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Saved: November 30th 2021
We arrived into Agadir after an interesting bus journey through terrain that is different again to what we have seen so far. It was also raining as we pulled into Agadir. Our hotel was in the budget area, as Agadir is a well known beach resort town and the beach is lined with large, expensive hotels and even a casino (no we didn't try our luck).
The following day was overcast and muggy, but it didn't stop us from enjoying the day. Our day started with a cafe au lait and a croissant at the hotel restaurant. We were sitting outside, people watching and enjoying the music playing. Peter and I have wanted to buy a CD of some Moroccan/Arabic music, but we are totally overwhelmed when we go into the music stores. I asked the waiter if the music playing was a CD, and he said yes and said he would bring it out to me. I got my pen and paper ready to write the title and artist down, but when he came back and showed us the CD (which of course was all in Arabic), he then trotted off to a nearby store and came back to
say he was having a copy made! We were dumbstruck at this gesture. And for once we didn't get charged an arm and a leg for his services.
Our only real agenda for the day was to finally put our feet into the Atlantic Ocean. A side note here: we have been on the coast before this, but to be perfectly honest, the beaches were rather dirty and did not compel us to wade into the water. Agadir is such a tourist hot spot that the beach is much cleaner and we felt much better about wading in. After enjoying the beach we headed down to the port to see the action and maybe sample some fresh caught fish. The only thing getting caught down by the port is tourists! The hustlers are so good, they walk down to the port with you, friendly and chatting the whole way, until you get to the port and you MUST visit the restaurant of his brother! I'm sure we have "suckers" written on our foreheads! Regardless, we enjoyed the spectacle of the port restaurant area, ate fresh calamari and jumbo shrimp and laughed at being obvious tourists.
We ended our
day with some shopping, we bought some traditional Moroccan shoes and some tajine spice so we can try to replicate the yummy food at home. We managed to package all our goodies up and send them home just before the post office closed, which is a good thing, we have enough to carry as it is!
We decided to visit a town south and inland, Tafroute, as we had read about an Almond Festival happening around this time of the year. The only problem is the only bus to the town leaves at 5:00 am - ugh. Nevertheless, we were intrigued enough to go for it. So we were up at 3:30 am and at the bus station by 4:30 am and the bus didn't leave until 6:00.
The bus journey was interesting as always. The terrain is changing and is drier and more desert-looking. Again, in the hills it looks similar to the Kamloops area in summer. The bus is a Greyhound style, but also operates as a local bus too - we are the only foreigners on the bus. A few of the fellows on the bus are looking out for us, making sure we get
off at the rest stop, giving us cookies, letting us know that we are not at our stop yet and when we get to the end of the line, helping us to get in a taxi. It was funny, we stopped in this town and of the fellows looking out for us came back to us to tell us (in broken English and French) that the bus ends here and we must take a taxi the rest of the way to Tafroute. Confused, we stumbled off the bus and another fellow looking out for us grabbed one of our bags, told us to hurry and trotted off across this town with us in tow, spoke to the taxi driver and we got in the taxi. I assumed we would have to pay him for his service, but he shook our hands, gave us his phone number (and name in Arabic - not much help to us), wished us well and was gone. We were in a daze sitting in this old Peugot station wagon taxi, not sure what had just happened. With the shared taxi, you wait until they are full before you leave. In our case, we had 6
Hills surrounding Tafroute
We climbed up these rocks to see the view of the valley and the town.passengers (could've had 7), so we left. There were two men sitting in the front passenger seat, three of us in the middle seats and 2 men in the back seats. Along the way we picked up another passenger, and again, we were the only foreigners in the taxi. At one point, one of the men in the front seat got out, and an eccentric old fellow got in. He gave his drum to Peter to hold, popped a cassette in the player, and started to dancing and air-drumming to the music. The driver started clapping his hands to the tune (yes, we were moving at this time) and everyone was smiling. The eccentric fellow that got in the taxi was very animated and was obviously telling stories. He was wearing this toque that was just perched on the very top of his head. We couldn't figure out how it managed to stay on in all of his animated movements. Peter figured he must have had velcro on his head! We arrived in Tafroute all in one piece and smiling at our luck to have had such a great experience in the taxi!
