A very long driving day
Today was definitely a difficult day in terms of travelling, due to the length of time taken to get from the Sahara Camp to Agadir. In total it was more than 12 hours, including our lunch break, although we did see some lovely scenery along the way.
The day started long before sunrise, with a simple breakfast in the restaurant tent, before it was time to jump in the 4x4s for the journey out of the desert.
To save time on the trip we weren’t going back to M’Hamid, where we left the minibus yesterday, but were instead travelling west to meet it at the town of Foum Zguid. This was a journey of almost 90km, double the distance we drove yesterday, but it saved us having to double back on ourselves.
Leaving the Sahara
The start of the journey was interesting, to say the least, as the 4×4 I was in seemed to have no 4-wheel drive. This made the first hour or so, until we left the dunes behind, a bit of a challenge for the driver. It was also an adventure for us, since it was still dark, although the journey smoothed out a lot once we hit a dry lake bed at around sunrise.
The area that we were driving along was once a vast inland lake that covered the entire area. It does still get wet during the rainy season, providing a temporary wetland habitat for wildlife, but it is no longer a permanent lake as it was in times gone by.
During our journey we stopped a few times to stretch our legs, and admire the view, and you could see evidence of the lake in the form of fossilised fish which were embedded in rocks all over the area. It was fascinating to see them as I’ve seen plenty of fossils before, but never such a high concentration of them just out in the open like this.
Our journey out of the Sahara was definitely a lot faster than our journey in, due to the different terrain, which was a mixture of dry lake bed and solid rock which almost looked like we had gone through a wormhole and ended up on Mars!
It was breathtaking, though, and made for some great photos.
The last 10km or so of the journey to Foum Zguid were on paved road, and it was a welcome sight to see our minibus when we arrived as it meant that we would soon be on our way to Agadir, after a quick pit stop to have some coffee.
Driving across Southern Morocco
During the journey from the Sahara the strap on my bag broke again and so Mo, our group leader, found me a needle and some thread in a local shop that gave me a chance to fix it. It’s not pretty, but it’ll hold.
The journey from Foum Zguid to Agadir took around 8 hours, including various stops such as lunch at a roadside restaurant, another co-operative, and a sight of goats climbing trees to feast on the leaves. This is something that I’ve seen on YouTube before, and it was fun to see in person.
As this was the longest driving day of the entire trip, we all agreed in advance that the people with the longest legs would have the three seats that had extra leg room. This included me, luckily, and I had a seat in the first row immediately adjacent to the door, which had plenty of space to stretch out in.
This was a very welcome decision as most of the seats that I had sat in so far were fine for shorter drives, but would have caused me a lot of pain on a long day like this.
Tonight we’re staying at the Oasis Hotel in Agadir, which is only a short walk to the beach. It’s a big hotel, with a big pool, that was definitely a welcome relief after a long drive. It was technically closed when we arrived – we arrived at 6pm, which was the official pool closing time – but they said that we would be fine to go swimming and so a few of us took the opportunity to cool off before dinner.
An evening in Agadir
Dinner tonight was at a restaurant overlooking the beach. There was a lot of food on offer, but my stomach has been feeling a bit fragile all day and so I went for a simple and reliable steak which was filling and not likely to aggravate my stomach.
The food at the restaurant was great, as was the view, and after finishing we went on a walk along the promenade checking out the sights, the various people selling things, and the activities that were on offer. I decided to do a round of archery at one of the stops and discovered that, even though I use to do archery when I was younger, I have no ability left whatsoever!
The final stop of the night was for ice cream overlooking the marina, before heading back to the hotel.
I really like the atmosphere in Agadir. It is very touristy, granted, and a lot more expensive than other places that we have visited so far but it’s a shame that we couldn’t stay here for longer than one night as I think that I would have enjoyed it.
I’m back at the hotel now, and it seems that my room is right above a small nightclub that’s next door. It’s really loud, so hopefully I’m able to get some sleep tonight.