AGADIR 2024

 

The only time that I'd been to Morocco before was a day trip to Tangiers. Although it had been an interesting experience, I wasn't sure that I wanted to go there again. But we'd seen a bargain;

Agadir

I'd never heard of it. It's a resort on the Atlantic, 150 miles from Marrakesh. A hotel called The Caribbean Village were doing all inclusive for half the price of anything in the Canaries. Average temperatures are better than the Canaries in January. The flight from Gatwick only took 3 hrs 10 mins, it was supposed to take 4 ! The airport is small, in the middle of nowhere, 25 km from the town. Security was tight. We were herded through passport control, everyone manually checked and passports manually stamped. Our cases were waiting for us, so was our taxi ! 

Although most of the journey is on motorway, there are speed restrictions, so it took about 40 mins. The countryside looked quite flat and baron. 

Our hotel was a few miles away from the town, set in a natural basin with a few shops, about 500 meters from the beach. You wouldn't call it modern, but it has a certain character.The large high ceiling reception leads you to an open courtyard and a pool with apartment blocks built around it. The design is very Moorish.

It's a big place with a spacious main restaurant, various pools, tennis courts, mini golf, spa, and amphitheater.  It was lass than half full. There was a mix of Brits, Germans, Dutch, Moroccans and French. 

Agadir is set in a massive sandy bay which you can walk all the way along on a pedestrianized promenade. It takes nearly an hour to walk along it to the town. Posh hotels back on to it, and some have their own small private beaches, including the Village, but the beach is so big you can plonk yourself down almost anywhere. Normally, I like to go swimming in the sea, but there were warnings about going too far out. It is dangerous because of the waves. There were coastguard stations at regular intervals and any people going too far out were called back. Some people come here just for surfing. One day there must have been a competition because there was a TV crew filming them. They looked the part with flashy surfboards and wet suits, but they weren't very good. Most of them kept falling off. Hawaii 5 0 it wasn't.

There is a small marina with a few small boats, but we didn't see much activity. There is a much larger port further along, access was restricted to that though. The town is interesting but even though it goes back to 17th century, when it was developed as a trading center by the Portuguese, nothing is really old. Most of the town was destroyed by an earthquake in 1960. Thousands were killed. I was surprised by the French influence - even the signposts are in French. This probably goes back to the old French rule which only ended in 1956. It's an independent monarchy now. The current ruler is Mohammed V1, he has a palace round the corner from the Village. 

Saturday 12/01/2024 Yennayer, Berber (Amazigh ) New Year's Eve

Something strange going on. The restaurant was closed. Hot tubs of food were laid out by the pool in the evening, and the area was decorated, and the locals were all dressed up in their traditional flowing robes. We eventually discovered it was the Berber New Year's Eve. Called Yennayer, it dates back to 950 BC, which makes it 3000 years old when the Egyptian King Sheshong reigned. It's based on the Amazigh calendar which is 13 days behind ours. The Berbers,were the original inhabitants of North Africa. Because it was a special anniversary year the King had decreed a public holiday for  the first time. Our hosts had gone to a lot of trouble to prepare the food, but it was mostly traditional, and although I'm not a great lover of couscous, but the spiced chicken was nice.

There is a fort on top of the hill overlooking the town. Agadir Oufella, you can just see it in my top picture of the bay. It's a long trek up to it, but there is a cable car that takes you all the way up to the top. The ticket office is called Dania Land. It's easy to find, right in the center of town. It's 11 Euros for a return trip, slightly cheaper with Dinahs, Roughly 2 km long and 326 meters up, it doesn't sound much but it's the only hill for miles around and the view at the top is outstanding. It was originally built in 16th century, but it has been rebuilt several times, the most recent in 1960 when most of it was destroyed by the earlier mentioned earthquake. In all honesty, there isn't much to see. Just a cemetery enclosed by walls. There is an inscription etched into the hill in Arabic that reads "God, Country, King".

I can't end this blog without mentioning the night life. Although there are a few bars locally, alcohol is not widely available. We were happy staying in the Village. The evenings were lively, and there was a good choice of drinks !