The Medina and Oufella of Agadir

Our visit to Morocco was starting to come to an end. Friday had arrived and so was our last full day in Agadir. The next day we would be heading back to the airport for our flight back to Sweden. This meant that we had one day left to explore Agadir. One day to explore some of the main sights that we hadn’t seen yet. Two main sights were left on our list when we once more reached out to Rashid, a taxi driver who drove us to Taghazout a few days earlier. Now we asked him to drive us to the Medina as well as Oufella of Agadir. We also wanted to give nearby Anza another try.

Hello Rashid

We decided to reach out to Rashid, a taxi driver that we met a few days earlier. The reason was that it was a lot more convenient to go with a driver that we trusted after the first trip. It was also easier because we could contact him directly via WhatsApp on Thursday evening. We agreed on a time and met him outside of our hotel to head out on this small adventure.

Agadir Medina

Our first stop of the day was the beautiful medina. A medina is usually a historical district, or an old town, in many cities in northern Africa. For Agadir, the historical district was lost in the 1960 earthquake. Work on a new medina began in 1992. The current construction is a way to revive the Moroccan heritage. As a tourist entering the medina, I feel like I am in a historical city. We took our time to walk around and enjoy the atmosphere. There are a few craft shops and other small businesses here. But it is the beautiful structure that we mostly enjoyed just walking around in. The small and narrow streets and the many rooms and open areas. Our walk even took us around the garden with its many peacocks.

We did eventually end up at the restaurant for some lunch. The setting just on the outskirts of the medina is really good and the playground for kids is just next by. So while we waited for the food, Little A took the possibility for some play. It did take quite some time for our food to arrive, but it was proper food. Many similar places in Europe wouldn’t provide the same food experience. Sadly the service was still very slow, something that we had started to get used to during this trip. Luckily not as slow as in Tiout earlier in the week. But I did eventually have to go to the waitress station to pay as the bill took forever and our taxi driver Rashid was already waiting for us outside. In total we spent around 90 minutes in the medina and it was sufficient. Much more time and we would probably just have waited somewhere. But the Medina is a must-see when visiting Agadir.

An Extra Stop at Kasbat Souss

Rashid suggested one more stop nearby and we decided that it couldn’t hurt. It was a small artisan market with plenty of crafts for sale. Little A was once more fascinated by the pottery and clay goods. We didn’t buy more pottery, but Little A got to buy a Moroccan rock with pink crystals inside. We were soon back in the taxi and on our way to the cable car station.

Agadir Oufella

Agadir Oufella is one of the city’s main landmarks. Located on top of the mountain, 236 meters above the sea, it is visible from most of Agadir. For the ones able to survive in the hot sun it is possible to hike to the top of the mountain. We chose the easier option – the cable car. The 1700-meter-long ride up the mountain takes only six minutes. The cable car had space for eight passengers, but we were lucky and got a car for ourselves.

The view from the top is amazing with the port of Agadir just below the cliff and the long beach heading south. The fortress itself has some impressive walls and looks much bigger when you get closer. It is hard to grasp its size from the seafront as it melts into the surroundings. There are a few merchants selling souvenirs up here as well as a few dromedaries and donkeys.

Being almost mid-day during our visit the sun was really getting to us. There is not much protection from the sun to be found here. Not even after a week in Morocco had gotten us used to the intense sunshine. We made sure to enjoy the view and took a shorter walk before heading back to the cable car for the ride back down.

Anza Beach

We met up with Rashid and his taxi and left Agadir for our last stop of the day. We had stopped at Anza Beach a few days earlier on our way back from Taghazout. The beach is famous for its many dinosaur footprints. A total of 323 prints have been identified and we got to see just a handful during our earlier visit before our feet got wet from the waves. Yes, these prints are well-hidden by the tide and I had now done my research to find out when it was supposed to be low tide in the area.

Our driver was not really convinced, he thought that it was too late in the day to see them. According to online sources, we were able to get to Anza about 30 minutes after the lowest point in the tide. This lowest point might not have been very low on this day, but we still wanted to have a look. In my opinion, it was a success. We were able to see a lot more of the rock than on our previous visit. Yes, perhaps it can be even better. It didn’t matter to us, we were able to see enough this time. In addition, our shoes stayed dry this time. It is a fascinating thought when you consider that huge dinosaurs walked here millions of years ago.

Last Evening in Agadir

Rashid offered to drive us to more sights in the area, but we had promised Little A that we would spend the afternoon at the swimming pool. We spent several hours at the swimming pool and left shortly before it was supposed to close at 18 o’clock. After the pool, we headed out for a walk along the beach to get some last photos. Little A posed as our model in many of these photos with the beach as well as the Oufella in the background.

The evening came and we ended our final full day at the hotel’s buffet restaurant watching out over the swimming pool. We had been quite spoiled during this week with plenty of good food. It felt weird that we were actually flying back home tomorrow. We had already arranged with Rashid so that he was going to pick us up at noon. Not it was just to enjoy the food and pack our bags. We wanted to make to be able to have some time for swimming the following morning.