Agadir

6th Feb

We arrived in Agadir today, after a short drive from Terre d'Ocean approximately 20km. We drove past the vacant areas on Taghazoute that were full of vans a week ago, I feel sorry for the local traders, they will have lost a lot of income and be feeling it now?
Our intention is to get the rear bumper repaired after it was damaged in Portugal and some other bits. We stayed the evening at the Marjane car park along with about 200 or more other vans 30°23'45.5"N 9°34'58.4"W , most of these were at a guess parked at Taghazoute beach prior to the eviction.

Lots of vans in the overflow car parks

So after a shop at Marjane and Mr Bricolage (similar to Homebase) I settled in for the reports on the evening rugby match. Disappointing!!!

7th - 8th Feb

We took the van into Mustapha's in the morning 30°25'21.1"N 9°34'36.4"W, he has told us it will be ready by Tuesday. We have decided to check into a hotel for two nights, as we don't want to be stuck on the outskirts of town in his yard over the weekend.
Our hotel is in a nice location, close to the seafront with easy access to shops etc. .

The Mosque in the background

Unfortunately it is right next to a Mosque and we hear the cry to prayer 5 times a day.

Agadir would not be on my list of places to visit, totally uninspiring. The Blackpool of Morocco. It is very commercialised and not our cup of tea.

There is a campsite in town "Camping d'Agadir" 30°25'30.7"N 9°36'27.0"W but the reviews are poor, and it looks rundown. I personally don't think much of Agadir.

 McDonalds and Pitza Hut, says it all about Agadir

  Max is easy to please, as long as there's a beach

The Marina area was nice with plenty of restaurants and designer shops

A helpful sign on the beach

Swansea played Sunderland and got a get out of jail card with a late equaliser, we are riding our luck now, we are a poor side, and I am so grateful we have the points already in the bag, or we would be looking down to the abyss and Championship football.

 

9th Feb

 

Work had started on the van albeit not a lot? there are a few other vans and cars here and it appears they do a bit on each of them during the day to keep the customers happy, so progress is slow!

The yard is in the north of the town with not a lot going for it with many half built houses. 

Our vistas from the yard

You can see another Mosque in the back

It appears they put scaffold poles through the building and rest boards on them?

 

They are building another Mosque here, the skyline is dotted with Mosques already? All throughout Morocco we are seeing this!! The old part of town is interesting and very busy the souk is huge, a labyrinth of shops inside selling everything

Downland Carpets Maroc™

 

10th Feb

 

This morning we had a surprise. The vans were shuffled about to let another van leave that had been here prior to us, owned by an English couple John and Pam, and our friends we had met from MHF arrived to get their radiator fixed, or in their case replaced as it was shot.

They are also getting some other bits done. And Max was happy to see their dog Izzy again

In the evening we got very drunk at our van catching up on where they had been after we last saw them at Terre d'Ocean. 

 

11th Feb

 

We are still at Agadir and are biting at the bit to move on, we have been told we will defiantly be away tomorrow? Pray to Allah.

We have done nowt today after our excesses last night. I picked up a good free wifi signal in the evening and watched the Swans loose to a poor WBA!  we have rode our luck for too long and it has finally run out.

 

12th Feb

 

Great news, we are finally on our way out of Agadir and travelling again. The van has had its makeover and looks better with damaged items now repaired. We have had the old worn decals removed from the sides and had the bumpers and wheel trims sprayed, and the back and sides buffed. I will get new decals in the UK when we return.

 



Before

And After

 

So after saying our goodbyes once again to Colin and Sandra and also Mustapha and his team we hit the road south to Camping International Wassay Beach at Sidi Wassay

 

The drive down was good, the weather today is hot. It has been overcast the last few days but it is warming up, and forecast to get better over the next few days.

The campsite is along the beach front 30°03'30.1"N 9°41'12.1"W and we have a great view. We will stay here for a few days to catch up on laundry and just chill

 

The view from our van

The site is predominantly full of French vans, and I see quite a few of them fishing on the surf. When I get back to blighty I will visit my brother, he has promised to kit me out with rod reel and tackle etc, he's a good to me.

