Blue Rocks and the Moroccan Surf Coast

Day 236 - 247

After an exhausting 3 days in Marrakech we sought respite and headed back towards the Atlantic Coast towards Essaouira. 

From there we headed south along the coast to Sidi Ifni, only diverting inland to see some spectacular blue rocks in Tafraoute. 

Wandering through the Essaouira souks. 12 days in and we've still managed to avoid buying a rug.

A trip to Morocco wouldn't be the same without the quintessential stacked spices shot. We still don't know how they actually scoop the stuff out of these pyramids though.

Some colourful hats in Essaouira.

The town of Imsouane - famous for it's Japanese fishing factory and fantastic surf.

Old boat converted into a 2 sleeper cabin at the Cathedral Point Camping ground.

Taking a walk out to Cathedral Point with the town of Imsouane in the background. You literally surf in front of the mud brick and concrete Moroccan villas.

One of the locals getting some of the bigger swell....

...and then wiping out.

We ended up staying at the Cathedral Point camp ground for 3 nights and it was one of the best places we've stayed in Morocco so far. It was great to finally meet some people that we're within 10 years of our age rather than the 'Grey Army' that we've mostly been associating with over the last 8 months.

Special mention to our friends from Cornwall - Dean & Hayley who had us over for dinner and took us on in the British version of Cranium. 

Claire didn't have a head scarf this day, so opted for the permanent helmet look to avoid the attention of unwanted male Moroccans. Good on ya Claire!

Taghazout Camel Jockey.

We stayed on the beach here for a night at a cost of 25 Dirham (about 2.50 Euro). We later found that it was a waste of money as 300m down the road was the worlds biggest wild camping spot, with over 100 vans parked on the beach for free!

This is the town of Agadir - the Costa Del Sol of Morocco. The town was completely destroyed in the 60's by earthquake and it seems rebuilt with a Spanish coastal town in mind as you won't find anything remotely Moroccan here.

Consequently, this the only photo we took of Agadir and won't be returning unless we need the local Marjane.

From Agadir, we headed inland towards the town of Tafraoute.  You climb up from the coast travelling on an amazing road passing through high mountains. On the way we came across this herd of wild camels.

One of the smaller roads that diverts off the main mountain pass to access some of the small villages in this area. It's hard to tell from this photo, but the truck in the left of the picture didn't quite make the turn (see below for a closer look).

Yep, kind of forgot he was driving a big truck on a skinny road with a huge drop.

Just dodged this big fella as we went past. Can't imagine the damage they could do to your car - although you could eat for weeks off the roadkill.

Wild Camping in Tafraoute amongst the palm trees.

The town of Tafraoute is a good base for exploring a number of local attractions including a rock that looks like Napoleons hat, a rock that looks like a lion and some rocks that are painted blue. We originally went to find the blue rocks, but got lost so decided to try and find some local cave paintings.

Despite wandering up a dry river bed for half an hour and quizzing the locals as to there whereabouts (they never heard of them) we figured it was another Lonely Planet hoax.

The Blue Rocks just outside of Tafraoute, painted by a Belgium artist by the name of Jean Verame in 1984 and may have been on some of the local 'spices'.

The contrast between the surrounding area and these huge blue rocks is amazing. 

Rumour has it locals repaint the rocks every year, although I can't imagine Moroccans peeling themselves away from sidewalk cafes to do work for free.

Panoramic shot of the Blue Rocks. Well worth a look if you're near Tafraoute.

Riding through the Ameln Valley.

We came across this rock on the way back to Tafraoute and asked a Moroccan what it meant. Apparently, it says the people pray to Allah for rain. I can't imagine why.

Claire Bear on her very first motorbike lesson.

It usually takes most people hours just to learn how to release the clutch on a motorbike without stalling and dropping the bike.

However, Claire took off within minutes and was throwing the bike into second gear soon after while zipping around the desert tracks.

Yes, these goats are climbing trees. In Morocco they have Argan trees, which have a special nut that they find particularly tasty. The nut has a couple of hard casings and after eating and then passing the nut the outer shell is removed.

Local woman then collect these nuts from the goats droppings, which are processed and used to create Argan oils and also facial creme.

Claire is quite impressed with the facial creme and has now purchased three tubs of the stuff. Another big tick for goats!

Camping with those seeking 'Adventure Before Dementia' in Sidi Ifni. This camping platz had almost 100 campers in it and this was one of three camping grounds in the town!

Sidi Ifni is renowned for good waves in Morocco, however, we caught it on a very windy day so just watched a couple of local kite boarders do their stuff.

Sidi Ifni was the most southerly point we travelled to in Morocco. Go further south than this and you start to get into the Western Sahara desert, which is one of the worlds most sparsely populated territories. Fuel is cheap though.

From Sidi Ifni we headed back up north returning to Taghazout. The town got a bit more swell than the last time we were there and this shot is taken from the side of the road just near the famous surf break of Anchor Point.

A lady just about to fly.

The old anchor factory from which Anchor Point gets it's name. Not Claire....the old building in the background that is.

