Explore Morocco : Essaouira, Agadir, Legzira

20 August 2015

A very rare occation that we got a very loooong weekend, starting from Thursday until Sunday. Like everybody else, we also packed our luggage and went for vacation to the places that always in our list in exploring Morocco: Essaouira and Agadir.

 

We left from Casablanca at around 9 am, took highway and arrived at Essaouira at around 2 pm. Essaouira is a fortified seaport town, so the best place to explore Essaouira is the port area. Since it was a holiday season, it was very difficult to find parking lot near the port area. But finally, we managed to get a parking lot after spending quiet some time. From the parking lot, we walked to the port. We can see some fisherman unloading their fish. There were fishermen ships and some small boats that all painted in blue color. And there were so many seagulls flying very close to the ground to catch some fish that fell from the unloading process. They’re not afraid being so close with humans.

There were some restaurants in the port. We had our late lunch at Chez Sam. We ordered Grilled Sardine and Tagine Calamary, the taste was quiet good. After that we walked to the fort. After paid MAD 10, we can go inside the fort. The fort was still well preserved, we can take the stairs and go up to see the panoramic view of the Atlantic Ocean.

Then, we explored the Medina, formerly named Mogador which is means small fortress. The Medina was surrounded by the fort wall. Inside the Medina, we can find almost everything, from food, souvenirs, spices, etc. And there were a lot of café, resto and also Riad inside the Medina. There were some good art galleries in the Medina that sell paintings from local artist. We bought one painting from local painter M.Arbi El Mesnani. 

While in Medina, we tried to find our Riad O Gre Du Vent. As it’s not easy to find it, Pascal-the owner met us and then we went together to the Riad. Pascal was very helpful, he gave us information about interesting places that we can visit. The riad had a roof terrace, so we can see the ocean while enjoying the welcome drinks and snacks.

 

 

It was almost sunset time, when we reach the beach where we can ride camels or horses on the beach (it’s only about 2 km from the Medina). We paid MAD 80 for 30 minutes camel ride (2 person in 1 camel). The camel walked along the beach. As it was sunset, it was really beautiful scenery, and the blowing wind was quiet chilly at that time.

From here we parked our car at Bab Marrakech area (as Pascal suggested us), then we had our dinner at the resto inside the Medina. The price was very reasonable, with only MAD 55 we already got couscous with chicken, harira soup and homemade yogurt for dessert. 

 

21 August 2015

We had our breakfast at the roof terrace, it was really good that we can enjoy our Moroccan breakfast with magnificent view. And they serve complete breakfast: Omelette, Msemen (Moroccan crepes), Moroccan donuts, French baguette, Pastry, with honey, strawberry jam, amlou (a chunky paste whih is made from nuts, honey and argan oil), fresh orange juice, Moroccan tea, Coffee, Milk and homemade yogurt. With this kind of “luxuries”, no wonder we spent quiet some time enjoying our breakfast.

 

After check out, we strolled in the Medina, bought some souvenir, took some photos, then we took our car and drove to Agadir. Not far from Essaouira, there was a small town named Sidi Kaouki. It’s famous for windsurf and kitesurf. We stopped by at this place for a while.

 

 

Then we continue our journey and we had another stop at Imsouane. Imsouane is a fishing port, it has a beautiful long sandy beaches known as Cathedrals and the Bay. It also known as good location for surfing, as it has the most consistent and longest wave in Morocco. We can find some resto that served good seafood here.

 

From Imsouane we continued, and stopped at Taghazout to had late lunch. Taghazout is a small fishing village, not far from Agadir. It is also famous for surfing. And because it’s summer time, so many people swimming at the sea. From here, it only takes around 30 minutes to get to Agadir.

First place that we visited was Kasbah. The Kasbah was located on top of the hill, we can see the view over the Agadir Bay and the Ports. The hill bears the inscription in Arabic: "God, Country, King" which is illuminated at night.

From Kasbah, we went to Marina area. We parked our car then we walked around. There were some good resto and café facing the ocean, some branded stores and also theme park on the beach. As it was already late night, we decided to go to the Hotel, we stayed at Ibis Hotel.

 

22 August 2015

In the morning we walked to the Souk (market), it was only 3 minutes walk from Ibis Hotel. The souk sells fresh fruits, vegetables, meats and also some parts that sell clothes, bags, souvenirs. We bought a tray here. The price was good, it only MAD 110 for about 40 cm (diameter) tray. Also we bought some Moroccan snacks.

From souk, we walked to the beach. It took around 15 minutes walking. The beach was good, it was clean and the sand also good. The weather also nice, it was not hot although it was sunny. We spend time play at the beach until around 12.00.

Then we continued our journey to Legzira beach. We took the route via Tiznit, then Aglou. From Aglou we will get Mirleft then about 30 minutes we will arrive at Legzira beach. It was around 3 hours drive from Agadir to Legzira beach.

Legzira beach was a secluded beach with its amazing shape stone. To get to the beach, we must climb down the stairs. There were some small hotels in the beach. We spent time in the Legzira beach until almost 7 pm, then we back to Agadir.

This time, we stayed at Tulip Inn, an quite old hotel that close to the beach. Only 5 minutes walk we can get to the beach. Also this hotel has a reserved area on the beach just for the hotel guests.

23 August 2015

Today was the last day before we back to Casablanca. We spend our time at the beach. Kaeo was busy playing with the sand. Around check out time (12.30) we backed to hotel then drove back to Casablanca. We had our late lunch at Palmerie Marrakech, it was not far from the highway exit (so we did not spent to much time for lunch). We arrived at Casablanca at around 7 pm.