At the moment we plan to head down to the Western Sahara town of Laayoune, stopping at several places on the way down, and leap frogging them and stopping at other places on the way back. We then plan to travel inland to Tafroute and then up through the centre of Morocco. That is the scheme of things at present but plans change daily.

 

 

Onto Agadir

30th Jan - 2nd Feb


We have been here at Atlantica Park for 5 days just chilling. The site is very commercial and geared towards retirees, everyone having their own bordered pitch, We are surrounded by French but they are very welcoming contrary to what we have heard? Some have been returning here for years, and come straight here once they arrive in Morocco from Spain and stay the duration?
The site celebrated its 10th year of opening on the 25th, just before we arrived and by all accounts they threw a good party? There are more pitches on the other side of the road, with the water park, dance hall and also holiday chalets. The owner's are sitting on a gold mine, as both sides are pretty much full, possibly nearing 900 vans.

We are on plot 552

The site has pretty much everything you need, a few restaurants, tat shops a grocery and fresh fish shop and also a van valeting booth and an upholsterers. I went to the upholsterers to enquire about having our front seats done, but he wanted more than I was willing to pay but the seed is planted, I'm sure I can stripe him down? There is also a shop that makes just about anything for motorhomes. awnings, safari rooms, thermal silver screens and Moroccan mats. I bought a Moroccan mat 5m x 2m 250dir about £17 a third of the price back home. There is also a local artist that paints Moroccan theme pictures on vans, he also sells his own paintings from his shop on site, his name is Rachid Nadal and he is famous along the Agadir campsites and you will see many vans with his murals painted on them. I am thinking of having one done to the van as a memento?

 The Reception

The site is in a valley about 1/2 km from Paradise beach

Van valeting booth on site

This guy does a good job, but a tad pricey

We could not agree a price on the upholstery, so he tried to sell me a fox hat

 

There are several Pétanque / Boules areas on the site, and at the moment a tournament is taking place, and all the areas are busy with the fixtures. It also attracts plenty of onlookers mainly French, possibly the ones that have been knocked out already.

There are two other sites close by and also three Guardian parking sites on the beach at Taghazoute so we will probably be in the area for a while and will no doubt return sometime on our way back up.

One of my biggest bugbears on the road is with the Internet, I have not been able to get any reception on my Huawei and we are too far from the wifi zone for me to pick it up in the van. So on Sunday I missed the game against Southampton, we put up a good display by all accounts albeit against the run of play, and won 1-0 away from home, "Happy Days"
While walking to the shops I noticed they are building a new Mosque. I had to take a picture of the cradles they were using to work on the exterior

No Risk Assessments needed 

 

Today I bought some Monkfish, 35dir 1/2 kilo about £2.50 so it's Monkfish madras tonight, we are eating a lot of fish including Max, who has also garnered a taste for tinned sardines and gets a tin a day.

We plan to move onto one of the sites in Taghazoute next, there are three guardian parking sites along the beach and a few official campsites so we have a choice.

 

3rd Feb

 

Late last night I read on the MHF forum that the police had told people on one of the Taghazoute beach sites that they will be evicted tomorrow, it appears the police are cracking down on these wildcamping sites. so we decided to stop at a site 4km along the road.

We set off early today as we knew that if the beach sites were being evicted approximately 300 vans would be looking to find somewhere to park.

We arrived 15 minutes later at Terre d'Ocean it is perched on the side of a mountain and over looks the coast with stunning views and 500m from the beach

 Camping Terre d'Ocean 30°33'18.2"N 9°44'20.6"W 

 

It's another nice site 115dir a day with large pitches, we set the van to South West and have a nice sun trap all day. There is a swimming pool and shops onsite and a wifi lounge. 

