Morocco

Nowhere evokes such a startling variety of cultures and landscapes as much as Morocco in North Africa. A vast land that stretches from the Mediterranean coast across the majestic atlas mountain range to the arid wastes of the Sahara desert, Morocco leaves a startling and surreal impression on the visitor. A mix of many cultures and scene of much history from Romans to Berbers, Arabs and Colonial expansion, it is a fascinating place for adventure tourism.

The aim of my trip was to indulge in some of the best surfing on the Atlantic coast with world class surf breaks located in the vicinity of Agadir in the south. Excellent right hand point breaks abound, especially in the area around the fishing village / hippy town of Taghazoute, most notably Anka point.

Sadly or possibly not, our undertaking was to be drastically altered as by bad luck the surf was not in occurrence, being only in the 1-2ft range on the day we arrived. Taghazoute is pleasant enough, but aside from sunbathing and eating Tangines or drinking mint tea, there is very little else to do.

A plan was made to meet a friend in the evocative city of Marrakech, 4 hours north of Agadir and to do a bit of touring. We set off in our rather basic and recently thrashed fiat Sienna north through the Atlas mountains and along the plains and arid regions to the sprawling centre of Marrakech. Getting in and out of this place can be a major exercise as it is crowded with locals and tourists alike and maps can be quite misleading. In the centre is the massive square of Place Djemaa El Fna and a series of Souks (or bazaars) that are so maze-like that getting lost is extremely easy. When u first enter the souk, it is easy to get totally blown away  by the scene. Endless small shops, people in all manner of clothing from the hooded men (nicknamed Obi's by my friends) to fully Burkha clad women and western dressed locals. Also the smells of spices, and foreign foods, mixed with gold and silver jewellery and carpets, makes it a scene reminiscent of the Arabian nights, very addictive and easy to spend many hours wandering where the mind takes you. At night a scene of hundreds of eating areas is set up and the smell of foods cooking can be overpowering. A walk in the square will open you to scenes of snake charmers, locals with monkeys on shoulders, could be right out of an Indiana Jones movie!

The next day we set off across the plains into the heart of the Atlas Mountains, driving razorback corners up to highest road pass in the morocco, the  Tizi n Test. Here views are incredible and the weather is crisp and sunny as in any alpine environment.

The road trip winds in and out of the mountains with small villages here and there and eye-popping valleys spread out here and there. Out of the atlas we went into the arid areas bordering the Sahara and near the famous Draa valley, our next stop being the famous Kasbah(fort) of Ait Benadhou. This huge fortress dominates the valley and hugs a small hill with insane views in all directions. People still live here and share the mud brick edifice with huge rooftop dwelling Storks. The view from the ruins on the summit are utterly superb with mountain and desert scenery that is timeless.

Travelling south, we ended up in the town of Oarzazate, which is central to the southern desert regions. The town is famous for its film studios which have produced films such as Gladiator and Lawrence of Arabia. South east of here is the scenic Draa valley with its "1000 Kasbahs". This is an eerie valley of high arid mountains surrounding a river plain full of palm trees and sugar cane plants. Here and there, are small villages and remains of Kasbahs. This area is listed as one of the 10 20 places to visit in your life. Turning west we headed off toward the coast pasting through increasingly arid stony desert and  then into more greener areas nearer to Agadir  Going through the market town of Taroudant we eventually reached our small village again to discover; yes you guessed it still no surf!

The following day we decided to try and find some waves and we succeeded at the long empty beach of Tamri with decidedly average 3ft waves. Water was cold but very clear. Local kids can be a bit of a problem here, as can theft from cars ,so keep a close eye out on belongings.

The next day we decided to head back on the tourist trail to the coastal fort town of Essaouira. This is a great town in a scenic location on the Atlantic coast. It is surrounded by city walls and has a good tourist souk and an even more startling local Souk. From inside the local markets there is amazing scenes of various peoples and extremely interesting fish and poultry processing areas down dark alleys. The spell can be evil, but is well worth the wander. On the port side, cooked fish can be purchased that will fill you to capacity. Prawns, huge crabs, fish of all type for very little money; not to be missed.

As our trip wound on to its conclusion, ironically the surf started to come up, the waves of Anka Point and Boilers started to increase, but we were out of time. Our short week in morocco was at end. With this brief taster, we were determined to return at a later stage for surf and culture. As luck would have it, the following week the surf was amazing on that coast..Murphys law i guess!