La Palmeraie, Tifnit (Morocco 87274)

 

Nearly everytime we park Marge up here someone wants to wash her down. It's really a pointless exercise with so much dust around, but appearances matter, so this morning John gave her a quick once over before we left the campsite. A short drive down the coast took us to Agadir. Yesterday evening, when we walked down to the beach we could see the sea mist rolling in off the Atlantic darkening the skies over the outskirts of the city. Today we were on a mission to find wine for Angela. So not to overload Marge too much she only bought only four bottles with her from Spain. Rationing herself to a very small glass a day, she has already consumed two. Morocco is an islamic country, so no alcohol is widely available. However, some larger supermarkets in Tangier, Casablanca, Agadir and Marrakech have a 'closed cave' often behind a curtain. Two bottles of Bordeaux, for not much more than she pays in France, she was a happy bunny. Shockingly, whilst deciding which wine to buy. A boy of around six years old, who looked Moroccan bought a bottle of white wine, with no questions asked. Wine and provisions bought we released Marge back into the mayhem and drove to the souk. When we came to Agadir in February 2025 we ate a fantastic chicken tajine here. Marge was parked in the care of a guardian, the one today barely spoke English. He spotted Angela had some crisps in the front of Marge and asked if he could have them. Having been in Morocco a while and seeing how some people live, rifling though bins for food, and selling stale bread to people like this man, she couldn't refuse. The souk was bustling, just as we remembered. We stopped at the first place selling tajine, which John thought was where we ate before. Angela wasn't so sure.

Never less we enjoyed a delicious lamb tajine. After lunch we decided to walk around the souk a while coming across the place we'd eaten tajine when last here. The guys instantly recognised us, especially Angela. Not sure why. We felt bad, we apologised for not eating with them. They didn't mind, they were so pleased to see us again.

Not wanting to be away from Marge too long we bought a gift from one of the stalls, Angela bartering with the man. Then oranges and a melon from another before returning to a cafe we visited before for tea and coffee. Back at Marge, the parking guardian asked us if Marge looked O.K. She seemed fine. Angela paid him, he asked for more but she said no, reminding him she'd given him the crisps. Smiling, he asked if we could give him a drink, everytime you buy coffee here they give you a bottle of water, so she gave him one. Looking to have a more relaxing day than yesterday we were keen to arrive at tonight's campsite by late afternoon.

It is away from the coast, and in the season you are unlikely to secure one of the one hundred and thirty pitches, as many people stay here for months. Today, there is just us, the peacocks, peahens and pea chicks. Bliss!

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.