Max likes the new mat

Not long after we parked up many vans started arriving, no doubt from the beach eviction? And pretty soon it was full. I got talking to a German chap next door and he told me that all three beach sites are getting closed down by the 14th February to make way for the developers. It is a shame as we had planned to stop there for a few weeks, I had wanted to see how it had changed since 76/77 when I was last here to how it is now? It has been "The Place" to visit since the early 70's for surfers, beachbums and hippies alike and lately the snowbirds, but unfortunately it's popularity has been it biggest enemy.

 

 These MotorHomes have no leccy but great vistas

We are parked up there

The view from our van

Sunset from the campsite

 

We had a few visitors later in the afternoon, there are now five other British vans on site, they have been evicted from the beach site. They tell me that the military were on hand along with the police to evict the campers, and they were also at the other two sites to ensure the vans did not move onto them. Once the other two sites are evicted there will be approximately 1000 vans looking to find a home.

 

 

We also find out that Colin and Sandra are here also, having been on the beach for the last 5 days, and they have had a painting done by Rachid on their van, it looks good I am deciding where to have our one done? We had a drink with them and the other refugees from Taghazoute.

This afternoon Sam made Sincronizadas from Tortillas for a snack, a new one for me and very nice too. 

 

 

4th Feb

 

The weather for the last few days has been scorching, it's a dry heat as opposed to being humid, and the breeze from the coast is welcome, Max spends most of the time either under the van or inside it. We though are absorbing the rays like a sponge.

Rachid the painter was on the site today touting for business, so I asked to look through his portfolio and decided on a mural for the van. There were two thin cracks at the rear that I wanted to eliminate, and after he had prepped he began painting, quite a few van owners came over to watch him at work and a few secured his services to paint their vans. An hour later he had finished, and we are quite pleased with the new addition. 

If only Billy Bridgend had applied himself a little more? Who knows what he could have achieved

 

 

5th Feb

 

The sun has got his hat on..

9.50am and it's already in the 30's

 

This morning we got up and decided to stop another day, it was sunny and getting warmer as the sun rose over the mountains, and by 10am it was in the mid 30's. The fish seller was on site so I bought 1kg of Monkfish and a 1/2kg of Prawns caught this morning, he had some nice  John Dory, another time I thought?  After breakfast we headed to the beach, we got to the top of the cliffs and could see the surfers were already making hay,

 

The early surfer catches the wave

 Taghazoute beach is around the corner

Max doing a silhouette of a Chicken

 

By midday it was scorching again, the hottest time is actually 3pm and it was in the 40s by then.

We are having Thai Monkfish curry and sticky rice for our evening meal tonight. If there any executive chefs reading this? I'd like a recipe for John Dory!!

Tomorrow we plan to head into Agadir, I want a few bits done on the van and I'm told Mustapha is the man to see? So we will drop by and get a quote and if ok arrange a time to get the jobs done. We then plan to head further South towards the Western Sahara.

Another magnificent sunset to finish the day

 

Tomorrow I will try and watch "if I get good Internet" the Rugby match Wales v The Old Enemy. I don't think there will be any bars showing it over here though!!

South to Agadir

23rd & 24th Jan


We stopped another day at Camping le Calme, the weather is great and very warm. We sat outside for most of the day, catching the rays and generally just chilling.
Saturday we packed up and left for Sidi Kaouki, a short distance along the coast South. We did a quick stop at Essaouira to get some cash and fresh food then headed back along the same road to Sidi Kaouki.

Horse drawn Taxi's in Essaouira

It is a small Berber village, set in a 5km bay, and is named after a 19th-century Marabout his dilapidated shrine by the sea still attracts pilgrims. Although we are yet to find it?

The campsite 31°20'58.7"N 9°47'45.7"W is situated 100 metres from the beach it has all the services plus wifi 85dir, we will probably stay here a few days.

