June 3rd: Legzira Beach

Photos for June 3rd - Legzira Beach, Agadir, and home.

Breakfasted, packed, and on the road by 9am to avoid paying for another night at the hotel! My patience began to wear thin in conversations with Gabriella and my aunt; whether or not you agree with Myers-Briggs personality types or even horoscopes, there is no denying that the descriptions for INTJs and Virgos have me in mind! The French habit of responding to questions with nothing more than a shoulder shrug leaves me in despair! I may think laterally, and see possibilities that others don’t, but I intake information linearly. When information received makes no sense, I quite literally feel that a computer screen inside my brain spits out a message stating “does not compute. Does not compute” and, like a GPS recalculating or rerouting, there is an almost human like element in the mounting annoyance. Age has helped me mask this - I am not as impatient as I once was, and my face no longer imparts the “what sort of imbecile am I dealing with?” look that I know it once did all too readily! But, being tired and dealing with a Rumanian, an example of whose conversation begins with “I am vegetarian, I no longer eat animals” and ends with “beef grease or fat is better than butter. I use it on all my bread” and a French woman who responds to questions such as “would you like to go out for a walk now, or stay in the hotel?” with “yes” was, quite frankly, more than I could cope with today. I decided the wisest course of action was to smile if looked at, but otherwise keep silent! Mental note to self: never, ever, ever, ever, travel with company again!!!

Gabriella and Andrei stated that they were returning the car to Agadir and flying from Agadir airport. I mapped the CTM station in Agadir and asked the location of their rental return so that I could find a drop off convenient for all of us. After twenty minutes of questioning, it turns out they are dropping off the car in Inezgane - a suburb of Agadir. To make things less complicated, I requested that they drop us off in Tiznit as I knew this was on their way to Agadir, we were already acquainted with the town, and knew the location of the CTM station, although not the bus schedule. Agreed upon this plan iof f action, we retraced our route to Sidi Ifni and onwards to Tiznit.

None of us had seen the famous rock at Legzira Beach, so we  stopped and followed the correct road downwards to the beach and agreed to meet at the car after 30 minutes. Legzira Beach is beautiful; soft golden sand, restaurants, a small resort, a surf shop, lifeguards,  families playing, locals sunbathing, and the famous arch … there were two rocks with arches, but one collapsed in 2016. The one that is left actually has 3 arches, and is very photogenic. My aunt thinks she would like to return with her daughter. It is a lovely sleepy place.

I walked to the arch as quickly as I could - encountering jellyfish along the way -  so that I could see it up close and take photos and then we strolled back to the promenade and up the steep ramp to the car and waited for Gabriella and Andrei.

We reached Tiznit in no time and said our goodbyes. We were grateful for all we had done with them, but it was equally nice to say farewell!

We walked to the CTM station … no more buses to Agadir today! We might be staying another night in the hotel Assaka. I got out the Wi-Fi hotspot that we are carrying, but using sparingly, and mapped the Supratours station - a short distance and worth a try. Success, they had a bus leaving in 30 minutes, and from Agadir we should find a bus back to Essaouira. We were feeling very nomadic by this time!

The route to Agadir took us through Inezgane, which looks like an interesting town; cosmopolitan, affluent, a mixture of architecture, and plenty if well kept parks and green spaces, full of families, palm trees … and jacarandas in full bloom.

Finding ourselves at Agadir bus station once again, we purchased our tickets. This time on Pullman Sud - the only coach leaving that day to Essaouira! We had a three hour wait and chose to explore the city streets in the hope of lunch. As expected, the restaurants and cafes were closed for Ramadan, but we purchased bread and laughing cow cheese triangles ar a small store. We found some steps in the shade to sit and eat our meagre fare and were soon joined by a wild (stray) dog, who sat and watched longingly, hopefully. Suddenly we heard a shout “hey, American” - it was our friend, Sallah, from our first time at the Agadir bus station, just a few short days ago. He shooed the dog away, chatted about our recent travels, again offered his services as a guide, and then left as suddenly as he had arrived.

We decided the cats of the bus station were preferable to the stray dogs of the street and made our weary way back. Only a few hours to go… We sat at the tables outside a cafe in the station, and one by one men and young boys gathered nearby. Suddenly, the tv was switched on and the entire floor came to life; apparently they can do without food, but not football (soccer)! Spain V Switzerland … we gave up our seats.

As 7.30 approached, we saw the same preparations being made at a tent in the station plaza. I asked the young ticket sellers, and was told that food is provided for free to the travellers during Ramadan. We were welcome to join the feast. I wanted to see what they were offering, but not to eat, so we walked to the tent and were welcomed like family; chairs brought out, plates set, we were offered mint tea, harira, hard boiled eggs, freshly baked bread … we kept refusing, saying that we had eaten and did not keep Ramadan. But, it is futile to refuse Moroccan hospitality and we sat to enjoy hard boiled eggs bread, and mint tea.

Finally, it was time for our bus to leave. We would be in Essaouira by midnight, home shortly after. The bus dropped us off in a part of the City I had not yet seen, and the streets were absolutely packed with people celebrating Ramadan; it looked like a combination of a busy market day and kids waiting, expectantly and excitedly, for a major pop concert. It was tough to navigate the streets for a taxi, but navigate we did. Finally home! Feeling dirty, grubby and tired we decided that tired won out. Showers could wait until tomorrow.