Rallye Aïcha des Gazelles

Leg 5 - Monday March 28th & Tuesday March 29th

NEIJAKH / MHAMID – ideal distance 365 km – estimated time 21:30 – Marathon leg

This is a marathon leg: 48 hours with no bivouac and no overnight mechanical assistance.

Little or no sand on the first day of this leg, which begins with wide plains. Then the route crosses some more varied terrain, colourful with well-marked landscapes. The combination of pink sand and silver-grey rock is a real treat for the eyes.
The Gazelles will then enter a series of tight, high mountains, where navigation will be a matter of choosing the right trails across steep valleys.
Night will find the teams in this calm and uninhabited area. Groups of Gazelles will come together, and the evening is sure to be long and lively.

Day 2 of the marathon starts out in the dunes. This time all of the teams are required to cross the dunes, except for the SUVs. The fine sand is sure to fly from the shovels of many Gazelles on this day.
The route will then cross some faster, open terrain. Here the best strategy is to stick to a perfectly straight heading in order to make up a few precious kilometres that may have been lost in the mountains the day before.
Navigation and careful map reading are once again the order of the day.

At the end of the leg, after following a long wide track and crossing an immense crater, the Gazelles find themselves in an area carpeted with a fine layer of red sand, sprinkled over the Moroccan landscape from time to time by the wind from nearby Algeria, in a gesture of neighbourly friendliness.