18 days of bliss in Morocco! (page 2 of 7)

Great recap of your trip!

Thanks for your understanding. That’s really kind of you. I realize I keep making the same mistakes with my photos. I’ll try to be more careful.

Personally, I didn’t notice anything wrong, and I agree—it was amazing!

When we leave Tafraoute the next morning, it’s to head back to the coast—specifically Sidi Ifni. But first, we follow the ocean for a good while before arriving. The ocean as far as the eye can see.



The ocean and its fishermen casting their lines.





The ocean and its mussel gatherers. Some seriously big mussels...





The beach mosque.

And then we discover Sidi Ifni, with the ocean right at its feet. From the terrace of the Hôtel Belle Vue, where we dropped our bags, we get a panoramic view of the ocean. Stunning!



Dinner in town, near the fish market. A tajine of... fish. So good!

View from our balcony, morning upon waking. It's wonderful!



After a good night's sleep, lulled by the sound of the waves, we head down for breakfast in front of the old airfield. That's where the weekend souk takes place... Such a great moment. Several types of breakfasts are offered. Then, we set off to see Legzira Beach and its arch. When we arrive, the beach is shrouded in mist. It's a bit mysterious, strange, and stunning... The tide is high.





We stay for lunch on the beach. We decide to go for octopus. Bad choice! Rubbery octopus... Really not great! But the view is beautiful...

The tide has gone out, and the mist has cleared.



We head back to Sidi Ifni... A little stroll through town and the evening market. We're surprised to find the same doughnuts as in Tafraout. Of course, we want to check if they're as good as those in Tafraout...

In the evening, we dine just a stone's throw from our hotel, at the Nomad restaurant. Lovely terrace, pleasant music, and refined cuisine served on beautiful tableware. Candlelit dinner. We didn't want to leave Sidi Ifni without having a proper octopus dish. And this time, we're delighted.



So, we leave Sidi Ifni the next morning. We head back toward Agadir before continuing to Aourir, at the gates of paradise. We stop at the Inou Hotel. The rooms are very pleasant, and you can see the sea from the terrace. But it's no match for the Bellevue in Sidi Ifni.

I see that the magic of Morocco worked its charm again! So glad! Thanks for sharing.

Oh yes, this itinerary is pure bliss! It's so beautiful and so diverse! And each of us experiences things in our own way. We don’t all see the same things. That’s the whole point of reading different travel journals.

hi there my travel journals keep coming, but the magic of Morocco still works for me! such a shame I skipped the ksar of Aït Benhaddou, but hey, I’m a huge fan of this place where I spent so much time back when there were only 2 hostels! 😕 I’ll jump on the camel while it’s moving! thanks francia

Sunday morning, we wanted to head to Agadir, to the El Had souk... The crowd was huge—tourists, of course, but mostly locals from Agadir. So much fruit and veggies!







And an impressive load of eggs!



We don’t buy bananas in Agadir, though—we get them in Aourir, which is surrounded by banana plantations. Small, super sweet bananas, so good! And shops that sell *only* bananas... how do you make a living selling just bananas when everyone else does too? Not easy, I’d guess!!!

And here are the bananas from Aourir!



After leaving the Agadir souk, we park near the Ferris wheel, just steps from the main beach, and take a long walk along the beautifully developed seaside promenade. It feels so different from the Morocco we’ve seen so far.



After Agadir and its long beach, we head to Taghazout, the surfers’ village. It’s kept a lot of its charm despite the major construction work nearby. Its little beach is gorgeous.

The coast beyond Taghazout becomes more rugged and wild. And in the evening, we head to Imouran restaurant, right on the beach of the same name, for some grilled fish. It’s amazing! Really amazing!

Beautiful images of Morocco seen through your eyes! Everyone has their own Morocco! A really pleasant stroll, all in simplicity.

Thanks Michèle. For me, the main thing is to best showcase what we saw and the welcome we received. Pure happiness for us. As for the travel journal, I knew it would take time, but maybe not *this* much... I should mention I'm just starting out. Sometimes my photos upload, sometimes they don’t. I often have to try several times... And I sometimes have to give up when the format isn’t right.

"We don’t buy bananas in Agadir, but in Aourir, which is surrounded by banana plantations. Sweet little bananas, really tasty. And shops that sell nothing but bananas... how do you make a living selling only bananas when everyone else does too? Not easy, I’d say!!!"

You can ask yourself the same question when strolling through the souks of Marrakech, for example...

The next morning, we wanted to head to paradise. That’s partly why we chose Aourir as our base camp. So, we grabbed some picnic supplies and set off for paradise. We quickly left the town behind, and with Maps’ help, we made steady progress. The road follows the oued, which is almost dry. Only a few pools and small streams remain... We drove between steep cliffs, sometimes feeling like we were right in the riverbed... And we probably were! After about twenty kilometers, the road climbs, with one hairpin turn after another. We overlooked the valley... It was amazing! Soon, we spotted a parking lot on our right and pulled in. We weren’t the only ones. A local guide offered to take us into the valley. Great idea, since it’s steep and there are no signs. Eventually, we reached small natural pools—but no swimmers. The water level was really low. Lahousseine, our guide, explained that the summer had been hot and it hadn’t rained in a long time. Paradise was running out of water. But not tourists... from all over the world. We stopped for tea at one of the many valley bars and headed back to the parking lot, a little disappointed by the site. We’d expected something different, and on top of that, it was littered with trash. What a shame!

Seeing our disappointed faces, our guide suggested showing us another side of paradise—his paradise, his village, the gardens, the palm grove. And we followed him to the village. The gardens were short on water but still pretty. It was peaceful. It was clean.



Lahousseine then took us to discover stunning viewpoints over the valley. The colors were incredible, blazing. What light!



We’d found paradise... And it wasn’t over yet. Lahousseine invited us for tea at his little house. That’s where we all picnicked together over some good tea. We met his wife. When we arrived, she was busy making argan oil. Hard work! She didn’t speak French, but we communicated just fine. She was radiant.

And that was our day in paradise!

And our trip ends in Marrakech. Just one day before flying back to France. So, we’ll make do with the medina and the souks. It’s crowded—school holidays have started... We wander around the adventurers' souk.





And then there are the olive vendors—so colorful... What a beautiful display!



At lunchtime, we grabbed a bite at the Berber FNAC... The bookstore, no longer feeding its man, has turned into a café-restaurant. And it’s really nice...

Refreshed, we continued our stroll through the souks. The pastries left us in awe! Tiny works of art! And they’re delicious!



And in Jemaa El Fna square, we were surprised to find plant nurseries. We’d be tempted to buy some, but the climate might not suit these heat-loving beauties.

And that’s that... Our wonderful Moroccan adventure comes to an end. Until we return, I’ve relived my trip by writing this travel journal. I enjoyed doing it... Thanks for following along and cheering me on.

Hi there, people don’t just sell bananas—they grow lots of other crops too! That’s how things used to be: mixed farming, small-scale livestock. And often family members who work in the city! francia

Are dyers adventurers?

Thanks Léa for this end to the trip. It brings back such great food memories—those pastries!

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Thanks, Romuald. All those miniature pastries are such a treat!

Only in small quantities for me because it's very sweet, to my taste.