A new adventure to Africa

[Jimbohorlicks]

If you have a water container you can obtain water from the the toilets/ showers which are to the right as you go down the concrete steps. But you will have to pay a couple of dirams. Its where the men wash prior to prayer. There is a tap .So you need to go between prayer calls.( its not drinking water)
There is a nice promenade walk/ cycle way on the Agadir side of Tagazoute.

 

[Barchetta47]

My photos from yesterday:

We walked over towards Bahia palace in the morning but decided not to pay in as we will definitely come back to Marrakech so don't feel we need to do all the sights on this visit. Instead we sat and had a mint tea and watched some street life.
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On the walk from the main square to there we realised that there are loads of the same things for sale as in the narrow alleys of the souk but less hassle and less tourists so actually preferable for buying certain things and locals were buying them too. For example loose almonds that were quoted at 70dh for a hundred grams were only 10dh.

We had been wanting to get a couple of cushions for the sofa at home as ours have gone flat and hadn't seen anything quite right yesterday in the souks so when we spotted all the fabric shops we inquired about having some made in a nice fabric they had outside. Quoted £12 a pair and collect them at 4pm! What a service!
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We wandered around a big spice market near the palace area and then found a large patterned plate we liked that was made in Safi. £9. Definitely cheaper out that end of town it seems.

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After a disappointing meal the night before on the main square we decided to try a restaurant I had booked marked (when back in England and doing research on the best restaurants in Marrakech)

It was right in amongst the souks and you certainly needed Google maps to find the unassuming entrance. No touts here trying to drag you off the street!

Once inside it was suddenly all calm and smart restaurant. We asked the reception about the roof terrace and once we'd said we were eating she pointed us up the stairs. 2 flights up and the place was buzzing. We had to wait a few minutes for a table and then got shown to a great table right on the corner, looking out across the roofs.
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Really nice menu of modern Moroccan fusion and all the plates of food going to other people looked amazing and colourful. We had courgette and goats cheese fritters with mint and yoghurt dip to start and then rather unadventurous but we both fancied a burger which was gorgeous with caramelised onions and the meat was seasoned kofta style.
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It got hot in the sun but they had hats you could borrow!

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After lunch I started to feel a bit under the weather. I thought it was the afternoon heat but spent the rest of the day sneezing and have woken up this morning with a cold. Oh well glad I got to enjoy the city before it took hold.

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Hi,

We are off to Marrakesh in a few weeks would you mind naming the restaurant it looks great.

 

[Helen Ariel]

Hi,

We are off to Marrakesh in a few weeks would you mind naming the restaurant it looks great.

Nomad. Ask for the roof terrace if it's a nice day.

 

[Jimbohorlicks]

If your moving away from Tagazoute and you need a laundry there is a good one at Ocean de Terre. It's in p4n. It's a bit out of the way but close to where you are and the front pitches have a nice view over the sea. Good showers and facilities.There is a pool, restaraunt and small shop. But wifi is only near the shop.

 

[Helen Ariel]

You’ve read our mind. That’s where we’re planning on going as it’s not too far, plus we can cycle back Taghazout later if we feel like it.

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[Jimbohorlicks]

You’ve read our mind. That’s where we’re planning on going as it’s not too far, plus we can cycle back Taghazout later if we feel like it.

Just check where it is on the map as our sat nav took us past the turning on the main road requiring us to turn around and back, at the beach further down.

 

[Helen Ariel]

Some pics from the last couple of days after our big drive from Marrakesh and a pit stop at Carrefour in Agadir.

Absolutely beautiful beach with very little litter to be seen.

Sunset from the park up above town. Our van is bottom right. Only 20MAD per night parked up with other kindred spirits.
The caravan to the left of the pic is used to store food and water for the strays and their puppies. We’ve given Hakim who looks after them some money to buy supplies.

It wouldn’t take much for Helen to take one home… I’ve put my foot down!

The view north from the park up towards Anchor Point which is a world famous surf spot. I’ve wanted to surf it for over 20 years! Shame it’s a bit flat.

Helen has had a head cold for a couple of days so I’ve been exploring Taghazout and buying a gas bottle & burner as I’m trying to limit our gas usage. 2 x 11kg of Gaslow seems to be lasting very well though but we’ve been n hook up for most of the time.
My new purchase means we’ll go off grid a bit more now.

100MAD for the burner & bottle. Can run the BBQ off it too.

It’s a really lovely village.

Some more pics of the park up which is a dead end so no through traffic.

Sunset from the park up is nice!

Helen’s feeling better today so a lovely beach walk then some lunch.

 

[Jimbohorlicks]

It's a lovely place as you say. It's vibrant and busy but not too busy .
We were parked up , bottom left next to the pavement area until a German came along and parked up on there..
A nice view of the promenade and beach.

