I first learned about The Adventurists in 2009 or so when a friend of a friend told me about the Mongol Rally, a car race that started in the United Kingdom and ended in Mongolia. (Well, that’s what it was back then. It’s currently from Czechia to Kazakhstan.) I wasn’t able to find anyone foolish to join me on such an adventure, but I subscribed to their newsletter nonetheless. Over the years I have learned about additional adventures. There’s a trip across India. There’s a trip involving horses. And a trip involving flying machines. And there’s even a rally across Morocco on a monkey bike.
So what the heck, a weeklong trip on a motorbike sounds like a blast. And it can’t be that hard (right?). I’m not half bad on a bicycle, and I traveled around a fair amount on motorbikes (albeit with someone else driving) in Vietnam this past summer. So, in October 2024 I signed up for the January 2025 Monkey Run Morocco.
Getting ready meant a few things: getting the right gear, sorting out travel, and fundraising for a charity called Cool Earth.
Fundraising info first! As part of my participation in the monkey run, my task is to raise £500 for Cool Earth. I created a JustGiving page. And to my great surprise, quite a few generous friends and family have donated to the point that the goal has been exceeded! Tremendous. I’m very grateful. (You can still donate if you wish!)
Gear time. I needed a helmet, gloves, and some tools. (The bikes appear to be quite unreliable.) For tools, I have wrenches, zip ties, and ratchet straps. And I found my old learherman multi-tool. And I splurged for a road map of Morocco as well as well as an international driving permit (available from AAA).
I got my airplane tickets (hooray for a direct flight from Newark to Marrakech!) and a place to stay in Marrakech. No visa required, which is nice. I even got travel insurance, which I’ve never done before and hopefully won’t need to figure out how to use.
Flying out of Newark meant some time with family in NYC for the holidays before getting on the Newark-Marrakech flight on Thursday, December 26.