Morocco – Taghazout

Our week in Taghazout together was fun, relaxing, and an interesting eye openner.  Taghazout is a small village just along the coast from Agadir.  Since the sixties it has been a big surfer hangout.   The intent in staying there was to get some sun, sand, and relaxation and for me to try my hand at surfing.

When we arrived though we were both very very tired from the road trip.  After moving around almost everyday and the constant riding for almost 2 weeks, we were exhausted mentally, physically, and emotionally.  This is the first time we have travelled together so being together 24/7 under conditions of some stress has taken its toll.  We were bickering a lot and generally not really enjoying our time.  This is the first time we’ve had such disagreements so it was hard for us to learn how to deal with that kind of conflict.  But after lots of talking (and cuddles) we worked things through.

We did actually consider leaving Morocco early to go somewhere more culturally familiar (e.g. Europe).  Morocco is lovely but I found that I was conscious of everything – from brushing my teeth with bottled water, to making sure I’m wearing pants when we go out (not showing too much skin).  I couldn’t just do as I would at home which is very tiring.  Not to mention I’ve been on the move for over 2 months now.  I was very much in need of a mental and physical break and we were only partially able to get it in Taghazout.

We had an apartment directly on the water. Actually the one we originally rented wasn’t tenable as it was right in the heart of the town.  The first night there was a group of skateboarders doing their thing right blow our window and then the next morning the fishing boats started revving their engines for launch starting at 6 am.

Fishing boats below our window at first apartment

Luckily, the organization we booked the apartment through (Surf ‘n Stay) was able to move us to another unit which was lovely and a bit further out of town.  We were able to sit on the balcony and enjoy the sun and sound of the waves crashing onto the beach below.

On our first weekend we made a trip into Agadir to the massive supermarket to pick up some supplies which included some wine as these are the only places you can buy alcohol in Morocco.   Everyone from the area seemed to be there as they are all stocking up for the coming feast of Eid which was on Wednesday.

Actually the big part of the feast is slaughter of a sheep so there are big road side stands where you can get your sheep or even in the parking lot of the supermarket (kind of like getting a Christmas tree!).  People bought the sheep live an then as part of the Eid celebrations they were slaughtered.  In the days leading up to it sheep appeared in unlikely places.

Talkative sheep waiting for Eid celebrations (right beside where we were having dinner)

A waiter that we were chatting with at one of the restaurants invited us to join his family’s celebrations for Eid.  Though it would have been interesting in the end we didn’t go.  A big thing for me was I couldn’t handle watching a sheep being slaughtered and then watch people eat it.

The day after Eid (Thursday) the garbage truck hauled away mountains of sheep carcasses that were slaughtered because they weren’t sold along with all the discarded skins.  Many of the young men made suits out of the skins (including the face skin) and walked around clothed in them for the next couple of evenings carrying the feet tied to strings and hitting passers by and asking for money.    You can only imagine the smell!

Sheep people with masks after Eid (I struggled to get a picture)

I did give surfing a try one day.  It was a total disaster.  Of course I’m totally uncoordinated and am probably not in the best of shape to do it, but I was really looking forward to it.  I made arrangements through our host with a local surf school.  I was the only total beginner that day so I had one-on-one instructions with a young guy.   It was a beautiful day and after grabbing gear we headed out to a gorgeous long sandy beach just outside town.

Let’s just say he was a disaster of an instructor.  Surfing is really really hard because it requires alot of strength, balance, and coordination – especially when you are trying to stand up on the board (called “pop-up”) for the first time.  He made me feel like an idiot that I couldn’t do it within my first 5 tries.  I only found out at the end of the day from other surfers that no-one stands up on their first day.  Unfortunately my instructor didn’t tell me this, so my own frustration combined with feeling his impatience upset me so much that I eventually gave up and sat it out on the beach.  So that was the sum total of my surfing experience in Taghazout as I was so put off I didn’t want to give it another try there.  I will likely give it another try in a different place in the future – hopefully with a group of other beginners to get mutual support and make it fun instead of just a monologue of analysis in my head!

Me in my wetsuit (squinting in the sun – I’m not in pain!)

Surfers enjoying the waves

We also did some exploration of the area. The highlight was hike up to Paradise Valley.  This started off with a lovely ride up into the hills away from the ocean.  We then hiked down into a beautiful valley full of small water pools, cool palm trees, and tranquility.   It was a lovely spot of green in such an arid country.  I’ve really missed green! Unfortunately we got off the main path and I also found it was pretty muddy when I took an undignified tumble!

Paradise Valley

Yesterday (Saturday) the folks we rented the bike from (Loc2Roues) came to Agadir from Marrakech to bring us the luggage we had left with them as well as to pick up the bike.  That last piece of business taken care of we packed up all our gear and headed to the airport.

I was very very sad to say good bye to Eric.  It has been a revealing few weeks.  We’ve both learned a lot about each other, our relationship, and what we want going forward.  I think in many ways it was just a bit of overload – too much Morocco, too much bike riding, too much time together without breaks.  But we worked it through and I’m very happy.  I’m now looking forward to the rest of my trip until December.  This stretch of separation seems much shorter than the first even though it will likely be the same duration.

Yesterday evening Eric started on his journey back to Toronto and I headed to Marseille for a few days break before heading to Istanbul.  My mission here is to reset a bit but more on that to come.

Sorry for the long delay in posting. I hope you will forgive my taking a bit of a (unplanned) break this past week so I could relax and enjoy my time with Eric.  I’m so touched by how many people are following along on my adventures.  I am very appreciative of all the comments and emails I’ve received.  Every time I hear from someone it feels like a big hug which makes all the difference when I’m feeling disconnected or alone.  So thank you.