Return to Morocco (Dec 24)
Final journey of the year and a four night budget trip to Morocco.
Taghazout
We spent the first day acclimatising, wandering the beaches and enjoying the winter sun. We traveled here via WizzAir again, on a flight sold at silly prices (details in hints and tips).
The sea was pretty calm, which wasn’t ideal for the surfers. Not that it bothered Emma who’d already told me that she wouldn’t be surfing on account of sinking like a stone the last time she gave it a go! Hmmmm she seems to think I’m better than her, after my attempts last month – I know otherwise!
So we simply strolled along the beach, up to Devil’s Point in Tamraght where we grabbed a light bite before heading back. It was nice to share with Emma the 5km walk that I’d done alone on my last solo visit here.
In the evening we joined Lauren, my eldest daughter, for a meal and a few beers.
She also happened to be in Taghazout at the same time as us, working here in “digital nomad” mode for her employer.
We met at The Seaside Hotel Taghazout (naff name, but great venue) and spent time catching up on news. It was the second time this year I’ve bumped into one of my kids at the same time and place overseas. It’s a small world!
We stayed in low budget accommodation, a private room in a hostel about 2 minute walk from Lauren. It was ideal for us: clean, tidy and great vibe – and as usual in places like this, the guests we met were wonderful.
It’s always great to share stories with others we meet, especially those travelling from further afield.
Over breakfast or simply chilling on the terrace are when ideas, hints and tips are often swapped between guests.
Everyone we met had smiles etched on their faces, Australians, Dutch, Germans, Brits, Czechs, New Zealanders all with the same enthusiasm for life and with their priorities well and truly in the right place.
Ayoub, the chap who was running the place could not have been more helpful and provided us with great breakfasts to start the day. He even got up an hour early to prepare s breakfast for us on the day we had to catch a bus to Essaouira.
Essaouira
We headed off to Essaouira for a couple of days; it is fast becoming one of my favourite places on the planet!
After breakfast, at sunrise, we walked 30 minutes out of town to the bus stop, an unmarked pick up point in a rough lay-by next to a roundabout. There were no signs, just an arrow on our e-Ticket marking the spot we’d be picked up. It was inevitably late – but that’s how things roll here!
We travelled 162km northwards using a popular local public bus which we’d booked via 12go for €6. It was packed, mainly with locals, but there were four Europeans on it, a Czech and a German and us.
At Essaouira I introduced Emma to some of the venues I discovered on my last solo trip and after a scrumptious meal at ‘La Licorne’ the evening inevitably turned into a bit of a party night which ended at 2am!
The restaurant owner recognised me immediately which is remarkable given the number of visitors they must get, but like everything in this wonderful walled city, it just makes you feel kind of special!
My favourite jazz bar, D’Jazzy was closed, so we ended up doubling back to a lively music bar called Beytt, a venue from where we’d earlier watched the sun set.
In between time we managed to squeeze in visits to a great dive bar (google maps “unknown but cheap”) and watched a band playing on an amazing stage at another venue called Taros.
We also found a restaurant which blew our socks off. It’s on the floor beneath Taros and we popped in for a mid-evening snack. We’ve now bookmarking it for a future visit where we will try out the full menu.
Being the week-before-Christmas it meant that the entire city was quiet.
This suited us perfectly. The additional layer of calmness accentuated the already great vibe of this place.
Essaouira is known for being the hippy capital of the ‘60s and ‘70s and retains that very special atmosphere.
Its narrow streets may have been peaceful, but the fishing port provided a chaotic contrast with more activity than I’ve seen on any of my previous visits.
Our second day saw us wandering the streets, spending time in coffee shops and back streets.
We had a great meal in a tiny restaurant called Jas, for a crazily low price, before catching our bus back to Taghazout.
The pick up point for the bus was at the main bus depot, which was as chaotic as we’d expected. Yes we could have paid a little more for a private minibus, but where else would you get an experience of travelling on buses where passengers bring their live dinner on board with their bags. Well I guess killing it at home means it doesn’t have to be refrigerated – just yet.
A trip to the mountains and our return to Taghazout.
On our return to Taghazout we met up with Lauren again for an evening and our final day.
After a late and leisurely breakfast we visited the nearby mountains and Paradise Valley.
Neither Emma nor Lauren had been before, so it was left to me to lead the way. I enjoyed planning the trip as it had me testing out my taxi negotiating skills using an app I discovered on my solo trip last January called “InDrive”.
Well it was less of a plan, and more as case of bumbling though, making things up as I went along and looking as if I knew what I was doing (although that’s how I’ve spent my entire life I guess).
We got our first ride at a good price to Awrir, which is a small town about 20mins down the road from Taghazout, here we grabbed another to the valley.
Over all the price ended up being a heck of a lot better than the hostels were quoting from Taghazout direct (from where there is a tourist premium added to the price), and way cheaper than the organised excursions – more about that later in “hints and tips”. I picked up this route from Martin, the canny German I met earlier in the year.
We had plenty of freedom at Paradise Valley, which was pretty much empty, and given the lack of rain the river level was a little lower than my last visit, but that didn’t take anything away from the beautiful scenery which was breathtaking at times.
Our taxi driver agreed to come back to collect us at a pre determined time. So it all went like clockwork.
On our return we had a leisurely meal at a beachside restaurant and then headed off to the Skate Park for sunset.
The skateboard park is rather special, mainly used by locals, but with a few travellers joining in.
Some of their skills were mesmerising, and the location added a magical touch with a backdrop over the surf and setting sun.
At the last minute we used InDrive to grab a taxi to the airport for 1/3 less than all of the hostels were quoting and got there in time for our late evening flight back to London. We’ve a party at home tomorrow to organise…
Hints and Tips
FLIGHTS – WizzAir. £9.98 each per person per flight, plus one extra cabin bag between us at £27 per flight.
ACCOMMODATION (Taghazout) – Private room with comfortable double bed at Arinas Surf House for £13.50 per person per night including a great breakfast. Our rating 9/10
ACCOMMODATION (Essaouira) – A basic Private room with en-suite bathroom at Riad Zen Oasis for £12.50 per person per night including good breakfast. Our rating 7/10
BUS TRANSPORT – 12go website. Basic but very cheap.
TAXI TRANSPORT. – Download “InDrive” App. This app is not legal for the drivers to use, but it does provides you with accurate prices for journeys to help with haggling with standard taxi drivers!