Essaouria, Morocco

Looking toward the Medina from the old Harbour.

Shortly after arriving in Morocco I did my first trip down the Ahansal river. This trip was with a father and son from the states and at the end of it we went out to Essaouria on the west coast of Morocco. This is a beautiful town with lots of little places to explore in the old medina, surf kayaking, kite boarding, camel riding, getting vans stuck in sand, and a fresh fish market that has awesome cooked fish for a 30-40dh. Well, worth checking out. Some better surf to the south as well, heading toward Agadir.


Looking through the gates of the Old Medina where some of the homes here sell for around 200,000 pounds.

Colourful scarves in the market.

Fish for sale in the market.

Big fishing boats.

Blue boats of Essaouria.

The alley ways of the old Medina.

Camel riding on the beach of the west African coast.

Keyhole gateway.

Photos by David Prothero

NZ to Morocco in planes, vans and boats.

With my season finished in NZ for the moment, I headed off to Christchuirch for the beginning of the travel to Morocco. This was a trip that would involve a number of airplanes, FUPA, and 2 ferries and a few thousand kilometers to get to Bin el Ouidane on the edge of the High Atlas mountains.
Arriving in England I stayed with some family, then the next morning it was back to Heathrow airport to meet up with the gang and we where off to Dover to catch a ferry to France. Picked up in the morning by Ollie and trusty FUPA, kayaks loaded, we were heading off on a fun adventure.
In total there were five of us in FUPA, as the work ford transit was called, Ollie, Sophie, Chris, Howard and myself. Arriving on the ferry we made a bee line to the bar, got to love ferries that have bars on them. Then we where off with many coffee breaks through northern France and down the coast with a leg stretch stop and dinner in Biarritz.
From this point we headed down through the mountains, eventually skirting Madrid as we headed south to Tarifa and the ferry to Tangier. Along the way bottles of scotch and beer where to consumed to bide the time as we provided moral support and comedy to Ollie, who was the designated driver for this leg of the trip.
After four days of driving we arrived in Bin-el-Ouidane. A little party followed as we had made it. Then it was into preparing for the season.



The bar on the ferry from Dover.


Biarritz.

Castle in Biarritz.

Man fishing in the morning in the Straight of Gibraltar, Tarifa.


Howard the Navigator.......... where is that sign to Malaga?


Stopping for the fist of many tagine on the coast of Morocco.

The speedy cat from Tarifa to Tangier in the morning light.


Afriquia, the favorite petrol station.

Sunset, Moroccan style.

Relaxing with a few drinks after a long drive.

Photos by David Prothero