Last night did not go as planned
Last night I said that I hoped that I would get a good night’s sleep because I had been feeling a bit fragile all day. Unfortunately, my room was at the end of the corridor and right above a nightclub next door, meaning that it was so loud and I had trouble sleeping.
Under normal circumstances I would have just opened a window, but it was too loud for that, and the smell of cigarette smoke coming from the nightclub was unbearable and so I had to keep them all closed.
Half way through the night I was getting way too hot and so had to risk the air conditioning in the room. Unfortunately, all this did was suck a big cloud of cigarette smoke into my room which pushed my already fragile stomach over the edge – and I spent the next hour or so dashing between my bed and the toilet to throw up the contents of my stomach.
After that hour, I gave up trying to sleep as it was still too loud and so I dragged my pillows and a blanket into the bathroom to just sleep on the floor. It wasn’t comfortable, and it wasn’t a good sleep as I was suffering by this point, but at least I got some sleep.
It seems that a few other people had similar, although not quite as bad, nights as me so we must have picked up some food poisoning or something during the past 24 hours. Morocco is one of those countries where this can happen, but it’s the first time ever while travelling that I’ve been sick from the food – so I had a good run until now.
Whether it was at lunch yesterday, or the Sahara camp, we will never be sure.
Leaving Agadir
Luckily, today’s journey wasn’t too long in terms of driving distance, and we made a few stops along the way, which was exactly what my stomach needed.
The first stop was at a local supermarket, where we grabbed some food for lunch, before making our way up to the viewpoint called Agadir Oufla, overlooking the city.
From this viewpoint you could really appreciate the size of Agadir, and how long the beach is. This is definitely somewhere that you could spend a longer stay – in fact, many people come to Morocco and only stay at Agadir due to the beach, the water sports, and the nightlife.
Driving along the coast
After a short time at the viewpoint it was time to head up the coast, where we stopped for lunch at a lovely deserted beach. I wasn’t really hungry, so I just sat in the shade and relaxed so as not to aggravate my stomach, but it would have been a great place to stop for a picnic if my stomach had been up to it!
We stayed on the beach for an hour or so, before making our way towards Essaouira, where we would stay for the next 3 nights.
On the way we stopped at another co-operative, which sol products made from Argan Oil, and I stocked up on a few things for myself and for other people. Argan Oil is a very traditional product in this part of Morocco, and they make all sorts of products out of it – from cosmetics to snacks.
After one final drive we arrived at Essaouira, where it was time to say goodbye to the minibus, and to Mousa our driver, who was heading back to Marrakech to pick up the next. I didn’t spend much time chatting to him during this trip, but he seemed a really nice guy and we were all sad to see him go.
As we were going to be in Essaouira for 3 nights, and then taking a coach back to Marrakech, we no longer needed the minibus so he didn’t need to stick around.
Arriving in Essaouira
During our time in Essaouira we’re staying in a traditional Riad, the Riad Chakir Mogador, in the old part of the town, which is completely pedestrianised. As a result, our bags were taken to our Riad by push cart, with us trying to keep up with the fast pace kept by the workers.
A traditional Moroccan Riad is built around a central courtyard, with rooms looking inwards rather than outwards. This design helps to keep rooms cold in the summer, and warm in the winter, and it was a nice change to stay in something traditional – compared to the big international hotel that we were in last night.
Our first evening in Essaouira
Dinner tonight was in restaurant Il Mare overlooking the famous sea wall of Essaouira. This gave us a perfect view of the sunset, and the atmosphere was enhanced by a band on stage playing a selection of both Moroccan and international music.
My stomach was starting to settle down so I was able to eat something for dinner, but I kept it safe and went for a pizza. Yes, another one, in a restaurant specialising in seafood but it’s best to be safe rather than sorry. Plus, I don’t eat seafood.
We have two full days ahead of us in Essaouira, which I’m looking forward to, and tomorrow we start with a tour around town with a local guide.
