Our last evening in Essaouria was cooler than we'd known over our travels here. I checked the 10 day forecast and could see that whilst the sun-filled days would still be around, the end of Summer was clearly here with cooler evenings and even the odd day or rain predicted. Lord knows this country needs some rain, so I will try to embrace it when it comes.
After Essaouira, we headed further up the coast to the resort town of Oualidia. This is where the people of Marrakech come on holiday in July and August. By September, they've emptied out and sure enough we found it a quiet and friendly place.
We stayed on the north side of the town in a traditional Moroccan apartment block called Kasba. The apartment was on the 2nd floor and was accessed from a stairway off of a courtyard. The stairs continued up around corners to another floor and then further on and around to the roof terrace. Several times Gaz and I stood on the terrace and tried to work out the layout of the building and how it was interconnected. It was a typical Moroccan build - they just follow their nose I swear, and if they want another room, then it just gets added on. I'm sure there's more science to it, but you could convince yourself otherwise.
We spent a day on the roof terrace taking advantage of the space in the sun and enjoying it being exclusively ours. So much so, that I pulled my swim suit down a bit, to get some of the white bits an airing, and regretted it almost straight away when the owner silently appeared with several new residents who were getting a royal tour. Well they got more than they bargained for! I tried to style it out, but only succeeded in looking like I'd been caught. For those with filthy minds - nothing was terribly exposed, but this is a conservative muslim country where ladies definitely cover their modesty. I felt my insides shrivel for a few moments and then decided that there's no point worryng. I was a little more careful after that however.
The apartment itself was fine and allowed us to continue our money saving self-catering and for only £25 a night, it was brilliant value for money.
We arrived pretty grubby to be fair, with A LOT of washing to be done and were expecting to find a washing machine in the apartment, but alas nope, so we paid the owner the equivalent of £2.50 to do a big wash for us. We've done this a number of times (as well as hand washing) and it always comes back clean, dry and folded.
We walked to the beach and explored the town - it was a hot day and the walk was long and included a hill down to the beach which was about 1Km long in itself, which is fine on the way down to the beach, but less fun on the way back! The views were worth it though.
Oualidia has a cove protected from the wildness of the sea by a row of rocks. This means that there is a gentle sandy lagoon safe for activities and swimming away from the surf. No wonder it's popular with the Moroccan holiday makers. It's a really pretty place, but whilst the people seem to be able to overlook the rubbish everywhere, we found it hard to ignore. It's something that has bothered us a lot throughout the whole country - no matter where we are, the rubbish is everywhere.
We found a spot on the sand that was clean and enjoyed a day of proper sunbathing and people watching. There weren't that many people about so it was a nice quiet day. We were approached only by a few vendors selling the usual stuff here - coffee, boat rides, grilled fish, doughnuts, and... sea urchins! That was a first for us. He was a lovely man and enjoyed just speaking a little english with us I think. Whilst we said no to him, we did have some great seafood on our last night at a restaurant near the beach.
Oualidia was a place I was really looking forward to seeing, and whilst I loved the place and the people, I was a little disappointed I guess, simply because of the rubbish. I would still encourage people to stop here if they're travelling the coast, because it has a lot to offer.
From there, we continued up the coast past Casablanca (there's not much to see, despite what Hollywood would have you believe) and drove on to Bouznika, a small town on the coast again with some great beaches and good surf. As our birthdays were looming in the coming days, we had decided to treat ourselves and book a holiday cabin on the beach. Right on the beach. Lush!
We had to off-road for about 2km to get to Dahomey Plage, a beach lined with several rows of bungalow style random cabin type structures, all nestled together and interconnected by sandy paths. We had trouble finding the place and had significant communication problems with the locals who were all trying to help us.
After nearly being shown into an old man's house that I swear he was trying to rent to us, a younger man pointed us in the right direction. We arrived a little early to find the owner cleaning and making the place ready. He and his young family were a delight. I played with the toddler Aren while Gaz got up to speed with a demo of how to use the TV. Reverting to type immediately.
And that leads me neatly on to my clumsiness. I am clumsy. Oh so clumsy. Always have been. In the first hour Id sat on the loo, twisted to find the toilet roll and in doing broken the toilet away from its fixings to the floor. Yep. Now in fairness to me, the toilet had not been fixed to the floor correctly. As is the way of Moroccans, they fudge everything, so the toilet has been
slathered in a chalky substance, something like Polyfiller or decorators Caulk and this had cracked and crumbled away quicker than a digestive biscuit. For the rest of the week the toilet was wobbly, as were my nerves! The owner ended up being cool about it tho.
The beach cabin had a leaky roof - the water tank housed up there seemed to be less than water tight at night, that and the wobbly toilet might have you thinking the place was a nightmare, but it wasn't. It was a spacious and comfortable house that had two lounge areas, a good kitchen, comfortable bedrooms and a great back terrace that finished on the beach.
We went to sleep and awoke to the sound of waves on the shore and spent the days in the sun and reading and generally relaxing. Once Gaz had mastered the lighting of charcoal, we had several barbeques and were joined by the neighbourhood cats and dogs hoping for a spot of leftovers. We're suckers for sad eyes, so they didn't do too bad out of us. For strays, all the animals have a good temperament. If I had my way, I'd bring them all home.
It was a great week, the first week I can genuinely say I've completely relaxed since we've been away (sounds crazy unless you know me).
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