Essaouira, Morocco » News » Our trip to Morocco: by Nora and Ronan….

28|06|06 +++ Our trip to Morocco: by Nora and Ronan….

So Ronan and I (Nora) decided to turn our backs on our home in Roses and, with Ronan having just bought himself a Peugeot BOXER and fitted it out as a camping bus, the final decision about where to go for this year's winter holiday was a foregone conclusion:

Off to Morocco, the land of date palms, oases and Arabian nights.
The first stop was Tarifa, where we arrived on 31.12., just in time to celebrate New Year's Eve. As everyone can imagine, New Year is the occasion for a huge party in Tarifa. We left Tarifa, the southernmost point of Spain, by ship on 2 January 2006 and crossed the Straits of Gibraltar to Tangier in Morocco.
Arrival on the African continent is truly an experience rich in contrasts. The crossing takes only 40 minutes, almost too brief a time for such a change of culture.

Our camping bus makes us very flexible. A vehicle of one's own or, even better, a mobile home is an absolute 'must' for a Moroccan trip.

So we're off to a quick start, after only a brief stay in Tangier, heading for Meknes.

The country roads takes us through every single village, no matter how tiny it is. There are no direct differences between the settlements, but the poverty becomes increasingly apparent the farther south one travels.
Small donkeys and sheep are part of the landscape.

In Meknes, we receive a small culture shock: in the New Town ("Ville Nouvelle"), the modern part of the city, there are bars and nightspots, although alcohol is officially prohibited.

We have the feeling to be in Europe.
We quickly become aware of the social differences between the urban and peasant populations... The people in the cities live in the present and are very European in their ways, people in the country still live as they did 200 years ago.
Meknes is very impressive, the Medina is a confusing hubbub. We don't stay there long, as we are absolutely determined to get to Essaouira as soon as possible.
In Essaouira, we decide to stay for 2 weeks. We pay a visit to the Club Mistral centre, magnificently located in the middle of the Bay of Essaouira. The Club Mistral team is fantastically friendly; we have lots of fun with the guys there.

Geoffrey and Lukas from the Club Mistral centre in Tarifa are there at the same time. The wind is still 'hibernating' for most of the time during the two weeks, but we allow ourselves to be caught up by the fascination of surfing and enjoy our time in this picturesque fishing village…. We also take part in a quad tour directly on the beach – an absolute 'must' when you are in Essaouira. There is a fantastic market, people are incredibly friendly and the choice of restaurants is unique by Moroccan standards.

There is frequent mention of Dakhla, the spot in the middle of the desert! Rather than remaining in Essaouira, where temperatures have also turned cooler to some extent, we decide to embark on a new adventure:

a trip to Dakhla lasting 3 days and covering 1200 km. Road conditions are poor, so the journey drags on, with 400–500 km a day being the most we can manage. The fact that the Moroccans are bad, or even very bad drivers helps to prolong the journey, too. (You can never be sure whether they have not simply bought their driver's licence or whether they have actually learned to drive at a driving school.)

During the second half of the trip, we see nothing but sea and sand. This feeling of being completely alone is mind-blowing! Apart from a few camels here and there, there is nothing, not even donkeys or sheep... 

Dream conditions await us in Dakhla. From afar, we can see colourful dots in the air and it looks as if there is water there... a lake in the middle of the desert?
Another mirage or reality this time??? 
Reality – in the form of the lagoon on the peninsula of Dakhla!!! We're there! 25 km from the town of Dakhla there is a large parking site on which about 20 mobile homes can be seen. We park there, set up our kites immediately and the next minute we're blasting away on the water. A perfect, green shimmering lagoon with absolutely flat water.

Paradise... I'm sure we don't need to tell you about the star-filled desert skies – simply out of this world!
On day 3 we get to know a local family, from whom we obtain the water for our 30 litre tank. Afterwards they invite us home for a meal - couscous and tajine … delicious!!!
Accommodation in Dakhla is very limited. A camping site: actually, it's more like

free camping for everyone, because there are nice sites en masse. We alternate between camping at the lagoon (PK 25) or on the Atlantic side, where there are fabulous waves and breathtaking sunsets. We shower either in the hammam (typical steam bath) – worth the experience – or in the hot sulphur springs in the middle of the desert. here you see nora cutting the sugar:

We drink huge amounts of tea. We couldn't find any night life; you can forget about it, but then who needs it anyway?
The Windsurf Challenge, staged by the French magazine "Wind", is held while we are in Dakhla: Kauli Seadi, Ricardo Campello, Baptiste Gossoin, Victor Fernandez Lopez, Boujmaa Guilloul spend 2 weeks here riding down Dakhla's best waves.

The quality of the waves is as good as that of Punta Pretas on Cape Verde. We can watch the spectacle in real life every day. Amazing....
Our return trip is via Sidi Ifni, with a further week's stop in Essaouira, this time with lots of wind!!! As it’s usual in Essaouira.
On 20.02. we return to Golf de Roses, with lots of great moments and memories on board and, above all, feeling completely fit and recuperated again!
And when do you plan to visit Morocco? In our opinion, this country is a place you've just got to have seen.

Nora & Ronan

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