Looking for Sun

Mon-Tue, January 26-27, 2026 -- Agadir, Morocco

We didn't finally arrive in Agadir until 3AM on Monday morning.  We had booked a direct seven-hour van ride the night before in Fez, but it was never confirmed.  So, in the end, we took a train back to Marrakech and then a bus to Agadir.

Miles of beach

One of the unavoidable hazards of traveling as an obvious tourist here, is that you are a bit of a target and people are not always honest.  As a result, you learn to be a little cautious and suspicious.  However, that too can be a problem. If you get too cynical, you end up not trusting anyone, even when should and need to to get what you want. 

Trying to get a bus ticket in Marrakech at 9:30 at night was a bit stressful simply because we didn't really know how the process should work (the normal ticket windows were closed). There were just a bunch of men walking up to us, asking us where we were going, scribbling on a paper ticket pads, and asking for money. Not very reassuring. Once we were led to a bus, we had some questions. Where is this bus (really) going? When is it leaving? When will it arrive?  Knowing whether they were telling the truth was hard to know.  

The Marrakech bus station

Our bus to Agadir

We eventually bought a ticket for a bus leaving at 9:30PM and arrive at 12:30AM. In reality, the bus didn’t leave until closer to 10:00. Then, as we were fighting traffic to get out of town, the bus pulled over to the side of the road behind another bus. Suddenly, everyone jumped up, got off and climbed into the other one!  It seemed like a good idea to do the same, although first we stopped to rummage around in the luggage compartment to rescue our bags.  

Bus swap: find your bag and go

In the end, we did make it to the very nice Amadil Ocean Club, a large hotel in a string of hotels along the Agadir ocean promenade, at 3AM. Surprisingly, the hotel is almost fully booked with Europeans trying to escape the winter cold, mostly French but with a few Brits as well (by the sound of it).

Amadil Ocean Club

Hotel restaurant 

Our two days here have been pretty slow.  We did take a two-hour city tour on Monday.  Our guide spoke a heavily accented hybrid of English and French, which kept us guessing. He picked us up in a black van and drove us to a few sights spewing out facts about Agadir and Morocco as we went.  

View overlooking Agadir and the beach

Town park

Town mosque

One thing we've been introduced to a few times now in Morocco is Argan oil.  The Argan tree, indigenous to Morocco, has small leaves, large thorns, and a small fleshy fruit with a nut inside. The nuts are roasted and ground up, often by local women's cooperatives to extract argan oil, which is turned into 1) lotions and creams to treat dry skin, wrinkles, psoriasis, acne; and 2) edible oil, good for digestion, high cholesterol, diabetes, inflammation and joint pain...! Apparently it’s full of antioxidants and vitamin E, though once something claims  to treat so many ailments, I become a little doubtful.

Argan tree with fruit/nuts

Goats feeding on the Argan tree

Today, Tuesday, we took a dune buggy ride in the morning and rented a couple of bikes which we rode up to the view point over looking the city. The buggy ride was enjoyable enough though we rarely got above 30 mph as we were following our non-English speaking guide.  My request “plus vite” (faster) went unheeded.

Our side by side buggy, Argan trees behind

We did stop for a small glass of tea and a biscuit at a small bird “oasis.”  It was not much of an oasis, but the two ostriches in the pen were fun to watch. Very prehistoric!

Resident ostrich of the “bird oasis”

Dinosaur feet!

Now that’s an egg

For the second evening in a row, we had dinner at the nearby Maxwell Restaurant. Because French is the default western/tourist language of Morocco, we've been trying to practice a little, particularly at meals. Tonight, we had a very pleasant dinner sitting outside.  I observed to Meg that we were in Morocco, listening to French people at the tables around us, watching some strange German billiards competition on TV, listening to American music, while I enjoyed Italian tagliatelle and Meg, Kung Pao chicken. Bon Apetit!

Our dinner spot of choice