Agadir, Morocco

Relaxation

The remaining 3 days of our visit to Morocco were spent in the beach resort town of Agadir, located on the shores of the Atlantic ocean. Checking in to the Hotel Sofitel, we were once again given the little glasses of customary Moroccan mint tea. What a nice tradition for welcoming guests.

Agadir is further south than Marrakech so the weather was warmer. It was nice to spend the whole first day relaxing by the pool and soaking in the sunshine. How wonderful to escape the dreariness of February winter in England and work on our suntans by the pool. And what a pool it was. Here is a panoramic shot of the hotel pool area (photo stolen shamelessly from Pam).

Sofitel Agadir

The guys soon discovered what they called the "bunkers" laid out between the pool area and the beach. They sit low in the ground to help block the wind. We all met there for lunch each day. Waiters brought food and drinks right to the table. When not dining, the benches were great for napping or reading. It was the guys' hideaway, the girls preferred the more comfortable tanning beds at the pool.

The "Bunkers"

Group lunch in the Bunker

How's that for a tanning bed?

Tour Time

The next day the grown-ups were ready to take a tour to explore and learn more about the city of Agadir. The teens were not interested in leaving the paradise of the hotel, so they had another day of lazy tranquility poolside.

The first place the tour guide took us was to the fishing port. Surprisingly, Agadir's main industry is fishing, not tourism. We were driven past several canning factories, mostly canning of sardines. We saw boats being refurbished. It was interesting to see a pile of split tree trunks being transformed into wooden fishing boats right in front of us.

Trees turned into boats

The Kasbah is on hilltop in background

Our next stop was to the top of a hill to see the Kasbah where a fortress from the 16th century used to stand but which was destroyed in a 1960 earthquake. The outer walls were rebuilt but it's quite disappointing to get to the top and nothing is inside the walls except for a huge cell phone tower. My first thought was of the song "Rockin' the Casbah" by the Clash. Similar, but I believe the song is about another kasbah somewhere else.

At the top, you can take a camel ride or just have your picture taken with a camel but it will cost you. We made good use of the Arabic phrase we learned, "La Shokran" which means "No thank you", as the camel owners can be quite pushy about it. Having already taken a camel ride in Egypt next to the pyramids, a ride in a parking lot was not enticing.

Here is a picture of one of the camels waiting for a tourist to take a ride. Our 15-passenger bus is in the background.

Care for a ride? I'll take the bus, thanks!

It was worth it to go up to the top of the hill, however, for the view:

View of Agadir from the Kasbah

This is a view of the Kasbah from the beach. The words on the side of the hill say "God King Country".

Kasbah in background

At night, the words on the side of the hill are lit up:

Kasbah at night

After we rocked the Kasbah, we drove through the old part of Agadir that was destroyed in the 1960 earthquake. Over one-third of the population of Agadir was killed in the earthquake that lasted less than 15 seconds.  It was eerie seeing nothing left but the remains of stair steps. The area is now used for driving tests and driving practice. The city of Agadir has been rebuilt 1 mile south of the earthquake's epicenter.

We made a quick stop to see the mosque where prayers were just finishing. Men were exiting from the men's entrance and putting their shoes back on.

After prayers

Argan Oil

Demo of argan oil production

Our guide then took us into a shop where we learned all about argan oil. Of course the shop had plenty of items made from argan oil available to buy. This was the first time I had even heard of the oil but apparently it's very popular now. The oil is produced from the fruit of the argan tree which grows right there in the Agadir area. We were shown how the oil is extracted from the nut found inside the fruit of the tree. The photo shows the various stages of extracting the oil and the traditional method of grinding the nuts. Today, mechanical presses are used instead of the manual grinding stones.

The oil can be cooked and used as a dip for food, similar to using olive oil. It is supposed to be healthier than olive oil and good for reducing cholesterol. We were told swallowing a teaspoon a day is good for your health. I tried some on a salad but I wasn't sold on the flavor. When the oil is used in cosmetic products it is not cooked.

The shop had 3 entire walls of products displayed for sale. Each product was touted as a cure for some ailment, anything from age spots, dry skin, dry hair, to snoring and wrinkles, depending on what was added to the argan oil. I'm told by others in our group that the snoring has not been cured! I did buy some oil for dry skin and it does make my skin very soft and is easily absorbed.

What is nice about the argan oil industry is that it is produced solely by a women's cooperative that shares the profits among the local women of the Berber tribe. We were told that the shop we were in only employs divorced women who otherwise wouldn't be able to support themselves.

We discovered that the shop also offered massage therapy using what else, argan oil, at prices cheaper than the hotel. The girls had been wanting to get massages. For a little more than the hour-long massage at the hotel, the girls could get a two-hour massage here. As the parents would be bringing the girls anyway we decided we would all get massages. Seemed like a good idea at the time.

Full Body 2-Hour Massage

Two hours is a long time for a massage. In fact, the ladies doing the massaging had to take a break halfway through. We joked about letting divorced women inflict their pain on the men. Those women were strong, especially when they used their elbows. They were generous with the argan oil all over our bodies, even on our heads. We came out feeling greasy and with wild hair, but relaxed. We were also feeling like another 2-hour full body massage would not be needed ever again.

Time to Leave

We were sad to have our week in Morocco come to an end. I purchased a cute little silver teapot and two little tea glasses to remember the comforting Moroccan mint tea we drank. We also chose a miniature tagine pot like the clay ones that the Moroccan stews are slow-cooked in.

Our souvenirs

At the airport, there were separate lines for men and women when going through security, which I've never seen. Then again I was leaving a country where donkey-pulled carts in the streets exist alongside the wealthy Saudi Arabian King's palace.