7 weeks and 150 years between us on a southern Morocco road trip (page 2 of 5)

Hi Anne

Between the climate and health, it really hasn’t been easy for you, and I feel for you. But still, this is such great news you’re sharing! 😊 I was in that area in June 2025, and there was barely any water left anywhere. The "natural pools" were just miserable puddles, and I thought, "how on earth are they going to get through the summer? 😱" I hope it wasn’t too catastrophic for them—neither the drought nor the sometimes devastating rains. Hang in there. The sun can’t be far off now! 😊 Christelle

After these 24 hours dedicated to rest and reading, we're hitting the road again with the sun…. A bit unsure about the next stop, but we'll go with the flow. We follow the coast and make a detour through Imsouanne, a really nice little fishing port. The azure sky is back, and it's



After the storm, all the boats are still in the harbor, with black as the dominant color.



Just like our hitchhiker today (Melika), who’s off to clean a villa.



Further on, we stop in this tiny, colorful village whose name I’ve forgotten.



And finally, we decide to keep going to Agadir. We get lost in the big souk—it’s really impressive in size. I’d read that the entrance was paid, but it’s not. We’re barely hassled and enjoy the visit, amazed by a cook flipping crepes like a pizza chef. Too bad I can’t upload the little video here. The day goes on, and we decide to walk to the sea. The wind picks up—brrr, it’s starting to get chilly! While looking for a restaurant, we run into some neighbors! "Agadir, there’s nothing to say about it," we’re told several times, and I’d say the few hours we spend there leave us pretty indifferent. Maybe we should’ve stayed longer. The neighbors we met come here regularly every year, but they feel the city is becoming a bit too conventional, losing its real soul.

Really Anne, we have the same way of traveling, and we also love picking up hitchhikers to "soak in" the atmosphere of a country up close. So I loooove your photo with Melika—definitely not something you’d see in a travel agency brochure 😄. And she gave you a real gift (even if we can’t see her 😢) because they usually avoid photos like the plague.

Thanks Christelle, I’m running late on our trip update—we’re currently in Mirleft. Hitchhiking is common here, but we were pretty surprised to see these women in hijabs flagging us down. We’d already left one behind in a small hamlet.

Hi, The little colorful village is called Arghoud. Further on, there’s Imi Ouaddar and Taghazout, a really cool surfer spot.

In Taghazout, we didn’t stop. It was absolutely packed—cars everywhere. Felt like Knokke-le-Zoute in the summer 😅. With the sun finally back, everyone was in the mood for the beach, especially since it was a Sunday. Thanks for the village name!

Souss-Massa National Park We leave Agadir and continue our slow descent along the Atlantic under the sun. Highway 1 is very smooth, but you have to be careful with all the speed limit changes. There are *so* many checks on the road, and it seems a lot of people are getting fined. I couldn’t resist this orange truck



I spotted a hotel that looked really nice, so we follow our GPS. It loses its bearings—if I may say so… Turn right in 500m at the next roundabout, except there’s no road on our right; keep going 2 km to the next roundabout, and then no, actually, stay on the highway for another 3 km… As the co-pilot, I feel like I need to justify myself a bit. After finally turning right, we quickly end up on a dirt track. Of course, the satellite loses us—luckily, the sand is easy to drive on! We turn around and finally spot the village and the tarmac. Here’s our little paradise for 2 nights.

There are motorhomes here, just like everywhere else, so you can definitely get here easily!

After a *very* flavorful kefta tagine, we head to the beach toward the Massa River. There’s *so* much pollution on this beach—it’s painful, especially since we’re right next to a bird protection site. I’ll spare you the photos of all the trash piled up. Instead, here’s this curious plant emerging from the sand.



A guide with binoculars offers to show us around. We don’t really know much about birds, but he points out bald ibises in the distance—apparently, this is one of the last places they breed. We also see flamingos, except they’re young and white! I thought their diet gave them their pink color. There are other species too, but they’re all far away, and the sun’s in our eyes… Well, now that Helios is here, we won’t complain. We have tea at our guide’s place, who lives across from a mosque. His house is just as modest as the mosque.



