved and unpaved sections before the Sahel zone begins. We will overnight directly at the beach, and anyone who feels like fresh fish can try their hand at fishing.

The sea off Mauritania is among the richest fishing waters in the world.

Before the road as we know it was built in 2006, the official route to Nouakchott ran along the Atlantic coast directly over the beach. Due to the tides, the sand there becomes firm and evenly compacted, so in some places you can even progress faster than on certain tracks inland. We take this special route and continue our journey on this historic path.

However, the drive requires precise coordination with the tides, as certain sections become impassable at high tide and the Atlantic comes very close to the dunes. At the same time, we experience one of the most pristine coastal landscapes in West Africa with endless beaches, fishing camps, and only a few settlements along the way.

Our day's goal is the capital Nouakchott, where today about half of Mauritania's population lives and which is considered the political and economic center of the country.

Whoever does not know Feschfesch will get to know it today. On these fine dust-covered slopes, we head towards the Senegalese border along the Senegal River, which has given the country its name. Along the way, there is again more vegetation and significantly more wildlife than in the previous stages.

Our path leads through a bird sanctuary in a national park where many European migratory birds spend the winter. The landscape is noticeably changing: the dry desert slowly transitions into the Sahel zone and the vegetation becomes denser.

The day's goal is Saint-Louis. The city is located on an island in the delta of the Senegal River and has a well-preserved city center from the colonial era. We will spend the night not far from the city near the beach.

We set off from Saint-Louis in the morning and reach Dakar around noon. Part of the route can again run along the beach. As with the Paris-Dakar, our journey ends on the shores of Lake Rose, the pink salt lake on the outskirts of Dakar.

There we spend the last evening together and celebrate the arrival with good food. The following day, the expedition officially ends. From here, there is the option to ship the expedition vehicle by container to Europe and fly back, or to join the tour guides overland towards Morocco, where they usually take a short break.

From Marrakech, the return trip can then continue on asphalt northward to the ferry port.