 

 

After setting up I have my usual daily snack, a tin of sardines and a culf of bread. Morocco being the largest canned sardine exporter in the world and the leading supplier of sardines to the European market (Wikipedia) and they are so cheap and a nice snack.
A British van had pulled in later and I got chatting to them, they are also from the MHF, Colin and Sandra with their Border Terrier Izzy from Leicester. We had a brief chat,  they are stopping for a few days so we will have a beer or two with them later. Coincidently we are both cooking Tagine for supper tonight?
Sam got an email from another forum today, and they have included our blog on their website and a link to it  www.clubmotorhome.co.uk
It's a day of FA cup upsets? Swansea go out with a whimper in the early game, then later Chelsea, Man City, Spurs and our neighbours from down the road to boot, I really don't feel so bad now, but it's another poor performance by us!

25th - 27th Jan

We stayed at Sidi Kouiki for four days, the weather is getting hotter, far warmer than our best British summers, and there has not been a cloud in the sky for days. There is a lot of construction going on in the area again to cater for the tourists.

New apartments along the coast road

 

We have been going for walks with Colin and Sandra with the dogs, the last few days. The dogs have been getting on well, it has been nice for Max to socialise.

The Sidi Kouiki Four

Café 50m from the beach

One day we walked towards what appeared the end of the beach only to find that after the rocks on the far end, the beach continues for a few more kilometres, so it was nice to find a café and have a coffee. By 3pm the sun was overhead and it was scorching.

We found another campsite a few hundred metres along the road, It looks good, but on first impressions I prefer the one we are on.

 

Max and Izzy rock pooling

It's been nice to have company for a change. Sunday evening we spent sitting outside our van enjoying some refreshments and nibbles and last night we had a BBQ at their van.

 Our local Caterways store

 The Local Hotel

 Sidi Kouiki

A couple of restaurants along the front

Colin and Sandra left at noon today, they are heading into Essaouira for a few days, we will hopefully meet up further down the coast. We will be moving on tomorrow taking the coast road towards Agadir. I uploaded this video of some of the roads and villages we have passed through on our way down.

28th Jan


We left Sidi Kouiki and followed the coast road further down to a fishing village called Cap Tafelney 31°05'34.8"N 9°49'01.2"W ,had I knew what the road was like, I can tell you I would not have gone there.
We left the N1 and picked up a single track road P2226. it then started to climb the mountains fortunately being right hand drive I was on the inside, unfortunately I could still see the drop on the passenger side. There are no barriers just sheer drops with the odd passing cut into the mountain to allow vehicles to pass every few km. Then on the descent into the village you have to take a switchback bend a complete sharp U bend with a drop off straight over the cliff? Our lives were in Kevin O'Neils hands, so glad he sorted my brakes before we left.

 

 

The village and setting was a gem and we had planned to stay a few days, it was 30dir basic services, there were a few other vans there, and I asked a few if there was another road out, I was told yes but not suitable for Camping Cars? 

29th Jan

I did not sleep well last night, thinking about having to drive back along the road this time the drop would be on my side. So this morning I decided to leave and face it. Thirty minutes later we re-joined the N1, which was now feeling like a super highway compared to the P road, phew I would not want to do that again..
We are driving to Tagahzoute just outside Agadir the road passed through some nice villages on the way, one being a Banana plantation village Tamri . As we were driving I noticed another Van behind, and a few miles down the road we pulled over for Max, the van also pulled over it was Colin and Sandra they are also on their way to Tagahzoute, but are staying on guardian parking on the beach about 10km from where we are staying. We decided to have a coffee but our stopping brought all the children from the local village to see us, and after dispersing with our chocolates we moved further along the coast and had a brew.
We are staying at Camping Atlantica 140dir all in 30°35'19.3"N 9°44'54.7"W , it's expensive for over here, but I want a few days to get over my mountain crossing.
The site has everything including a swimming pool and water park. I notice a few British vans but 98% are French vans and the site can hold up to 600 vans and its nearly full?

We took Max for a stroll into the village and came across an area of ground that the French had taken over to play Boules.
The weather has been hot again today mid 30s, it is getting better as we drive south.