The breakfast provided as part of our room was only served from 8.30 this morning and so we were a little later than usual in leaving. It was a bit misty but overall visibility was OK.

Our first stop was to visit an old French fort on the hillside above the town of Mirleft (we had camped there on the way down). It was easy to find with Google map navigation but the final 50-100 metres was quite steep and very rough and rocky, but we put the car into 4 wheel drive and slowly drove up with ease. The fort is a complete ruin with only a few walls, a tower and the entrance gate still standing. It nevertheless gave some good photo opportunities as well as wonderful view over the town and sea below.

We then headed for Agadir which is a large city on the shore of the Atlantic ocean at the foothills of the Atlas mountains and is the capital of the Amazigh culture in Morocco. It is one of the few big Moroccan cities where Tamazight, one of Morocco’s two official languages, is spoken by more than half of the population. It was completely destroyed by an earthquake in 1960 and has been rebuilt and so is quite modern. We first headed up to the Agadir Oufla which housed the old city of Agadir, much of which was affected by the earthquake that struck the city. The fort is located on the top of a mountain rising 236 meters above sea level in the north of the town of Agadir near the port. It provides beautiful views over the city, the bay and the port. We then tried to see an old synagogue in town but the caretaker said it was only permitted for Jews to enter so we had to give that a miss.

Then we headed north along the coast which is reminiscent of driving along the coast around Simonstown/Smitswinkel Bay or Gordon’s Bay to Rooiels in South Africa. The beaches north of Agadir are very popular for surfing and there were a many beaches with surf schools and it was still quite busy. At places there were quite a few campervans parked next the beach, again reminiscent of Sagres and Cap St Vincent in the Algarve, Portugal.

The road was quite winding and at one point we zigzagged up a little hill bringing back memories of our days in early November when we did a lot more and much more impressive zigzagging up much higher mountains. The landscape began to have a lot of trees which we eventually figured out were Argan trees, Sideroxylon spinosum, from which Argan oil is made and is endemic to the area. The trees grow to 8–10 m high can live up about 200 years. Argan is the name of the tree in the Berber language, Shilha. We stopped at one of the trees to see what the nut looks like, very much like an olive. We also passed through an area where there a number of banana plantations.

About 30 km from Essaouira, we came around a corner and the dreaded white tuniced gendarmerie royale stopped us, we assumed for speeding. He asked if we spoke French or English so we said English. He said we had driven over the solid white line and for that it was afine of 400 Dhs (EUR 40). Trevor asked him to repeat and then told him he was out of his mind and we would not pay, he looked a bit taken aback but asked for the car papers and driver’s license which we gave him. He then headed back to his car where his colleague was. When he did not return for a while, Trevor got out of the car and walked to see what was happening. The colleague was writing a ticket and receiving payment from another foreign couple who were in a Moroccan registered car. They said they were fined for the same thing and Trevor told him we had done nothing wrong and would not pay. They indicated that everyone was being stopped. When the colleague in the car asked Trevor how he was, ca va, Trevor responded, pas ca va, and explained that the winding road with a lot of motorbikes automatically meant that one was crossing the solid white line to pass them as they were travelling much slower. It’s the law in Morocco he said, to which Trevor responded that in our country it is also the law so that’s not the issue. He then tried to claim that I has overtaken a car which Trevor aggressively refuted. The view from where the police were standing would mean that we would have to have been overtaking right on the bend for them to see a car over the white line, and that is simply not what we do on a blind corner, so Trevor again insisted he would not pay. They said they would keep the driver’s license until we pay to which Trevor responded that he was fine with that, we have a tent and lots of food and water so can stay right there for a few days, no problem. At one point the one officer told Trevor to put his mobile phone in his pocket. The phone was in his shirt pocket., so he said it is in his pocket. Again the policeman said he must put the phone in his pocket. Trevor took it out if his shirt pocket and asked the policemen what that was (pointing to his shirt pocket), to which he then responded pointing to the camera on his phone that it should be in the pocket. Ah, he thought we could be filming him, so Trevor duly put the phone in his trousers pocket and told him to be clearer with his instructions. At this stage Trevor thought he may have pushed too far but again refused to pay 400Dhs for doing nothing wrong. A few minutes later Trevor thought he would probably have to pay it if we did not want to stay any longer, it was about 16h30, and so said to the officer that we do not have so much money with us as we do not travel with large sums of money and that he would need to go and find money. The officer evidently didn’t hear the last part of the sentence and immediately asked why we just hadn’t acknowledged crossing the line but that we have no money and he said that would be OK. So, he finally gave the license and car registration card back to us and again said we should admit guilt but have no money. Trevor insisted not guilty but no money. They told us to be careful and stick to the rules of the road.

So, we headed on and reached Essaouira Beach Hostel near the entrance to the town and one street from the beach where kitesurfers were still surfing. The hostel is a popular place for foreign kitesurfers and we were given a first floor room with bathroom and a sea view. The hostel provides breakfast in the price (EUR 32 per night for both of us) and has laundry facilities and one can also use the kitchen.

We then took a walk along the beachfront promenade and then went to a restaurant offering fried fish that Charlotte had seen as we drove down the road to the hostel. We had 2 mixed fried seafood (prawns, calamari, and choice of fish) with a plate of fries, a plate of fried aubergine, a mixed salad and 2 cokes and all that for less than EUR 13 ! It was delicious and we had put it in our minds for tomorrow night as well.