Agadir Morocco - Will we stay or will we go?

Agadir - nice easy place. We are staying on a five star marina which unfortuately has only 3.5 stars constructed but those three and a half are fantastic. The Marina facilities are good, very easy to get in and out of and the staff are great. The retail here is growing with work on a number of stores happening and I believe that by summer this place will attract a lot of cruisers.


We were planning to only spend two days in Morrocco as we said but Agadir was too nice to leave. As I am sure will be the case on numerous occasions when we find somewhere nice - the question is - will we stay or will we go?

We have relaxed, sailed past the King's new residence and had lunch just off his beach, spent 400MAD (Moroccan Dirham) at the Casino - apparently Karen doesn't always win, worked on the web site and generally had a good time.  We enjoyed a superb meal (with a superb rochefort sauce on my steak) for Valentine's Day at Les Blancs - Agadir on the Marina (tel:028828393 for reservations).

It is a non- threatening envrionment - with one exception.....

This morning at some ungodly hour - which we thought we would not see again while on land (7:00am) we were awoken by the sound of voices at the back of the boat. The next we hear someone walking on our deck. I got up and pulled on some trousers and went up stairs to find a women sitting in the cockpit and the night watchman on the pontoon. The woman was speaking Berber and I could not understand a word she said.

The night watchman hurried off to get the police as the woman would not leave - eyeing off our new tagines that Karen had been seasoning. On arrival the woman promptly explained that she was with me and that we had a fight. Through our translator the watchman I explained thatwas not the case as my wife was below in bed! After trying to coax the woman off the bed, the policeman had to forcably remove her and came back later to apologise.

After this and the reality of us avoiding the first unaccompanied trip, we decided to leave Agadir when the weather permitted. I will miss the magic of this place tho'.



COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Penny O'Loughlin
DATE: 4/1/2008 2:29:24 AM
Hi Karen & Matt,
Looks like you are having a fantastic time- even if strange Moroccan women are trying to hitch a ride with you!! Sorry I haven't written earlier- but will stay tuned in to your blog's for updates. (the site is great & Morocco looks amazing!)
We have just finished the GP at home, so things are starting to quieten down a little- which is good.
My friends and I were recently discussing Morocco as a travel destination, so I have forwarded your site to them, so they can have a look at where you have been and what it's like and we can then discuss. You do make it look very appealing, - except for the wandering women!!!!
Travel safely,
Wishing you all the very best on the rest of your travels,
Penny
The greenevent gang says a big hello. xoxo

COMMENT:
AUTHOR: kathy
hi just to tell u i go to agadir twice a year it is so nice,the local people never hassle u and i always have a great time

Marrakesh Feb 2008

We hired a car and drove the 4 hours from Agidir in our luxurious Fiat Uno (no radio or Aircon).  Tim drove the first part, through the mountains and into the desert, and videoed the trip at the same time.  I was glad to be in the back seat.
The scenery was amazing and full of contrasts.  We saw lots of goats, (they love to climb trees), sheep, donkeys and camels.  And believe it or not in the middle of the desert there is snow atop of the Atlas mountains.

 

Matt took over the driving after lunch and was fined 400 MAD for an imaginary red light coming into Marrakesh.  The police eventually settled for 100 MAD after they laughed and said 400MAD was too much????
Tim and I had read the Lonely Planet accommodation recommendations and both agreed that the Authors Choice at 274 - 320 MAD sounded great.  We found a park outside the city walls after doing lappys of the roundabout and trying to loose the tout on a motorbike who would take us to his friends hotel.  After a few wrong turns we found the Riad, and were welcomed by the friendly staff with free tea and biscuits.  The Riad was a luxurious Moroccan house, but unfortunately the Lonely Planet prices were in Euros, not Dirham, so was way out of our budget. (over A$500 per night each room, and we were paying for Tim's room as part of our deal)


