Agadir My Dream

From the bygone era of the 15th century when a Portuguese merchant built a permanent fortified trading post beside the port of Agadir until today it grew into a modern well planned city of some million inhabitants. The golden sands of the beach which spreads south-eastwards like crescent from the port to the mouth of the river Souss provide a playground for many visitors and the myriad youths who when the tide is out transform the seven kilometres long beach into many football pitches.

Once I likened the beach, which is the heart of the city, to a book. Every day when I walk along its length and back it is like opening a new page. It is full of stories of joy, pleasures and play; stories of life and survival; some sad, others happy but all friendly and fulfilling.

My first visit to Morocco and more precisely to Agadir was in the last week of September 2002. I came for the second time in May 2004 when I definitely fell in love with the place. I have visited many times since and at the moment am staying in a small flat on the fifth floor of a newly build block of flats adjacent to the city’s souq (market) known as the Souq El Had or the Sunday Market. It is not unlike the more famous Marrakech market adjecent to the still more famous Jemma El Fna.

My visits resulted in many written pages of diaries and impressions; I also took several thousands of photographs. At first this was done impulsively with my mobile phone camera and later with a digital camera. I keep them all as I have no heart to erase any of them even if they are slightly out of focus or otherwise imperfect. However, I am pleased to say that some of them are real gems. I realised that they were appreciated by others too when my colleagues at work secretly admired my computer's wallpaper which I changed from time to time choosing the most beautiful photos of Agadir and the surrounding areas. I decided that some of my pleasure should be shared with others so I created this website.

The final push came when the other day I met a nice couple of friends, Debs and Alex from London. We spent several mornings together on the beachfront- known here as the Corniche, sitting on the terrace of a restaurant called La Cote d’Or drinking the local strong version of milk coffee called nous-nous. It was their remark that Agadir is undersold and underwritten by the tour operators that made me decide to act. It may be evident that I do not have much esperience but if you visit the site again from time to time you will notice improvements. In the famous words of one I so dearly love, 'Mr Fawlty I learn I learn.'

Somebody once said describing the beach of the nearby fishing village of Taghazout (tarazoot) which is identical to the one in Agadir 'it must be Paradise on Earth'. He was probably in love with Morocco even more than I am but I agree. The unbelievable micro climate makes this a year round resort with July and August the months to avoid as it can be hotter and more humid and thus misty. The average temperature in January is 20 C and today when I am writing this Home page-30 of June 2008- the temperature is a mere 25 C. Only fifty miles from here in Taroudant and more miles in Marrakech it is over 40 C. The Atlantic is a powerful and completely ecological air-conditioning. This coupled with the unique position of the city of Agadir sheltered and shielded by the Atlas Mountains which together create a climate of a perfect spring. There are flowers and blooms everywhere and they blossom all year round. The colours are at its most intense in the months of January and February.

Please see Attachments for more photos