Long boarder showing how it is done.

Local Moroccan surfer who successfully threw and landed a 360 as we sat down on the point.

We estimate that this local Moroccan kid was probably about 7 or 8 and was comfortably ripping up waves three times as big as him. The 20 other adult surfers in the water certainly didn't get in his way.

This Guy Has No Teeth but Speaks Four Languages

Day 233- 235

From Oualidia we continued heading south along a scenic, yet slightly dodgy coastal road in the direction of Safi. Although Safi is a heavy industrial town, it is quite renowned for it's surf so we stopped to check what all the fuss was about.

Unfortunately we caught Safi on a very flat day and there was not a wave in sight. Although the beach was quite pleasant, being smack bang next to a phosphorus plant wasn't the most ideal location so we decided to head inland for the first time towards Marrakech.

Although the road from Safi to Marrakech was only single lane, it was a decent piece of bitumen and we arrived into town a couple of hours before sundown.

The following pictures depict our drive from Oualidia down to Safi and our stay in Marrakech. In the end we stayed 3 nights in Marrakech, which is just about enough as one can take of this chaotic, yet fascinating city.

A mosque perched right on the waters edge a couple of kilometres down the road from Oualidia.

The road between Safi and Marrakech was a huge expanse of flat farming lands, with many Berbers tending to their goats or sheep. The man above is wearing the traditional Berber dress called the Djellaba, which is essentially a massive one piece hoody.

They don't mess around when loading their trucks in Morocco. If you think the truck is full, there is always a little bit more you can stack on!

The Jemaa el Fnaa square is the focal point of Marrakech, where all sorts of weird and wonderful people come to sell their wares or entertain. Many years ago the square was used for public executions and it's name apparently translates to 'assembly of death'. Handy to know when you're only half a metre from a snake.

Within 5 minutes of entering the square, we were set upon by the snake charmers who decided to drape a small snake around Luke's neck and have us pose centimetres from this hissing cobra.

Despite the incessant noise from the snake charmers recorder, he couldn't seem to rouse these fellers.

Luke initially thought he had a rubber snake draped around his neck by the snake charmer because it was so lifeless. Turns out it was a real snake - just a little sleepy.

Wandering through the endless lanes of market stalls (souks) within the Marrakech medina. The shop owners were actually quite well mannered and didn't pressure you too much to come into their store. The real pests turned out to be the teenage kids who continually wanted to take you on an unofficial tour of the medina - at a cost of course.

Apparently many stores close early on a Friday, so it's the best time for the locals to have the 6hr cous-cous dish. These young guys had a huge plate of it to share and ran from miles away to get a spoonful.

They also quickly told me to 'Fuck Off' when they saw me taking a photo of them eating like animals.

Moroccos best dish by far - the Tagine.

If only you knew what these rugs would look like in your house - you might actually consider buying one.

The medina was naturally split into different vendor sections - i.e handbags here, rugs there, spices down there. This one was obviously the olive mongers and I don't know how they made any money as olives were dirt cheap. We grabbed about 300g of marinated olives for roughly 28 pence.

Parked up in our Marrakech campsite, we came across a number of rather large campervans - mostly owned by Germans and used for going deep into the desert. That's the only place I could imagine you could park the thing as well.

No need for the huge Truck-O-Saurus above when you can tackle the Moroccan desert with an old school Citreon at a fraction of the price.

Claire relaxing by the pool. Despite the constant sunny skies, temperatures got down close to zero overnight in Marrakech. The pool temperature didn't seem to move far about zero either.

The Bahia Palace in Marrakech. How this place can be referred to as a palace is beyond me as I've seen better decorated toilets in McDonalds.

Having our first sample of Moroccan mint tea. With the country being Muslim they don't drink a lot of alcohol (so they say) but drink this stuff by the bucket load and with a heap of sugar.

View over the medina over Marrakech with the Atlas mountains in the background. After constantly being hassled by teenage kids, you need to take a little time out to avoid 'medina-rage'.

Avenue of Mohammed V and the Koutoubia Mosque in the background. A lot of streets in Moroccan towns are named after Mohammed V as he was the sultan who successfully negotiated independence from France.

As the sun sets in the Jemaa el Fnaa square, many vendors setup different stalls to pilfer your money. This one is basically fishing for soft drink.

You're given a long pole with a bit of string and a circle at the end and the object is to get the circle around the top of the soft drink bottle so you can lift it up and put it in the middle.

The kids loved it.

Each night around sundown, hundreds of chefs setup tables and chairs and start cooking up a feast. Again you are hassled by numerous young Moroccan teens to eat at their stall until you finally give in and take a seat.

Luckily the pestering stops there and you are treated to some amazing food. Claire and I had the traditional Moroccan salad, olives, calamari and mixed brochette for just over £8.

The smoked filled square of Jemaa el Fnaa at night. All sorts of characters come down to perform at night, regardless of their talent. We were quite entertained by an elderly couple who were playing traditional music, mixed with the coughing and spluttering of the husband throughout the song.