Well, here we are….back in Africa. To be more specific, we are now in Morocco, and the city of Agadir. But first, here is a bit of info on Morocco with a population of 34 million people that speak mainly Arabic. The capital is Rabat, located on the northwest coast of the country.
Visiting Morocco is like taking a magic carpet ride, especially in cities like Marrakesh, Tangier, and Fes. It has been described as "dizzying diversity" as far as the culture is concerned. It's Arabian nights, with souqs, kasbahs, spices and dates. It is a mix of Africa, Islam, Berber with a bit of Spanish Andalusia. Want to see an endless sea of sand dunes? Take that long ride to Marrakesh, like our friends Heo and Greg plan to do. A 13 hour tour, it will be fun for them for sure, and we will look forward to their stories when they return.
Famous for their handicrafts, you can find just about anything in the souqs. They sell the most colorful items with their ceramics and clothing as well as the knock-off purses, jewelry, and watches. The market produce includes seasonal figs, pomegranates, grapes, apricots, cherries, strawberries, and peaches. Watermelon, wild artichokes, and tomatoes are abundant in the summer. Winter produce can include oranges, mandarins, onions, beets, carrots, and potatoes. However all of this comes with a warning. It is mandatory to thoroughly wash or cook the produce before eating it. Locals can test the fruit by tasting a few grapes, for instance, but don't do it if you are visiting from elsewhere., or you could be sorry for days afterwards.
So what do the locals like to eat? Couscous steamed for hours and eaten with meat and veggies. Trademarks are mint tea, Berbers, the Marrakesh market, quality rug displays at a rug gallery, and Bogart and Bergman in "Casablanca". A random fact is Casablanca's Hassan II Mosque can hold 25,000 worshippers and its minaret is 210 meters or 689 feet tall, making it the highest worldwide. Since we are visiting during Ramadan, the mosque may not be opened to the general public when we pay a visit there.
Tours offered in Agadir begin with a city drive for $60 for 2 ½ hours, and a Fantasia horse show was $80 for 3 ½ hours. Agadir and the Berber market is $90 for 3 ¾ hours, while Paradise Valley in a 4x4 vehicle or trekking the same area are both $200 for 4 – 4 ½ hours. And the big trip was Agadir to Marrakesh for 3 days and 2 nights (44 hours) with a two night stay at the Savoy Hotel (or similar) in Marrakesh. There would be several stops for $1899 (double) or $2300 (single). There were 14 people doing it and will return to the ship in Casablanca.
And that brings us to today with our stop in Agadir. We arrived later than expected at 9am, due to leaving Lanzarote late yesterday. It seems that the high winds were giving the Captain problems, so we were lucky to get here only an hour late. He indicated at his early morning talk that the weather conditions were better than expected. This would not last. The weather here was rather cool, about 70 degrees, with a chilly breeze, even though the sun was out, there were also clouds passing over.
All of the tour times had to be adjusted, as well as the complimentary buses to town. During the morning, Captain Frank mentioned that we would be staying a bit later than the 4:30pm all aboard time, and the Lido would remain open until 3pm for the full lunch service. Nothing like the promise of food to keep the masses happy.
And it seemed that the masses had booked tours here today as we watched the exodus coming off of the gangway around 9:30am. We left the ship after 11am and boarded the shuttle for the ride to the beach area. The ride was not too long as we traveled a highway on the side of a dry barren cliffside. We were dropped off in a parking lot at the local beach filled with tons of resorts and hotels.
The first thing we spotted was a KFC, followed by a Pizza Hut, and a McDonalds. Besides snack-shopping, our crew members will be delighted to see their favorite fast food places. Once we got off of the coach, all of us were propositioned by the taxi guys offering us tours to anywhere we wished. They seemed to appear from nowhere, and did not take a no thanks easily. We did not see many folks taking them up on their offers.
