WINE DINE AND TRAVEL SUMMER 2020 -- SOUTH AFRICA

jagged point that is Devil’s Rock.
Brahim LeFrere, one of the three instructors for our
group, had us doing pop-ups (jumping from a prone position
to standing on our boards) on the beach before we hit the
water for what would be four-plus days of instruction. We
roamed up and down the coast, seeking the best conditions.
LeFrere, the son of a fisherman, said he started surfing as
a boy, eventually becoming good enough to compete in regional
contests.
“In the beginning, it was too expensive for me to get a
surfboard or a wetsuit,” he says. “So I’d wait until friends
were done and I’d borrow their gear. After a year, I’d saved
up enough money and bought a used board and wetsuit.
Then I was in the water, catching waves as much I could.
A natural athlete, he also coached volleyball.
“I like all kinds of sports that we can do on the beach —
and in the water,” he said. “We have lots of space at low tide
to play football, Frisbee and other things. Most of the people
in my village were fishermen, and we all grew up on the sea,
so playing in and on the waves just came naturally.”
At several spots, camels moved casually along the sand,
reminding us that we were indeed in North Africa. And
sometimes, when the wind was blowing from the east, we
could hear calls to prayer from minarets rising above one of
several mosques in the town.
When the day’s classes and time for free surfing were
over, we returned to the Moroccan Surf Adventures hostel,
where the chef served us delicious Berber tagine, a stew
prepared in an earthenware pot that was brimming with
onions, carrots, squash, spices and chicken and served on a
bed of couscous.
Advanced surfers who were staying at the lodge hired individual
guides and headed for more serious breaks that
have gnarly reputations in Morocco and Europe, such as
Dracula’s, Hash Point, Killer Point and Anchor Point, where
waves sometimes break for more than a quarter mile.
Karim Rhouli, who runs Marrakesh Surf and Snow Tours,
said his parents often brought him to Taghazout Bay for holidays,
where they would rent a house near Anchor Point.
“First I got into body boarding, but by the time I was 17, I
really knew I wanted to surf,” explained Rhouli. As he improved
his surfing, he began to teach. He also developed
skills as a skateboarder and snowboarder, all of which led to
the creation of his guide service.
“Surfing is a great sport because you feel like you are riding
a force of nature when you are on a wave,” said Rhouli,
who has surfed in Bali and Australia and taught snowboard-
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