A full day with over 16,000 steps on the pedometer. The next day, the hostel owner arranges a guided visit for us to explore the wildlife park. We mostly see African ostriches, addax gazelles, and oryx—great words for Scrabble, by the way. We bring our guide along in the car, and off we go on a new Paris-Dakar adventure to reach the park entrance, which, in the end, is quite close to Agadir. Every 2 km along the coast, there are military guard posts monitoring the sea to prevent migrants, Hassan explains. We also pass a desalination plant—intensive greenhouse farming here consumes a *lot* of fresh water. And greenhouses? There are *so* many, huge and stretching as far as the eye can see! Unfortunately, the desalination process creates new pollution by dumping salt back into the sea.

Here are our animal encounters from our little photo safari by car. Entry to the reserve costs 1000 dirhams per person, and a guide is mandatory (5000 dirhams). We only see one other car but *lots* of animals, including a desert fox.



A male ostrich ready for his parade… His mate is much less photogenic.

Gazelles



This oryx is definitely an important leader. This much more relaxing day for our legs ends peacefully as we return via Highway 1 and the tarmac.

Happy to follow along day by day. It's nice, it's varied. And I see the sun is back. We had snow on the Road of a Thousand Kasbahs—pretty exceptional!

Hi Anne,

I’m reading your travel journal and see you ended up going for the car after all 😉 Did you regret it? Was the driving finally easy?

We tend to think of Morocco as a hot country, so we never pack enough clothes. I remember buying a warm scarf and gloves in Skoura in April!

Thanks for this travel journal—it’s such a pleasant read on this gloomy February day, especially when we’re back from a trip !

The weather’s gradually improving, especially the temperatures. There are still storms, though. From what I hear, even the Moroccans think this winter’s been long. In the north, there are severe floods. And there’s still a lot of snow on the peaks—the roads are often cut off in the mountains due to landslides. The coastal campgrounds are packed; I think a lot of people changed their itineraries because they’re afraid of the mountain roads. Here in Sidi Ifni, you see more tourists than locals in the streets.

We chose the car and don’t regret it at all—we’re driving stress-free, and there’s actually very little traffic. It lets us make little detours along the way, and with the weather conditions, I think we’d have really struggled otherwise. Thanks for following along! We hope to send lots of sunshine your way soon

1000 MAD for entry to the reserve? Are you sure? 5000 for the guide?? I paid a lot, but MUCH less, 3 years ago!

1000 dh for entry to the reserve? Are you sure? 5000 for the guide?? I paid a lot but much less than that 3 years ago!

Hi Marie Mathilde,

I think there’s an extra zero because 100 € for entry and 500 € for the guide is

Of course, Christelle, there's an extra zero! We’d never pay that much. Meanwhile, figuring out prices here is complicated, Marie-Mathilde...

I’m upset because I lost all my work yesterday when posting the next step—the Wi-Fi is so unreliable, and VF doesn’t save photos that were hard to upload. Over an hour wasted... ugh.

There are a lot of tourists, and some places we thought were more or less off the beaten path are packed too. We won’t be going to Foum Assaka—no space left in the "green section." What a shame! School holidays are coming up, so we’ll have to play it smart by booking well in advance. Plus, all this weather is pushing everyone into the same regions. Patrick, our host, has to organize a little trip for his friends, but he can’t go where he planned because of the weather. I keep hoping things will improve, but so far, it’s only a few hours of sunshine a day—when we’re lucky.

Alright, let’s keep our spirits up and continue our little adventure!

Thanks for sharing this and for the photos!! Amazing 😉

Welcome. I’m really struggling with the site to continue the story, and the network isn’t the best either. *Inshallah*, as they say here all the time 😅

Are you in Sidi Ifni tonight? Such a shame about the Green Ray. But nothing’s stopping you from heading there for lunch and leaving around 3 PM for Tighmert.

Hi Anne! I’m surprised by how many tourists there are this time of year. Are all the retirees from France here or what? 😄 Have a great day! Christelle

A lot of retirees spend the winter under Morocco’s sun, but this year it hasn’t shown up. That’s why I’m waiting until the end of February. I’d rather play it safe.

Oh yes, Jean, we're using the polar fleece, but the sun seems to be sticking around a bit better. The country is green, and I think that's priceless. I'll try to keep going, because here at the Maison de l’homme bleu, we're spending happy, peaceful hours—the Wi-Fi even thinks it's on vacation. Thanks for this amazing tip!