The staff were really helpful and suggested another Riad in our price range, rang & booked our rooms, and told us the easiest way to find it was for one of us to take a taxi there, and the others to follow with the car.
Tim set off in the Taxi, and we followed up and down tiny streets, getting caught behind Donkeys and carts, when he jumped out and told us to park as the Taxi driver had to drop his mum off and they would come back for us.  15 minutes later we had a man knocking on our windows wanting to get into our car, but it turned out to be the cabby, so we set off on our crazy drive again.  Matt is getting to drive too much like a local, and now plays cat and mouse with other drivers, buses or donkey carts, and wants to go first all the time.  We eventually arrive in the plaza to meet the Raid owner, Tim dismisses his cab and we are taken up a laneway and told to park the car. 
We follow the owner on foot up and down laneways to the Riad, sure we will never find the car again!  The Riad is lovely and clean and very Moroccan, and the owners and staff very friendly. 

We showered and changed and decide to walk to Djemaa el-Fna, the night market were we are sure to be entertained by snake charmers, jugglers, storytellers, musicians and general idiots.
Just leaving the Riad for the nearest intersection was a puzzle.  Tim suggested breadcrumbs so we would find our way back in.  Walking around Marrakesh with a Lonely Planet is a sure sign you are not on a guided tour, and makes you prey to all the young boys who volunteer directions.  They direct you around the corner, demand money (mostly not much), and then you are picked up by their friends who send you around the corner and back in their direction for a few more dirham.  So around and around in circles you go, but the city was really interesting and what you expect Marrakesh to be.  After an hour or so, we though we were close to our destination and decided to have dinner (with no alcool).  We got the final directions from our waiter for free and set off towards all the chanting and music.
Full of excitement we went looking for the snake charmers and jugglers, but were disappointed, as we worked into the crowds surrounding each act, it was mainly musicians (and general idiots) whose lyrics we couldn't understand.  So Matt & I headed into the Market to do some serious shopping, but could not find anything that took our fancy (same, same) and I have not learnt the art of bargaining yet.  So after a few hours we got a cab back to the Riad, but he was only able to drop us in the vicinity, as traffic does not fit in the laneways.  So we start the kids? escort experience again, only they also didn?t know the address we were looking for and took us to the wrong street.  We started with 1 kid but by the time we (not our escorts) eventually found it, we had 6 kids and a Drunken man all blocking the entrance and demanding money.  The night watchman came to our rescue, opened the door and paid off the crowd.  (We reimbursed him)  Although Marrakesh is real Morocco as opposed to Agidir, we decided that one night was enough and we would drive back via Essaouria. 
We had breakfast on the rooftop terrace, the night watchman walked us back to our car past the market, and Tim left for the Airport and his flight home.  We somehow managed to navigate our way out off the old city and eventually back to the main road and onto Essaouria.

Heading to the Canaries - well almost

We arranged for Tim, the English guy from France to fly down and help us get to the Canaries via Morocco.  We needed to arrive in Morocco, which is outside the EU before the end of Jan to export the boat, and intended to stay for 2 nights then head to the Canaries.  Tim also needed the Skipper experience/sea miles to complete his final Yacht Master exam, so he was more than keen to come with us.

Anyway, the day before he was to arrive some people came to fix the leak, but when Tim tested it he found that they hadn’t and we spent the best part of a day locating it and fixing it ourselves.  We left Cascais 9pm Wed 23 and arrived in Agidir, Morocco Sunday morning.  (My solo watch story this trip, at night I went below for 3 minutes and came up to a horizon full of red lights, so many cargo ships!!!! that my heart started pounding and my stomach churned.  When I started breathing, I realised that it was Mr Moon coming up, but it still took me 5 minutes to calm down.  That night I also boiled the kettle dry, fell down the stairs, and also nearly set of my Man Overboard wristband alarm in the water doing the dishes!!!.  I still have a long way to go, but Tim started asking why we had put radar on the boat, because I can spot any boat including a small fishing ship miles away.

