Jack Wolfskin Summer 2014

FROM THE WALLED FORTRESS
TO THE PEARL OF THE SOUTH:
A MOROCCAN ROAD TRIP
We could have stayed in Essaouira forever. The meaning of its
name (one possible translation is “the walled fortress”) was clear
to see. The city had everything we had come to Morocco for: the
sea with good surf, a maze of market stalls at the heart of a bustling
ancient town centre, campfire romanticism and desert life
– camels and all. But curiosity drove us on.
Coming to Morocco without seeing Marrakesh was unthinkable.
As we gazed from a rooftop at the smoke rising from the cooking
stalls in Djemaa el Fna one evening, the stark contrasts here
became clear: beneath us was the city, teeming and busy, while
off in the distance, the majestic Atlas Mountains with their millennia­old
grandeur rose as the backdrop to the ‘pearl of the
South’.
Haggling is the way to do it! As was the case with the blue taxi
and driver we ‘bought’ for a few days for our surf trip. On our
way south towards Taghazout we stopped at Banana Village.
And were amazed to see goats balancing improbably on the thin
branches of argan trees – all for a mouthful of bitter fruit.
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TRAVEL