The Monkey Run Morocco - Day 1: Demnate

I woke up at dawn, too excited for the day ahead. The sky was hazy…I could barely make out the hot air balloons rising east of us. After a quick breakfast and a hilarious start line, we were on our way.

We rode on gravel looking for the highway that was going to take us straight to Demnate. Early on, we found a gas shack: a tiny little hut where questionable gasoline by the liter was being sold. The gas was stored in old glass 1L Coca-Cola bottles. We filled up and shortly after, we were on the highway.

The highway was fairly boring and nerve racking at the same time. The asphalt quality was good, which allowed us to reach the maximum speed of the bike: between 40 and 45 kilometers per hour. The bikes at max speed were loud…ear buds would have been a great idea. The trucks, buses, and cars passing us at 80 km/h were super scary. The wind gust pushing my bike forward signaled that they were coming fast and steady behind me. As a new rider, this was very uncomfortable.

We reached a cafe spot and found Morgan, the final member of The Homeboys. He had been riding solo and felt at peace now that he had a crew. It was there that we decided to take a detour from the monotony of the highway. Seth found a reservoir we could check out and we headed there.

The start of the High Atlas

Once we reached the detour, the road was empty and the landscape was very picturesque: rolling hills, grassy fields, some plantations, and many villages forgotten in time. As we started climbing, the bikes got the first taste of real work…and they struggled. Nonetheless, we didn’t have many issues on this first easy climb. Eventually, it started raining sporadically as we descended towards Demnate. The boys took advantage of the down hill to really test the bikes; I on the other hand, as the newbie, took it slow realizing that part of the road was wet.

Once we arrived to Demnate, we decided to keep going to find a place to stay somewhere east of the city. As we started our climb it started pouring. We had seen a hotel sign a few hundred meters back and we decided to check it out. A few of the boys went ahead to find the hotel, but they gave up after some time of searching for it. Eventually, they opened a stable to spend the night at until a kid walking by showed them the hotel. As we walked in we realized we had arrived at a very nice Bed and Breakfast.

The place was incredibly beautiful. A wonderful French couple greeted us and checked us in. This would be the nicest hotel I stayed at in Morocco. Dinner that night would be the best dinner not only of the trip, but of the year. To this day I still dream of the Tagine we were served that night.