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.