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.

Camping Laguna, Oulidia (Morocco 24252)

Oh what a night! Dogs barking, donkeys braying, people somewhere talking until dawn broke.The peaceful spot, under the trees on the sand dunes turned out to be anything but. And to top it all amongst the sand was loads of dog mess from Tigres, the resident dog assigned to keep us safe. (John had three pairs of shoes to clean)!

So this morning we were both tired and tetchy. Yesterday we felt we were a very long way from home. Which we are, around 2,000 miles. People told Angela she would love Morocco. She isn't. So far it's O.K. She's yet to find the wow factor amongst the huge amount of rubbish, dust and dogs. She was however pleased to at long last be spending a night on a campsite with other people, mostly German, but that's O.K., sometimes it can feel a little lonely here. Oualidia, where we are now is described as a sleepy Moroccan coastal village. It's certainly is that. Thankfully there is not quite so much litter strewn everywhere as other places we've passed through.

The beach is nice and this afternoon we took a walk out to watch the sea crash into the rocks before rolling onto the shore. There's one thing to be said about the Atlantic Ocean, it's dramatic.

So hopefully tonight there will be no barking dogs, talking until it becomes light and donkeys braying. One thing we can say about the little donkey, it sure was pleased to see us, and kept showing it, if you know what we mean!

Certainly a lot happier than the poor thing we saw on the road today.