After our typical Moroccan breakfast, we headed straight West to Agadir on the Atlantic Coast riding next to the High Atlas mountains. A mostly straight road through towns and … a brand new 4-lane toll-road stretch as we got closer to Agadir.
Made it to the fort (the Agadir Oufella) which overlooks the Agadir bay with its amazing sandy beaches. Apparently, Agadir was destroyed by a massive earthquake in 1960 and has been rebuilt ever since. The town looks modern, with modern hotels, condos, restaurants, bars, clubs … McDonalds … and a great promenade by the beach for a nice leisurely stroll. Lots of tourists from all over Europe. Apparently, there are lots of direct flights to Europe from here.
We had cappuccinos and fish soup at a really nice beach front restaurant called Playa … filled up with gas, and headed south into the unknown : )
Lots of traffic getting out of the city. Agadir is big. As we rode south, the landscape slowly changed from flat desert with a few trees here and there, to a more undulating terrain, and the low Atlas Mountains in the horizon getting closer … these mountains are shorter, browner, and less steep ... perfect for the desert.
You could feel the sands of the Sahara creeping in as we rode south … but not yet. We arrived to Guelmim and proceeded to look for our stay for the night outside the city near the Oasis at Asrir. The Oasis is a well laid out grid of narrow mud roads … with mud walls here and there in different states of disrepair, lots of palm trees, dates on the ground … a great find. A very cool setting.
Ibrahim is our host for the night. He converted his family house into a 4-room guest house and keeps it pristine … he gave us a walkthrough of the house and told us about his family history … his grandfather had 10 wives, and his mother was 13 when she married his father who was 50.
Communication around these parts is complicated … a combination of mostly French with Spanish and English mixed in to the best of our abilities. I am glad I went to France last year to practice : )
As we walked around the oasis village, we ended up having tea with Erbil who is the “artist-in-residence” in the oasis … he invited us into his house … showed us his painting and sculptures and all the rooms in the house … a great guy, another great story, and a nice family … a good afternoon … I even got a hug as we were leaving : )
And, at the end of the day, the good old saying that we are all the same around the world again rings true … the best part was when we started talking about grandchildren (he had 4) … and I saw the spark in his eyes, and his smile, and the love … and he saw my smile … and I knew, and he knew … that we were part of a special group.
Dinner was a typical Moroccan/Berber … including a tagine with camel meat … tastes just like chicken : )
Tomorrow is a long day deeper into the desert. We will be crossing into Western Sahara.
Loading motorycles in the morning in Taroudant
Made it to Agadir ... the view from the fort
Camels for the tourists at the fort
The Agadir Oufella fort ... overlooking the city
Welcome to Agadir the beach resort
A nice cappuccino in front of the ocean
Our first road encounter with campers
A view of Guelmim ... bigger that we thought
We found our oasis
We found our house
Ibrahim our host for the night ... he converted his house to a 4 room guest house
Tea after a ride ... the new cappuccino?!?
A view of the oasis from Ibrahim's rooftop
One of the streets in the oasis
The artist-in-residence at the oasis
His studio and some of his art
And he invited us to tea and to see his house
The departure hug : )
The door to the elementary school in the oasis
My room at Ibrahim's house ... mud walls, straw ceiling
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