Agadir
We had no problems getting a Grand Taxi from Essaouira to Agadir but all the way on the walk from the medina to the taxi rank I just hoped we’d meet someone who would offer us a ride in their camper van. This did not happen and instead I was subjected to possibly the scariest taxi ride ever. And not enjoyable scary like a tuk tuk ride. Really scary, like almost crying scary!!
Our Grand Taxi charged us 70 dirham each and it filled pretty quickly but with men, not like our previous experience. This instantly changed the mood in the taxi I felt and I was already tense before we set off, especially as the old man on the other side of Ben, who was sitting next to me, just kept staring. And staring. And staring.
I felt that our driver was OK to begin with and the first 15 minutes or so of our journey seemed OK although I could sense that this driver was not really paying attention to the road. Soon enough the road became windy and the driver felt confident enough to speed around corners past farmers with their donkeys and goats. The road started to become hilly and it was now that I was starting to feel a bit panicky as by this stage our driver was driving on the wrong side of the road whenever he saw fit!! I could see the men sitting in front glancing at the driver but not saying anything. I tried to stay calm but he just kept swerving between lanes, sometimes doing so before a blind corner but it really came to a head on a hill with no barriers to stop a car hurtling over the side. he took a bend very fast, braking into the bend rather than before it and, swerving on the wrong side of the road, I swear the back wheel just touched off the side of the road. At this point I … dont remember exact words but must have said something to express that i wasnt happy and the driver just looked at me in his rear view and started laughing and asked in English, “What’s wrong?” I asked him to slow down please. He muttered something about the roads being too small but he did slow down although he didnt keep to his side of the road.
We stopped about an hour short of Agadir for a toilet stop and the driver did come up to me and cheerfully asked if I was OK. I said that I really didnt like his driving. This didn’t break his good humour and he told me he did the same 3 hour trip 4 times a day. WHAT?!?!?!? And he was still alive?! Oh well, I just gritted my teeth and got back in the car. I asked Ben if he wasnt scared too and he said he was but I guess girls just get more emotional.
We drove through Taghazout and saw our Aussie friends’ red transit van parked outside the Cafe de Tenerife and finally we came to Agadir. The taxi driver dropped us off in the centre of town, still in high spirits and off we went, grateful we were in one piece. Seriously, you won’t believe the trauma til you get in a long-distance grand taxi for yourself and they are known to be fairly dangerous. Furthermore there are no seatbelts. I dont think I will ever, ever get in another one again. 
Once in Agadir we had a most needed lunch at Cafe le Printemps opposite the petit taxi stand and headed into the Nouvelle Talborjt to find a place to stay. We could have stayed at a resort on the beach but we hadnt really come to Agadir to be package tourists. Im not sure what we were doing in any sense. We were a bit stuck and like true travellers really had no idea what we were doing next. We checked into the very clean Hotel El Bahia and explained to the owner we didnt know how long we would stay for and he was fine with that. If anyone ever stays there I would also like to recommend Patisserie Moderne on Rue Allal ben Abdellah for breakfast!
Agadir was really warm and sunny. We had travelled about 9 hours south now from our starting point so teh heat was most welcome. The fleece stayed in the hotel room. We headed down to the beach for sunset. What a lovely beach! We decided to spend the following day sunbathing there. Dont know what Agadir is like in the summer but out of season its really pleasant and if anything, very chilled out, more so than Essaouira! Hardly anybody stared or gave us hassle. It was so far removed from the Morocco we’d seen though so its not the best example of this country but it really was a welcome stop from the craziness.
We spoke to a few tour operators about what to do about a desert trip. Most people go from Ouarzazate which is better to get to from Marrakesh but the risk there was that in winter the snow on mountains between the two cities can cause people to get stuck! Also, Ouarzazate from Agadir was a good 8 hour drive and then some. So we settled for a day trip out to the Massa desert, south of Agadir. The man we eventually booked this mini trip from, Driss, was a very friendly person and keen to talk about life in Morocco and also in England. he had lived in Finland some years before and named his travel company, Kauhava Tours in honour of that. We spent a couple of evenings talking to him over mint tea. We also found Khatidja from Cote D’Azur Travel to be very helpful.
Our day sunbathing was a good, relaxing day. At one point Ben left me alone to get some lunch. A few men walked past me and sat near me and when I slyly glanced over I could see they were watching me, but having said that they were never threatening. they would look for 10 minutes say, then get up and leave. Nothing was said, nothing was done.
We visited the fish market, some 10 minutes walk from the beach. Now this really was a piece of real Morocco with hustlers urging you to eat at their stall and beggars striking from every corner. Kids were asking for money and their mothers came after them in mock horror (we found later on in our journey that its these kids mothers who are the perpetrators). A boy asked for our half-finished bottle of Mirinda and we gave it to him.
We got a petit taxi back into town and it wasnt until the driver started trying to sell us a tour that we realised we had got into an unmetered cab! We were almost at our destination so we let him go on and when we stopped he turns to us and asks for 20 dirham. 20 dirham is less than £1.50 but honestly a journey that short should have been perhaps 6 or 7? I told him we would be paying no such amount, that we had been in Morocco for almost 2 weeks and we knew what the rates were. Ok, he said, 15. 15?? I say, no way. Then he says its after dark and the rates double. I told him not to be so silly, we know the rates dont double until after 8pm (it was only just past sunset). Ben gave him 11 dirham and the taxi driver didnt argue. he knew he’s got a good cut anyway! But how many people must get ripped off like that who think 20 dirham is nothing anyway..??
Our desert tour was heaps of fun. We started out on a foggy morning and drove down with 4 others in a 4×4. Lots of other tour groups were also out and about so it was like the Paris Dakkar, all these jeeps off-roading, lots of fun! We drove on sand dunes and saw almond trees and scorpions and sankes. We had lunch with a Berber family and I poured mint tea for everyone and we banged some drums! 
We also went to Tiznit and tried to buy some silver but we just got laughed out of the shop 🙁 We went to Souss Massa National Park and drove back to Agadir via the coast and saw where fishermen hide out in caves carved into the cliffs. We also had the chance to buy some pottery for the folks back home from a factory en route.
We both really enjoyed Agadir, possibly because we hadnt really thought we’d spend much time there but we did end up staying there for 3 nights in total. Id recommend it but like I said before, it might be a different story in peak season.
Tags: agadir, beach, desert, grands taxis, Morocco, Travel
PixieDoux
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Great blog thanks, very useful. Think I will save it to favourites for future reference!