 

[jongood]

You’ve read our mind. That’s where we’re planning on going as it’s not too far, plus we can cycle back Taghazout later if we feel like it.

I would be really careful cycling in Morocco, the traffic doesnt have the same boundaries as Europe and the dogs can get aggressive.

 

[jongood]

Love Terre D'ocean btw. If you cant get a front pitch, you can go down ramp if the weather is OK, if not the far back ones get a nice view because of the levels.

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[Helen Ariel]

Just check where it is on the map as our sat nav took us past the turning on the main road requiring us to turn around and back, at the beach further down.

Found the turning no problem. They’ve got a blue camping sign up now.
Might stay for a few days.

 

[Jimbohorlicks]

Found the turning no problem. They’ve got a blue camping sign up now.
Might stay for a few days.

Yes it's a relaxing site with nice views.
If you walk down the trail to the gated exit on the road there are fossilised shells in the footpath to pick up and nearby rocks quite interesting.
The tagines ( just the earthenware pots)at the shop are a really good price think they were 20d for the ones usable on gas ( metal plates underneath!) We didn't find any lower than that price anywhere. If your going down the path to the gate just check with reception first that it's open.( we had to walk back finding it locked )

 

[Helen Ariel]

Just had a refreshing swim. Glorious weather today.

 

[Helen Ariel]

Place is full. We got one of the last pitches. There are people setting up in the carpark now!

 

[Helen Ariel]

I would be really careful cycling in Morocco, the traffic doesnt have the same boundaries as Europe and the dogs can get aggressive.

Almost exclusively off road rides planned. Some of the driving has indeed been interesting!

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[Helen Ariel]

Love Terre D'ocean btw. If you cant get a front pitch, you can go down ramp if the weather is OK, if not the far back ones get a nice view because of the levels.

Some of the lower pitches are excellent! If we didn’t want to have hook up we’d be there.

 

[Jimbohorlicks]

If your on Facebook there is a maroc camping group. It has some tips, sometimes . But might be worth a look

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[Helen Ariel]

If your on Facebook there is a maroc camping group. It has some tips, sometimes . But might be worth a look

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There’s a Vanlife Maroc group but there’s a lot of repetition on it, mainly about gas & how busy campsites are.
We’re getting good tips from here as usual, and also from people we meet. Borj Biramane looks like a great stopover for example but we’re going to hug the coast for a bit before we head inland.

Paul

 

[Helen Ariel]

Love Terre D'ocean btw. If you cant get a front pitch, you can go down ramp if the weather is OK, if not the far back ones get a nice view because of the levels.

Yeah not sure about the lower levels in our van plus we want the hookup for our fridge. There's quite a lot of smaller vans and vans with off-road tyres down there. Nice and spacious pitches with epic views but after roughing it in carparks the last 4 days it's nice being up by the facilities.

 

[Mikey RV]

If you’re heading to Imsouane for a nice chilled out long boarding wave, the place is being bulldozed down as from a couple of days ago. Peaple given 24 hours notice to get out of property’s and small stores etc. Apartments going to be built there apparently.

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[Helen Ariel]

My pics from Tagazoute day 2 after spending all day in the van the 1st day. I really liked the place. Lovely ramshackle place with loads of lovely looking restaurants right down on the waterfront. I had to rescue a kitten from being swamped by a wave. It followed us down the beach and was right at the waters edge with a large wave heading for it so I scooped it up and returned it to the near the promenade.

 

[Helen Ariel]

Said goodbye to the puppies who were snoozing in their tyre beds.

Very pleased to have some luxury at the campsite after carparks for 4 nights. What a stunning location and very smart.

 

[Helen Ariel]

If you’re heading to Imsouane for a nice chilled out long boarding wave, the place is being bulldozed down as from a couple of days ago. Peaple given 24 hours notice to get out of property’s and small stores etc. Apartments going to be built there apparently.

Yes I posted about that earlier in the thread. There's an article about it that I linked to back the way. Won't be going there sadly.

 

[Jimbohorlicks]

If you’re heading to Imsouane for a nice chilled out long boarding wave, the place is being bulldozed down as from a couple of days ago. Peaple given 24 hours notice to get out of property’s and small stores etc. Apartments going to be built there apparently.

It's a shame they are doing that as most of the surfing community are young people who don't want fancy accomodation. Just somewhere they can crash out after surfing and have a low cost meal or two in the local cafe.
The same has also happened at tifnit. Buldozed all the surf shacks and cafes.
It's just big business and wealthy Moroccan officials trying to cash in on the surfing trade.

 

[billym]

It's a shame they are doing that as most of the surfing community are young people who don't want fancy accomodation. Just somewhere they can crash out after surfing and have a low cost meal or two in the local cafe.
The same has also happened at tifnit. Buldozed all the surf shacks and cafes.
It's just big business and wealthy Moroccan officials trying to cash in on the surfing trade.

