Morocco

The road to the coast is full of danger:

“Sir, you’re in breach of the speed limit – it’s 80km/h and you were well over it”
Yep, probably true but unfortunately our nice “pinkie” (our pink car’s nickname) had been given to us with this lovely and probably too often used sentence:
“It is a brand new car, only 9 km on the clock”
It was true that the car had only 9 km, but it was also true that the speedometer was broken! No speed, no mileage….so I really had no idea how fast I was going.
“I am sorry officer but the problem is that I can’t check my speed coz the speedometer is broken.” It really sounded like the classic excuse. “How fast I was going?”
“130km/h sir”
Lucky for us  we were in Morocco because in Europe a speed excess over than 40km can get you in some serious trouble…
“It’s really not my fault” I tried to negotiate and he reassured me by answering “Yes, I understand, don’t worry, you can charge the rental company for this problem.”Cool, I thought, “but now you have to pay. Otherwise we’ll keep you passport.” Not cool, I thought! “It is 500 dirham” which was  €40, more or less, not too bad.

Even if the fine  was low, I was not going to give up. If I get a fine, I always try to negotiate, especially in Morocco…
“Do you like football officer?” This always works! “Do you know that we have several Moroccan football players in the Italian league?” I said, while laughing silently “This year my team, AS ROMA, has Bojan, he used to play with Barcelona!” Spanish football is pretty popular in Morocco.
And that’s it, the gate was open! A 15 minutes discussion about football was on!
“And so officer, could we not arrange this in an Italian way?” even more cunningly and more confidently “Is 100 dirham enough?”
After another 10minutes of bartering my passport was accepted for 150d
Classic!Easy!
The gate to the coast was finally open!
Driving along the coast in Morocco is one of the best experiences in my life. Wild beaches, cliffs, never ending kilometres of clean sand and a roaring ocean surrounding you.

It was late, it was onshore and we were looking for a place to stay for the night.

By chance we arrived in Safi and we spent a comfort night in a beautiful RIAD. A nice place owned by a local surfer. Some nice couscous, a chat about the waves and we were ready for an early morning session.
7AM: between two giants cranes in the port, I was admiring the sign of a proper swell peeling all the cliff perfectly – a very good sign.
The owner of the RIAD kindly showed me the way to the spot and quickly I found myself paddling out in one of the best waves in Morocco.  Nice…. Having a local friend is always best!

Around Esaouira there are lots of spots but fining the perfect wave in an uncrowded and wild place is not easy at all. David has been based in Morocco for a while and he is planning to remain there. 8.30 RDV a few kilometres south of Essaouira to discover the spot, a nice right-hander peeling for ages. Actually it wasn’t just one but several waves breaking in front of me filling me with that kind of joy that only a surfer knows. Slabs and point breaks were the options! Cheers David. Plus, the place was really wild! That’s exactly what I used to look for during a surfing trip.

Endless crazy ants moving everywhere

that was the impression I had when I arrived in Marrakesh. It is like a rational anarchy that shocks you at the beginning but after a while you are happy just to be part of it. Our entrance to Marrakesh was brilliant: we drove our Pinkie straight to the heart of the medina, an experience that I’ll never forget.

We were following our contact in town and he casually ended up crossing the most ridiculous busy and tiny roads in Marrakesh! Classic! Don’t panic, just use your horn and especially do not stop your car, ever!  That’s the key!

Be Sociable, Share!