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On January 18th, I arrived at Stockholm Skavsta airport after an amazing 3-week trip that took us from Paris to Dakar and back to Marrakech. It included, among others, bribing, accidents, repairs, sand dunes, plenty of police stops as well as lots of grilled chicken with fries! Pictures can’t even remotely describe what I experienced during the course of these weeks, but I will try to give you an impression with some images that I will release in three parts, starting with this one. Below you will find some shots of the first part of our journey including comments – sit back, grab a beer and enjoy reading! And as with every good story, the best part comes last;-) Robert Köstinger Editor-in-chief
We started off at Paris-Beauvais with our 9-seater Land Rover Defender 110 from 1998, equipped with a 4-cyl. 120hp diesel engine as well as a Mantec snorkel, 5cm raise, double suspension, roll cage, Warn winch, BF Goodrich Mud/Terrain tires, a 90 liter tank as well as 6 gas cans à 20 liter and a military trailer. The 2 roof tents were to be our home for the next three weeks. In total, we where 8 people on the way to Dakar (seated 2:2:4) and 7 persons on the way back to Marrakech. The gross weight of the vehicle reached 3,6 tons fully loaded. 
We skip the 36-hour straight drive from Paris to southern Spain (yes, it was hell) and find ourselves at the Moroccan boarder. Plenty of people that offer you help (which you need for a speedy process through the boarder), but pick one right before the actual boarder check – those are the more experienced and have more connections, if you pick the first one you see you might get screwed. We paid 5 Euro for each passport to “Santa’s little helper”, he paid another 5 Euro per passport bribing a local policeman (makes 10 Euro in total for each passport) and we entered Morocco after half an hour. In the waiting line before the boarder we saw a car that was the last one to get onto the ferry from Spain at 10:30 (which we missed) - our boat left at 13:00 - but he was still waiting in line…there you have it, bribing pays off! 
Yamaha + Kawasaki = ???? 
The world heritage city of Essaouira. 
Somewhere along the coast line of central Morocco… 
Plenty of Moroccans wear this traditional “hood robe” every day - of course, we had to get one too… 
Luckily, no one got toothache during our trip… 
This “dromedary gate” marks the beginning of the (Western) Sahara. 
Tan-Tan – Smara is one of the classic rally stages in the legendary Paris-Dakar rally. Smara itself is the only town in Morocco where UN-solders are still present due to the still unresolved Western Sahara conflict between Morocco and the Polisario, which fights for total independence of their “Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic” from Morocco. 
A canyon east of Laayoune – you might want to remember that place when reading the third part… 
A typical Moroccan police station in the Western Sahara – we got pulled over at least 30 times. But, if you do your homework (bring at least 40 A5 copies of your passport plus indicate your profession – avoid journalist, politician or teacher -as well as the vehicle registration number on the copy), it won’t take much longer than a minute to get through. Policemen as well as locals where always polite and helpful by the way…in fact, Morocco is actively encouraging tourists to explore the region of Western Sahara. 
If you don’t like chicken with fries or goat meat, don’t come to Morocco…or anywhere else in North-West Africa… 
A sight we got used to in Morocco and Mauretania – crossing dromedaries! 
In the middle of Sahara dunes, around 20 km before Dakhla, you will find a fantastic kite surfing camp! 
A typical garage in Morocco (as well as Mauretania) - besides that, Dakhla has great potential and was one of the nicest cities we have seen in Morocco! 
A shot taken in the desert close to the kite surfing camp. 
The no-man's land between the boarders of Morocco and Mauretania is one place you definitely don’t want to hang out longer than needed. It reminded us more of a scene in Terminator, year 2029. Cars that get out of one country but do not have the necessary permission to get into the neighboring country are stuck here forever…by the way, if you ever get your car stuck in no-man's land, there are actually people living there (who share the same fate as the cars that here left behind), and they pull you out for 30 Euro without actually robbing or killing you (happened to an American couple who later told us at the camping site). 
In Nouadhibou, we ended up in the middle of a pro-Palestine protest after the Israelis attacked Gaza the day before. But everything went down peacefully, with no indications for escalation. 
A beautiful sand dune in Mauretania. You can find dunes like these even next to the tarmac road! 
The “Auberge Sahara” is a typical destination for overlanders in the Mauritanian capital Nouakchott – and they even had WIFI! Even after the military coup last August, Nouakchott - and actually all of Western Mauretania -feels quite safe. Around 100 km south of Nouakchott, disaster struck – our gear box broke down, but luckily, after a while at least the 4th gear (high and low range) was still working and we were able to continue…we drove around 400km to St Louis (Senegal) - partly over rugged terrain (see below) - where we tried to fix the problem… 
Overload? 
The road to the boarder town Diama on the way to Senegal was pretty tough. And imagine, we were still in 4th gear! Click NEXT to read Part 2! Pictures © Go4x4.eu
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