Camping Atlantica Imourane, Tamraght, Agadir (Morocco 80023)

The campsite we left this morning had been one of the better ones here. It certainly had the best showers do far. Little did we know as we left this morning that the drive ahead of us would be a vast change from the fairly flat roads of the last week. Today Marge was subjected to climbs, switchback bends and downhill runs with yet more switchback bends.

And to make it all more interesting a herd of goats blocking the road were thrown into the mix. The campsites in this area are expensive, and the reviews of most not so good, so John decided we'd stay overnight at a small fishing village popular with surfers. Now the small fishing village image you have in your mind will not be like the ones here. Rubble and rubbish doesn't say quaint does it. We parked up in a parking area to make lunch and within a few minutes a parking guardian was pestering us. He wouldn't go away and things got a little heated, so we decided to leave. Sometimes these guys are just too overbearing.

More driving through some mountains, where we took a break at a little coffee trailer. £1.30 for two cups. The average wage here is £1.00 an hour, so seems like this man has a good business.

After driving down to the coast road we stopped off at The Village of Colours. The stop wasn't intentional, but we had a bus following us that seemed intent on ramming Marge from behind or running her off the road. After dismissing some free overnight stops we arrived early evening at a campsite around eleven miles from Agadir. The man on reception was a little off hand, and the site looked empty. There are a few vans here, surprisingly quite a few of them are English. It has been 26c here today, although the wind is blowing cold and a sea mist is rolling in. The campsite is closing for two months on Monday. Yes you read right. It closes for this period because it's too hot!

It certainly doesn't feel very warm this evening. Hopefully closing campsites won't pose a problem for us as we continue our journey. We also hope that the driving of the Moroccans improves, although we know it won't, they are fearless. We'd love to be able to take in some views, but our eyes need to be watching everything that is going on around us. And sometimes it can be quite full on.

Camping Soleil, Sidi Kaouki, (Morocco 44125)

 After returning from our walk yesterday evening our host Reda showed us around the hotel. The four rooms that have been prepared for renting in ten days time were amazing. No Travelodge standard here. Large airy spacious areas with an ensuite the size of a box room. One even had a dressing room. Outdoor swimming pool, spacious open plan kitchen, diner, living room and landscape gardens, all this for less than the cost of a room at the Travelodge on a Sunday night. As night fell Redas three dogs slept outside behind Marge. Unfortunately something spooked them about five this morning. That was it. Angela was awake for the day. We wanted to be away early anyway. Angela was really looking forward to today. There are three places she wants to visit whilst in Morocco. The first Agadir where we flew out to for a week in early February 2025, the second Marrekesh, the third Essaouira. Essaouira is the one place that pops up when you Google Morocco or look at a Moroccan guide book.

It is a port city and today we arrived just as the lorry's were arriving to collect the catch from dozens of the iconic blue wooden trawlers. Amongst the organized chaos the tourists mingle. Well really getting in the way. But the day to day running of the port continued around us all.

A stop at a pretty cafe on the square and then a walk into the Medina, where we ate lunch at a bohemian style Cafe.

Our order chicken tanjine for two turned out to be turkey meatballs in tomato sauce topped with an omelette, accompanied by a basket of bread, for one! Somewhere our order had become lost in translation. Never mind. It was tasty, and more than enough food for the both of us as we'd eaten a very large pain chocolate at the cafe each.The Medina was interesting, the stalls varied. No one hassled us which was a pleasant relief.

How these medinas remain standing we can't fathom, upon closer inspection they look as if they are on a point of collapse.

The beach at Essaouira was stunning, and clean. In fact the whole town was clean. At last we'd emerged from the largest rubbish tip. The area we are in now is a tourist hot spot, especially for surfers.

We are staying the night on the camping area at Sidi Kaouki, a small rural town. It is popular with the surfers. We were a little confused as to how horse riding, camel riding and quad biking all taking place on yet another clean sandy beach, worked alongside the surfers. But there you go, it obviously does. What really amazes us is that it appears to be the low season here. The other campsite is closed for a months annual holiday. Now we realize why we have seen so few other Europeans. Angela feels uncomfortable that she always seems to be amongst men. We tend to see very few women on a daily basis. Angela's mum Margery wouldn't have minded. She always thought men made better company! Having begun our day earlier we were at the camping area in good time to do some washing. It's always nice to be able to put the line up and wash the dust out of our clothes. That's one constant pain about Morocco, everywhere is dusty or sandy, and it gets everywhere. This morning Angela bought cornflakes at the supermarket, and the box was covered in dust. Today has been a good day. For the first time since arriving in Morocco Angela has felt relaxed and happy. John says we're on an adventure. Adventure isn't in the guide books, it's in the unexpected moments. Angela wants the unexpected moments to be joyful, today was one of those days.

Hotel Sid el Batach, Sidi Ishaq (Morocco 44134)

This morning our first salt water shower ever. The water wasn't very warm, but it certainly made Angela's hair feel soft. Originally today, we only planned to drive for around an hour to the town of Safi.

The drive there was slow and as we passed through the countryside no longer green but dry and dusty, the ground crying out for water, we passed many animals nibbling at the stubble left behind after the combine harvester had cut the crop. The cows thin, the bones of their rib cages showing, donkeys with heads bent looked at the ground with large sad eyes and sheep nuzzled the arid soil in hope of something more nutritious. Safi was a bustling noisy chaotic town.

We headed for some roadside parking recommended on park4night as a safe spot to leave Marge. This would be the first time we'd left Marge with a parking guardian and were a little worried. Of course a man descended on us talking about England, telling us people from Liverpool were called scousers, who'd have guessed? We talked football and quite a lot of other nonsense. Of course he wanted to show us around. As always in these situations we politely declined. With a little trepidation we left Marge, and walked to the castle ruins on the seafront, stopped for tea, coffee and pain chocolates at a cafe near to Marge and then walked to see the worlds largest ceramic tajine. Safi is famous for it's ceramics, and is also the sardine capital of Morocco. Before leaving Spain we stocked up on tinned sardines, and guess what, they are from Safi! It seems funny bringing them back to where their journey began. After shopping at Carrefour we decided Marge had been left for long enough. Obviously when we returned to her she was fine. We paid the guardian his fee of 10MD (80p), and after the 'chancer' asked if we could spare a little something for his friendliness, we gave him 5MD. This country seems to be one of the haves, and have nots. This man was most definitely a have not.

Our visit to Safi wasn't really enjoyable. In fact it was stressful. And the overnight parking lot was terrible, so we left and decided to drive for another hour and a half passing a huge phosphate processing plant until right in the middle of nowhere we eventually found Hotel Sid el Batach, despite no signage on the main road. A hundred metres from the shore, this smart hotel is being prepared for the season.

We are the only people here. For eight pounds a night they offer secure parking with the use of a toilet and shower in one of the very smart rooms. Just one downside. A dog that hardly stops barking. Hopefully the swell of the Atlantic will be louder.

And early this evening when the staff took a break from work, we were offered some of the corn on the cob they'd cooked. It was lovely, especially as we'd missed lunch today.