Once again, we were looking for
View of Tafroute from the hills
It is a little hazy, but you can see how the town is nestled in this valley. the small town atmosphere, and the first people we see are foreigners. The next people we see are trying to sell us excursions. Ah well, we are getting used to it. The hotel was listed as a budget place in our Lonely Planet guide, but obviously they have done some upgrades, so the price has gone up too. We were pretty tired so we booked in and paid the price (which turns out to be 33 dollars a night for a very nice room). This area is a hot spot for French and German seniors in their motorhomes, much like our Canadian snowbirds going to Arizona we suspect. We are bagged from our early morning and after a yummy lunch of fresh bread, cheese, cucumber and green pepper sandwiches, we have a nap. Our evening meal is a bowl of Harira (we LOVE this soup) and fresh squeezed orange juice.
The next day we head for the hills. In about 5 minutes we are out of town and are wandering toward the hills. We stop at a tree and ponder if it is an almond tree (this area is renowned for it's almond harvest), or if it is an
In the Hills
Peter has perfected the self-timed photo! argan tree (the tree that the goats climb and also the tree that Argan Oil is made from). Peter knocks a nut down from the tree and we are examining it and have determined it is an Argan tree. Suddenly this fellow appears out of nowhere, tells us it is an Argan tree, breaks open the nut to show the seed inside, breaks open the seed to show us how the oil is made, then he smiles and says au revoir, and takes off at a run toward the hills. I'm getting so suspicious of "friendly" people now, that I'm sure he has followed us from town and is going to be our "guide" - but in the end he was just being friendly to a couple of foreigners. As we were walking, we realized he was also asking us if we were walking for sport - something totally foreign to the Moroccans. They walk everywhere already, and often carrying a large, heavy load, so I'm sure they look at us with our walking poles like we are crazy!
The terrain is amazing. It is barren and scrubby up in the hills, but lots of palm trees (just like
Cactus shot
We have seen some very different cacti in our travels, this is a new for us - we've never seen it before. a desert oasis) down below in town. The sky is blue, although it is a little hazy in the distance. We climb up into the rocky hills to get a view of the town below and to see what else we can see. We decide to walk toward the pass between two hills and are amazed at the sight that greets us of the next valley. I hope our pictures do it some justice. We just sat and enjoyed the solitude and the views for ages. On our way down we finally saw our first goat in a tree. This young girl's herd was all young goats, so they were climbing small trees, but still we were excited to see it. They let the goats climb the trees when the Argan nuts are ripe as the goats eat off the hard outer layer of the nut which exposes the seed. The goats drop the seeds to the ground and the Berber woman collect the seeds to make the oil. The Argan nuts are not ready yet, so they are trying to keep the goats out of the trees right now.
We decided to stay on in Tafroute a couple
Close up of the next valley
Our little hike took us to a pass that overlooked the next valley. This photo was taken using our telephoto lens to bring the town up close. more days, but will move to a cheaper hotel (8 dollars a night) for the next two nights. We did take full advantage of our nice digs and did a big load of laundry in our ensuite bathroom with hot water! I know, I know, the excitement never ends!
We have enjoyed a relaxing day today, wandered about town, visited our favourite little shop where the owner gives us a handful of fresh almonds whenever we come in (yes, we visit his shop often), wrote postcards on the roof top terrace while sipping cafe au lait and getting caught up on the blog. If the weather holds, tomorrow we may rent some bicycles and explore the valley more.
Au revoir from Tafroute!
Lots of love,
Laini and Peter
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Meghan
non-member comment
Hey there travellers
I love travelling vicariously through you two! Sounds like this stop has been pretty interesting - I love the taxi ride, your lucky if the drivers even talk to you here...let alone the great entertainment! Can't wait for the next stop! Thinking of you both, Meg