DAY 219

Wednesday 15 February 2012

We were up by 10 for coffee delivered to our van by Lachen (no roller skates but hey, delivery to our door - what service!).  We ate fresh bread from the camp Sidi Magador store in Essaouri and Lachen came back with a pair of pointed- toe Arabic slippers for Dian. They fit beautifully (especially because one was size 44 and the other size 43 – the same as Dian’s feet!)

Driving along what we thought was going to be mostly the coast road we ended up seeing a lot of pasture and inland scenery. Each small village had donkeys, children who waved at us and many small vendor’s shops. As in Kenya (where we went on a safari three years earlier) there were many destitute-looking people but not too many who begged at our door or became disrespectful. We saw many French camper vans and the surfing crowd in small towns on our way to El Ouatia.

Because we needed to handle an Internet call to Dian’s medical insurance people, we pulled over just outside of Agadir to use Google Voice. We also bought groceries there and soon the sun set. Where to camp? With no camping guides for Morocco, we trusted a sign for Camping International Sidi Wassay. The road from the highway was 15 kilometers and there weren’t a lot of buildings or people on the way.

It was by then a common occurrence that just when we thought we were going to be the only tourists at a deserted outpost, we would enter the gates and the joint would be jumpin'! We found out that our ocean view site came with electricity and cost the equivalent of eight dollars a night. We had the chicken and petite peas we’d purchased from the massive supermarket Marjane earlier and slept peacefully.

To us, a beautiful beach. To others, a windsurfing mecca