More likely for the 2030 World Cup .

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[Jimbohorlicks]

Said goodbye to the puppies who were snoozing in their tyre beds.

Very pleased to have some luxury at the campsite after carparks for 4 nights. What a stunning location and very smart.

What Plans have you got for your remaining weeks? Further south? Just relaxing.?
Did youfind the ladies run restaraunt in Marakesh?

 

[Helen Ariel]

What Plans have you got for your remaining weeks? Further south? Just relaxing.?
Did youfind the ladies run restaraunt in Marakesh?

We’ll take it as it comes. Probably going to stay put for a few days now as we’re loving this site and have some new friends right beside us who we’ve bumped into at Oualidia and Sidi Kaouki.
Head south after that, then inland to the desert.

 

[Helen Ariel]

Didn't make it to the restaurant run by women as it was a little out of the area we were in and also looked a bit more formal in the Google pics so will save that for next time. The great thing about this shorter trip is that we are already thinking that anything we miss out this time can be saved for future trips now that we are planning to come here every winter. All being well.

 

[Helen Ariel]

We're really loving this campsite. The weather helps a lot and the fact it's so quiet at night. No road noise, no dogs barking, no cockerels crowing, no call to prayer. The birds start to wake up when it gets light about 8ish so you are serenaded gently into waking.

We did the walk down to the beach yesterday late morning and there were loads of surf schools practicing in the gentle surf. We were pleasantly surprised that it only took 10 minutes to reach the beach and 15 minutes back up but much more of a work out going up.

It was hot when we got back up. Van was 30 inside and the fridge temp with the sun full on it had got a bit warm so Paul got the awning out and secured it French stylee with water containers hanging on the legs as Moroccan ground is too dry for pegs.

Lunch and reading in the shade for a bit then we thought we would have a practice run and finally get the body boards out. The waves weren't really any good for body boarding but we haven't done it for over 2 years and have no surf fitness so we really need to start small and just get in the water.

Well I was glad we started small as even getting out past the beach breaks was quite tiring and a little nerve racking and I was out of breath and had leaden legs pretty quickly. Just wading through water with the fins on is surprisingly hard work. I played about on the inside white water and caught a couple of foamy waves all the way in which was fun and good practice for getting the timing right.

It was glorious and just being in the ocean and feeling it's power was wonderful after so long. The water was really warm too, with my thinner wetsuit, so that helps a lot. The hike back up to the campsite with the boards and tired legs was a bit tougher!

After nice hot showers (the facilities here are the best we have experienced in Morocco) we decided to try out the table tennis set we bought in Decathlon as there's a table here.

I've never played table tennis in such a glorious setting before. Glittering sea on one side and rocky hills the other with the moon just visible above. Also the French all playing Petanque next to us is always a nice sight.

All this activity worked up a serious appetite and lack of energy to cook so we went to the campsite restaurant which has got to have the best view of any campsite restaurant ever.

Sunset at 7.05pm and we are getting 10 hrs
33 minutes of daylight today. 24 degrees at 8.30pm!
I'm not sure if this is totally typical weather for Morocco or we're just lucky but it's forecast to stay like this for the next 7 days. Feeling very happy

 

[Helen Ariel]

Well after 4 restful nights and scorching days we have decided we better move on before we get too comfortable as it's so luxurious here.

Yesterday we went out for a bike ride up the hill above the campsite and discovered a tiny village at the top with some caves.

It seemed absolutely deserted but upon peering into the darkness I found an elderly man inside making pottery. The next cave over had obviously been used for firing.

Road through the village and down towards Tagazoute with some stunning views all the way down the coast. Only got chased by one pack of barking dogs defending their territory.

We grabbed a few supplies in Tagazoute then managed to find an off road, cliff side track back along the coast, checking out several famous surf spots along the way.

It's been really hot in the afternoons and evenings so we have enjoyed lazing about and reading then having a beer with our new friends, John and Mike, the detectorists who we 1st met back in Oualidia.

We've had some really good home cooked meals too as it's so much easier on a campsite with plenty of water on hand for washing the mountains of dishes I produce.

We were especially pleased to bag an enormous bonito from the fish guy. It weighed 2kgs and is mostly meat with large easily removed bones. I marinated it Asian style then seared It on the Weber. It made a dinner and enough left for 'tuna' sandwiches for lunch.

A bit of fun playing with magic eraser as Paul didn't like the face he was pulling squinting into the sun

A veggie biryani

Breakfasts of kings

I can highly recommend these silicone cups for quick easy poached eggs on the road.

Anyway back to carpark camping tonight. Just down the road at the famous surf break Anchor point, which we discovered on our bike ride is ok to overnight.

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