Essaouira

We spent a couple of days in Marrakech sorting stuff out and re-stocking then headed for the coast. First north of west to Safi, a commercial port. Then south along the coast towards Agadir. The first part of the route, along the northern fringe of the Atlas, followed some very interesting roads. Small, tight and twisty tracks along the foothills. After that, it all got flat and boring. In fact, the only excitement we found before Safi was a eucalyptus plantation.

The coast road from Safi gave us some nice sea views. The weather was not so great – windy and raining. We passed by Essaouira. Very popular with tourist groups but almost deserted now. There are some nice and accessible beaches south of Essaouira. At times, I imagine these would be pleasant places to hang out but we arrived in a howling gale. The heavy rain throughout the night was incessant and noisy. As were the waves that, driven by the strong winds, were pounding the shore. It was a night for earplugs.

A couple of days later we found a deserted and scenic spot above the cliffs north of Agedir. The weather had improved and although it was not actually hot, it was warm enough to sit out for a while. Next day we skipped past Agadir and headed for the Anti Atlas mountains.