Biking and Birding Morocco 2022 - Takad

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On my way along the quiet promenade at Agadir I got my first good look at the local magpies. It was only then that I realised they were different to the ones at home in Ireland. They had bright blue markings around their eyes and less white.

I stayed for a few days at a lovely house in the village of Takad just south of Agadir. I was hoping to see a bald ibis at some point as I explored the Souss Massa National Park. No luck, but it was lovely to get a couple of days cycling without a full set of panniers.

On the first day I headed south on the N1. It was a pretty busy road, not for the faint hearted. There was a thin sliver of hard shoulder that I tried to use as much as possible as large trucks thundered by inches away every couple of minutes. I was glad to turn off for Sidi Ouassy. After a coffee at the campsite, I cycled round to Sidi Rabat via the national park. I considered taking the direct route along the beach but the sand looked far to soft to have any hope of cycling or probably even pushing the bike easily. The track along the river was good fun to cycle.

The return towards the N1 became a very interesting trip as the wind had picked up. Luckily it was behind me. It seemed that the beach was on the move as the wind carried sand created hypnotic swirling patterns along the road. A couple of times the road almost disppeard under the sand. It was only a couple of kilometres to the next town so I just enjoyed the taster of what roads in a desert area might be like. To my right the border between the national park and agricultural land was stark. Lots of vegetation in the park, dried and whithered stems outside.

The N1 was slightly quieter for the return trip, but it wasn't pleasant cycling until I reached Sidi Bibi and the turning for Takad.

Next day I headed for the beach near Takad and then the area of national park between Takad and Agadir. I also paid a visit to the nature reserve enclosure where various native animals were allowed to roam in a semi-wild state.

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