I first met Said when he was in his early teens riding a bicycle enthusiastically on the outskirts of Zagora. I was driving my 110 alone, on my way to Lac Iriki and it was a long time ago, almost twenty years now. His role at that time was to meet any overland cars that were travelling into the town and encourage them to visit his uncle’s garage for a filter clean and vehicle check. There were a number of boy’s vying for my business but I chose to follow Said because he was polite and not at all pushy.

I drove behind him as he beckoned me off along the dusty main street, through the now demolished arch and deep into the narrow streets of Zagora, to eventually end up at a ramshackle garage festooned with old tyres, wheel trims and a thousand pictures of smiling satisfied customers set in amongst innumerable stickers from many a group adventure that had passed through Zagora before me.

My Land Rover was checked over very carefully by Said and his older brother Aziz before heading off into the desert further south.

Once you have used a garage here in Zagora then that’s it, you will offend deeply if you or your client’s cars are serviced at a rival garage. Said and his brothers (Aziz and Salem) knowledge and expertise has deservedly made theirs the garage to visit if you want your car checked over well. They have looked after the Impala cars now for many years as well as most of the adventure company’s vehicles that pass through Zagora from all the corners of the globe. In fact one thing that always impresses many a client is the ability of mechanics here in Africa to mend cars with a fraction of the resources that we are used to having in Europe.

Garage Iriki (as Said and Aziz’s garage is now called) has a Land Rover 110 fully equipped to travel into the desert to help stricken tourist cars wherever they may be. All you need to do is phone Said or Aziz, give them a GPS co-ordinate and they will arrive quickly to sort out your problem before asking with a wide grin and boundless enthusiasm “next problem”.