Dakar Rally – The Most Dangerous Rally Around The World travel tips and stories. Vacations ideas, cruises, spa and resorts

The Dakar Rally, often characterized as the most arduous and dangerous motor race in the world, consists of 15 stages over the span of 16 days, with some 5,000 miles of competition to Senegal via Portugal, Morocco, Mauritania, Mali, and Guinea. The 28th Dakar is now in its final stretch, with three days of competition remaining before the competitors arrive on the shores of Lake Rose in Dakar, Senegal
Life on the Dakar is best described as like being part of a huge military exercise, where adverse conditions, lack of sleep, poor food and constant threat of injury or death are the norm. As the race moves into the toughest desert stages, entrants find it ever more difficult to stay on schedule – one minor mechanical failure can easily necessitate a night in the dunes waiting for an assistance vehicle to arrive. This will put the racer in the agonizing position of having to leave the next “bivouac” (Dakar’s military-style name for rest-stop) almost as soon as they have arrived in order to get back on track.
The course usually follows a similar format: two easy days in southern Europe, a ferry crossing to Morocco, some rocky stages in the Atlas mountains, then the meat of the race in the sand-dunes of Mauritania and Mali. The final few days are through more verdant parts of sub-Saharan Africa before the weary competitors view the mirage-like image of Dakar’s Lac Rose (Pink Lake), which is the site of the finish.