The radar was definately worthwhile as we moved past Cape St Vincent - we past the Western end of the Traffic Lanes and there were ships everywhere - and without being aware of them I am sure that we could have been surprised a few times. The photos below show 3 boats we can see and the plethora of boat on the radar - so it was handy.

Matt is still getting a bit sea sick, but Tim lead the way to actually be sick, followed by Matt, but Gilligan could only feel nauseous for ½ an hour.  To date I have not been actually sick and get over the nauseous feeling in 20 minutes, Matt has the feeling on and off all the time.


We also put the Gennaker out for the first time on this trip - rolling it and rigging it on the seas - not the easiest task but one the three of us managed with ease - ok some difficulty, but I have to say that it looked great and performed well - a great addition to the boat and one we will use by ourselves once we get a bit more experience.


On the way into Agadir I had my first nervous experience of being approached by a local boat - not quite sure if I ran over fishing nets / pots or were being approached by pirates or refugees - it is amazing what goes through your mind when there is nothing but new experiences. Well - there was no such dramas - they were looking to sell some of their produce - what appeared to be a very nicely sized crab - say hello to paranoia for me next time you see her.....


We checked into the Yacht Club in Agidir (which is really part of the fishing harbour) for our 2 nights.  We had about 8 police/customs officials board the boat, they were very friendly, but were most interested in our supply of foreign beer.  As the boys only had 1 six pack, we handed over a bottle of scotch we had purchased specifically, and our papers were signed. Karen was also promoted to First Mate on her shore pass (but I think that was actually Gilligans title anyway). The next day, we had dead fish floating around the boat, and we could not connect to power or water, so even though it was a great experience, I was glad it was only for 2 days.


When we planned the trip we had intended to head straight to Agidir, but Tim was really cautious about Africa and Morocco and terrorist attacks and changed our course for Safi, which his friend had said was safe.  We headed into Safi, but could not clear customs and decided to stick with our original plan, (added another ½ day to the trip).  When we looked at Agidir, all the sailing books said there was no Marina, but I found one on the internet the night before we left, but was dismissed as we were now going to Safi.  We had also read lots of blogs about a marina in Morocco that is listed, but doesn’t actually exist.  When we pulled into the luxurious yacht club (which was fun), I kept asking why we couldn’t go to the Marina, but the boys dismissed it as a figment of my imagination.
 
On our way down past Essaouira, we heard a yacht called Exceter calling port control looking to berth there - we all had visions of a large American motor yacht stinking up the bay - you can image the surprise we had when we pulled into Agadir yacht club and there was another 420 hybrid - Exceter - not the big polluting motor yacht but an environmentally freindly hybrid sailing catamaran. Charles the owner and his daughter were great and we shared our experiences to date with this new technology.

On our first day, we left the “Yacht Club”  (unisex showers with no doors) and walked around the corner to be met by a tout Akmed (on the right below), who took us by Cab to a huge market, and straight to his friend’s herb and spice shop.  We were given the complimentary free tea, and then smelt all these amazing spices.  Tim was keen to buy but we were suckers and spent so much that we came away with free samples of Moroccan viagra powder to be mixed with honey and left for a week to brew.  The tout was keen to show us the market, and also his friend’s stalls, but when we said we wanted to do it on our own he wanted 50E (A$90) for his time.  We settled for 10E and we looked around a bit more but were all really tired so went back to the boat.

The next day we made it out of the Yacht Club without escort, and found the beach and also the Marina I had googled and kept asking about.  Tim even apologised for not finding it and heading straight for the fishing port.  The marina was located on a great Bay and beach and was nearly empty.  The rates were expensive compared to Europe and we were proud of ourselves for negotiating a lower rate.   It took all of 10 minutes for Matt to convince me to stay and discover Morocco for 2 weeks, then head to the Canaries by ourselves.