SAHARA CHALLENGE Take 2

After a three-year pause, Bailey's Sahara Challenge returned! Nigel Hutson joined the caravan...

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Back in 2020, Bailey of Bristol set off on its original Sahara Challenge and managed to get as far as Sagres, in Portugal. With just one day to go before the team were due to make the ferry crossing to Morocco, the trip was cancelled because of Covid-19.

I had been planning to fly out to join them, but got a call just in time, telling me we had to cancel.

Fast forward to March 2023, and the big adventure was resurrected, now renamed Sahara Challenge 2.

A core team from Bailey took two standard production Bailey Phoenix+ 642 caravans, towed by Ford Ranger MS-RT Limited Edition pick-ups, and a Bailey Adamo 75-4T motorhome (with a further support van) from Bristol to Sagres, where the trip would restart.

Back on the road

There were a number of sponsoring companies, the main one being the Caravan and Motorhome Club.

The only changes to the caravans were more robust tyres, solar panels and Al-Ko ATC.

I was due to join the team one week in, so I missed the visits to Casablanca and Marrakech, but I looked forward to seeing many other interesting places. I must admit I had the idea that Morocco would just be sand, more sand and not much else. How wrong I was! My flight arrived at Ouarzazate, south of the High Atlas mountains, in the early hours, where I met up with team member John Rawlings. A half-hour drive saw us in camp at Aït Benhaddou - not that I could see much of anything at that unearthly hour. 

Admiring Aït Benhaddou

After weeks of dull grey weather in the UK, it was a real pleasure to see clear blue skies the following morning, together with a fabulous view of the UNESCO World Heritage Site that is Aït Benhaddou.