Welcome to the land of plenty ...plenty of tagine. Tagine for lunch, tagine for dinner,tagine with beef,tagine with chicken. But remember tagine on the lips, forever on the hips-I guess that’s what the loose genie pants compensate for. Enough about the tagine it offers so much more!
After hearing about the Islamic way of life it seemed as though being a female travelling Morocco solo would be one of the dumbest ideas known to cross my mind. This was further confirmed with the first step out of the taxi and into the Marrakech main square.Even travelling with my mate(who within seconds ran off with some snake charmers who rid him of every dirham possible for some happy snaps) I WAS SHITTING IT. Strong grips were held and Monkeys were thrown on me, siringes were trying to stab me with henna, it was the closest I had come to a real life nightmare. Fortunately Morocco started mor-rocking my socks off all the way to the Sahara desert.
I don’t know how many people could say they rode a camel into the Sahara to be accommodated in a desert camp but if that question ever came up at a conference my hand would have stretched up to the height of the Eiffel Tower at the pace of Usain Bolt. It was all kinds of incredible(even in the gailing winds which rarely occur this time of year). With no sign of a shower and sand dunes in my eyes we bongo drummed our way through the night- the city was called m’ohumid,should have been called m-drum-it.
A late night dash and we were greeted by the 4 share tent starring an out-of-order light and beds you would only expect in a 5 star hotel. Until you placed your little head on the sandbag filled pillowcase and warmed up to the scratchy texture that had not been brushed off before the sheet was applied. But if your like me and obsess over Moroccan tapestry this tent was a bohemian dream and there was too much to look forward to the following day than to worry about sleeping arrangements.
As each hour passed so did the lack of sane that remained on the bus(I think singing the lion king sound track was a sign we were losing our minds)So a quick pit stop to geez at goats in trees and stretch the knees became a necessity.
We soon/decades later found ourselves in the coastal town of Agadir(more like grab-a-beer haha ;I’m not even sorry for that one). A place completely opposite to the chaos and carnage left in Marrakech. A place that represented the light at the end of the tunnel,or the fresh air for the stinky bus, in other words...a warm shower.Clean shower be gone! It had now seen the Sahara from all angles built up over 2 days.It was quiet and peaceful and the seafood looked incredible-as I’m sure the camel on the menu would have been. Eyes soon became sparkling after hearing this city gets 300 days of sun a year(especially since we have been enduring the English winter for the past couple of months).Long story short the weather read overcast, and it promised just that.
The drive from Agadir to Essaouira is one of the most beautiful(which is nice to mix it up from the usual dry terrain that goes on for days) the kind of view that will have you nodding off into a deep sleep until a bump in the road is out to sabotage you. It makes sense now why our guide was anal about seatbelts.I will let you in on a little secret-that’s how to avoid a 300 dirnham fine and an egg head,it’s a win-win. The coastal drive offered lineups for days around each corner,surf screaming for a tow in and someone eager enough for a solid half an hour of getting thrown around by the consistency of belting waves. A single line of surf vans and caravans of those foreigners debating their ability to take what Mother Nature has whipped up overnight. I envied them, stuck on a bus while they parked up their life on a ledge of dirt with a killer view. I guess a coastal road trip here is now up the top of my list of to do’s. As anyone knows I’m a killer for good sunset and boy did it provide with some stunners, not a bad way to end the trip. Bottomless glass of wine in one hand,pockets of sand in the other. Catchya North Africa,until next time
Adventure Morocco-Travel Talk Tours Next stop London
