Tuesday Feb 24th : Observations

The site has a surprisingly large Italian community. They are hearty campers and hail each other from great distances- “Hey, Alberto, buonjourno!” etc. A gathering of 6 or more Italians is also guaranteed, sooner or later, to burst into song (sooner, if fuelled by quantities of alcohol), let by a self-appointed Pavarotti, who will lead the assembly in murdering a selection of popular operatic arias.

Saturday saw the obligatory local dancing, laid on by the site. There were several different troupes. The photo shows men in white who danced with trembling shoulders to the accompaniment of drums and small flutes. Of course, it all looked strange and exotic as intended, but probably less bizarre than morris dancing appears to foreign visitors to the UK.

Small “put-put” motorbikes are used by locals of all ages, carrying up to 4 people, but rarely wearing crash helmets. The guy we were keeping pace with in the photo had his dangling from the handlebars, observed a police check down the road, so quickly put it on. After riding past the policemen, he whipped the helmet off and restored it to its’ rightful place on the handlebars.

Feb 17th- The Camels are Coming!

Here camels are kept like cattle. The only difference is that, because the food supply is so sparse, they move around under the charge of a camel herder. This morning a herd of about 50 appeared on the hillside overlooking the campsite to graze the scrub, and we decided to walk up for a closer look. The camel herder came across and shook hands, all very friendly, and as one does here, we gave him a small tip to take some shots of his camels.

The road repairers are building a retaining wall between the road and the campsite. Whilst on the job, they stay in these make-shift tents at the side of the road. It’s the practical solution to accommodation while moving around in a low wage economy: as an example, workers on the campsite get around £8 per week.

Feb15th: Paradise Valley

Paradise Valley is a full day trip from the campsite. The narrow road follows a beautiful palm tree-lined river gorge and then climbs way up to a mountain town near which there is a stunning waterfall. Today is Sunday, which is “family day” in Morocco, although the holy day is Friday. So the whole of our trip was shared with thousands of Moroccans from Agadir who picnicked all along the valley and at the waterfall, some also washing their clothes in the river. Picnics generally consisted of a barbecue or tajine, both of which are cooked over charcoal

In these parts the locals appear to live subsistence lives using donkeys and hand-tools for cultivation. Small children frequent the roadsides attempting to sell bunches of herbs. But, wait a minute, even the meanest dwelling has a satellite dish, a real Flintstone-esque touch when surrounded by all this primitive lifestyle of yesteryear.

On the way back is the village of Arouir where a number of shops sell the locally grown bananas. And that’s all they sell – bananas. How can they survive selling just bananas at 64p a kilo? In the footwear trade that’s the equivalent of a shoe-lace shop!

7th Feb to 13th Feb: The Immediate Area

Nice beach. Usually more waves, and popular with surfers.

Lots of scrubland, good for birdwatching. Jane’s standing by an argan tree where the argan oil comes from

7th to 13th Feb: The Campsite

Atlantica Park is a modern site with 1000 pitches. We’re in the annexe by the beach.

Some unusual facilities are available on site, for instance, your own individual mural painted on the caravan. Lots of campers have them done and the cost is reasonable.

Now, beware, it CAN happen to you! This burnt-out Winnebago belonged to an Irishman and was located right next to the shore, but without electrics. The site authorities decided to give him a temporary connection from an pole carrying the current to the site. Whatever they did overloaded the camper’s circuits and they just managed to get their passports out before it burst into flames: everything else was lost.

Feb 7th to Feb13th: Supermarkets

Supermarket shopping is new to Morocco, Today we went to Marjane, one of the few big players, with about 20 stores. All Tesco shoppers would be at home here, but there is a Moroccan twist: big loose spices area, 25 kilo bags of flour, no pork products etc.

An unexpected quirk as we waited to pay is that the supermarket trolleys are too wide to pass through some of the checkouts. What you have to do is unload your purchases onto the belt and then run round through the entrance with the trolley, and then load it with your now paid-for purchases so you can push them to the car. We are certain that the supermarket designer must have a brother who organises the road improvements and another who runs Tangier port.

Alcohol is sold in a strictly limited number of places, Marjane being one of them. To emphasise its’ taboo nature, it is located in a separate area with its’ own checkout. Standing in line to pay for my few beers with seedy looking religiously relapsed locals, it felt what I imagine it’s like attending the VD clinic.

Feb 6th- Essaouira to Agadir

Heavy rain overnight, but a cheery greeting from our guardian and a glass of mint tea. Delicious! The morning is bright and dry, so we decide to have a quick look around Essaouira. It is a fascinating place full of old alleyways and tiny shops selling everything imaginable. Jane is pointing to the herbal viagra display. The town has a laid-back image that attracted hippies in the 60’s and the likes of Jimi Hendrix and Cat Stevens.

Moving on, the road passes through hillsides of argan trees from which oil is produced, and there are many road-side vendors. Argan oil is used in cooking, like olive oil. We stop for lunch a few miles before the campsite, right by the Atlantic which you can see contains a seam of mud from the swollen rivers’ discharge of recent days. It’s sunny, and warming up nicely, and we arrive at the site, 15 miles north of Agadir, to be welcomed by some friends who we thought might be there but with whom we hadn’t made any definite arrangements.