About a block away, we could see the sandy beach, which was lined with a seawall and a very wide promenade walkway that appeared to go on for miles (we figured about 7 miles round trip). We lost count of the number of swanky hotel resorts that faced the beach. It looked like each hotel had their own stretch of beachfront with lounges and umbrellas. Some were filled with guests, but other not so much. Obviously it is not the high season, but we are sure these resorts fill up with many Europeans looking for sunbathing, swimming, volleyball, soccer, surf boarding, and kite surfing. Today the water looked very cold.
Despite some wind, the walk was pleasant. We did encounter numerous vendors selling pareos, tunics, and jewelry for the ladies, and sunglasses and hats for the fellows. Their white scarves they sold were perfect for protecting you from the sun and sand, which we would find out later on. The further down the beach we hiked, the fewer vendors we saw. Now the most fun sighting of the day had to be the dozen or more camels and their handlers we saw on the beach. Selling a thrilling ride, the handlers would make their animal lay down, or bring them over to the seawall, where you could mount easier. Wish we had not seen one of the owners thrashing his camel over and over with a long stick. If you have ever mounted a sitting camel, you would immediately understand the meaning of "whiplash". Being downwind of these noisy beasts, was not the best place to be because they reeked something awful. Sure brought memories back of our first camel ride out of Sharm-el-Sheikh, Egypt like 22 years ago. It wasn't only the initial whiplash, it had to be the smell that stayed with us days afterwards. We had a long ride to a Bedouin camp where we had sweet, sweet tea in a tent. The hardest thing was having to get back on the camels for the ride back. Yep, once was enough for us. We decided riding elephants was far easier. The best part of seeing the camels today had to be the colorful photos we took with other people on them. Ian had warned everyone to negotiate the on and off price before the ride, because the handlers will charge twice as much to let you off. So tourists…beware.
Getting to the end of the malecon walkway, we decided to turn back, as we had been hiking for over an hour. The wind had picked up significantly to the point where we were getting sand-blasted. This has got to be the winds the Captain said would return in the afternoon. An indication that a mini-haboob was coming was the fact we saw the hotel staff stacking the lounges and storing the umbrellas. The sunbathers had returned to their hotels, where they had use of the beautiful swimming pools. There were some nice restaurants along this stretch, but we assume they were hotel property and only for the guests. And we were not certain if these restaurants would accept credit cards or even US dollars. We do know the vendors were asking for Euro, but we never did buy anything.
The "souk" or the main marketplace was located up one of the side streets, but we did not know exactly where. After watching Ian's talk on TV, we recalled it was a long walk to get there, so we never attempted it. Once again, we did not feel the need to purchase more souvenirs that would weigh down the luggage. All we would have come away with was a lot more photos.
Back at the parking lot, we boarded the shuttle for the short ride to the ship. We ordered room service lunch at 2pm, and it was delivered by 2:20pm….quick. We worked on photos and reports the rest of the afternoon, catching up on news. By the way, we have TV here. Later in the afternoon Ian came on the speakers and announced that our stay was being extended. Following that, Captain Frank came on and informed us that the all aboard time was extended to 9:30pm, but we would not be leaving here until tomorrow morning. Another surprise, this was due to the extreme winds once again, but he did not say we would be late getting to the next port of Casablanca in two days. In addition, the reason for the early all aboard time was for security and safety reasons. Looking out from our veranda, we saw that several police were on the dock watching any activity. Interesting…..
There was only six of us at dinner, since Susie was still not feeling up to par. The new menu seems to include many more items that we like. Tonight the appetizers were arancini and pork skewers, as well as salads and soups. Our mains included chicken breast with many fresh vegetables, and sea bass, cut thin and fried. Woody had the pork wrapped with cabbage and covered with tomato sauce, galumpki we think. Most all of us had a different dessert, except for us, we had frozen coffee yogurt. Greg and Heo were on their way to see the show Ever After, performed by the singers and dancers.
Tomorrow will be a day at sea, one of the few we have left until we cross The Pond.
Bill & Mary Ann
