Why Agadir?
Agadir is a city on the Atlantic in The South West of Morocco. I stayed there for a week a while ago and had a very unusual time there. I had been overworking and decided I needed a week's rest. Agadir ticked the boxes, warm, cheap, somewhere I'd never been before, it sounded interesting. I booked it late off the teletext and off I went!
My travel agents in their wisdom, elected to put me in a seedy little hotel about a mile from the beach. I was a single female, non Arabic speaking and the only holidaymaker in there. The rest of the clientele seemed to be Moroccan business men.
After the first morning of being harassed at the breakfast table five times by different 'businessmen', "You nice lady, you want f***y f***y?"
I contacted my rep. "Get me out of here before I'm arrested for belting a Moroccan!" Was the toned down gist of my appeal. "We can get you a different place on Wednesday." was his reluctant reply. The fact was, he wasn't interested and wasn't going to lift a finger. So much for Thompsons "trying harder!"
So....I consulted the concierge, waved some money at him and sent him out to buy me a Kalashnikov. No, not really, I sent him out to get me a bodyguard/ driver. I thought that if I was going to enjoy myself I needed someone to run interference between me and all the males who considered me fair game or easy meat. It was very clear that women on their own in this culture were considered at best sexually available, at worst prostitutes.
I could have understood all this aggravation a bit more if I had been a stunning looking individual, dressed in sexy clothes and made up to the hilt. The reality is I'm an ordinary looking being who considers she is doing well if her socks match. A supermodel I am not!
"Who guards the guardians?
My bodyguard duly arrived. He looked suspiciously like the concierge to me. Oh suprise suprise! It was his brother! 6 foot three of forbidding looking man. We discussed terms and job description. He then interrogated me to make sure I wasn't a woman of ill repute and didn't want him for sex. He should be so lucky!
"Are you Muslim?"
"No. I'm Christian."
"Where is husband?"
"At home working."
"What he work?"
"He is a Christian Immam." I couldn't think how else to describe a Vicar.
"Immam?"
"He let you travel, not with heem?"
Eventually the Moroccan inquisition ended and we arranged for him to be there at breakfst time the next morning.
One of the waiters sidled up and told me. "Be careful Chill, he like football." Duty done he went off to the dining room leaving me to ponder upon the dangers of hiring football fans to look after me. I still haven't worked it out.
Sunbathing in two skirts?
Now, don't get me wrong, the young men who staffed the hotel were kindness itself. They were very much into making sure I didn't get into any trouble. In fact I was very amused the second morning, whilst waiting for Hassan, one of them took me by the hand and, shaking his head, led me back to my room.
"Not this skirts Chill!"
He said pointing to my skirt.
"No?"
"No, is being to see your leg."
"It goes to my ankles Dawut, you can't see my legs!"
"Is being to go up up up, beach is winty!"
"It will blow up and show my legs, is that the problem?"
"Yes I say that! Is too winty"
I reached into my wardrobe.
"Is this one okay?"
"Is better but not good. " He rummaged through my cupboard and brought out some tights.
"Here is theen for under skirt. Leg not being seen!"
At this stage Hassan arrived and joined in the debate. Between them they sorted through my clothes. Thanking God that my underwear was stored in my case, I sat on the bed and watched in amusement as they decided what was "Good!" and what was "No good!"
Suitably attired, wearing two skirts but no tights, I set off for the beach. Hassan in tow, carrying my bag and grumbling about the walk.
"We go taccksy!"
"No, I want to see the town! We'll walk!"
"Is not good walking!"
It's all downhill, what's up with you?"
"Is hot!"
No Sh*t Sherlock, we're in blooming Agadir, of course it's hot! I thought but didn't say! He looked miserable enough.
Life's a Beach!
The beach in Agadir is a dream! White, perfectly clean sands, shallow water for paddling, lots of little fish to watch in the shallows especially the stunningly beautiful pipe fish, cheap and plentiful sunbeds. A wonderful place to relax in. Especially when your bodyguard has established a 20 foot exclusion zone around you.
I handed over my £2.00 for two sunbeds and a shade and settled down for a read.
"Why you get two sunbeds?"
"One each!"
"I not lie down with you, is Haram!" (Haram means forbidden.)
"Take it over there then!" (God send me patience! Now!)
"I stand!"
"You Bloody won't stand. How can I relax when I know you're standing there in the heat?" My patience was wearing thin. It was bad enough, sunbathing in two skirts and a long sleeved T shirt, now I was supposed to do it whilst Hassan stood over me like a disapproving elder son. Right! If he wants to stand, he stands. Read your book and ignore him. The trouble was that I was trying to be an 'equal opportunities employer' in a country that had never heard of them.
After half an hour of being towered over I decided it was time for a drink. We went up the beach to one of the many little snack bars. (Hassan wanted a MacDonalds, I did not!) The waiters were quick to dust the sand off everything and brought our delicious Moroccan coffee.
"Sit down!" He sat.
Romantic meals for two? I think not.
The food I ate in Agadir was consistently tasty, well presented and cheap. Even in the poorest establishments there was never a problem with hygeine. I avoided the salads because I knew I wouldn't be able to stomach the water they were washed with but everything else was fine.
A full meal for two, in Moroccan non tourist places, which was where I mainly ate, came out at about a fiver, no alcohol of course, but soft drinks and coffee included. There is a massive problem with coin shortage there so don't expect change, just round everything up and have small denomination notes handy.
Many restaurants and cafes will ask you if you mind them giving your leftover food away to the hungry. I like the idea that it isn't wasted, I came across this in Egypt too, I wish we did it in the West a bit more.
The posher touristy places to eat were plentiful and the meals cost around £8.00-£15.00 depending upon what you ate. Alcohol is freely available there and the local beer is quite low in alcohol but tasty and refreshing. You will be charged premium prices for imported beer and sprits. In fact, a bottle of duty free whisky had been spied in my room and the bartender made a point of offering me triple the price I paid for it! As it happened, I gave it to Hassan as part of his wages and he was a very happy bunny. I don't know what he sold it for, I didn't ask!
Looking at the city.
Agadir has a few very beautiful buildings in it but mostly, when it was rebuilt and relocated after the horrific earthquake in 1960, the buildings that were erected were just clones of any hotels and shops that you would find in any other large city. As a city Agadir didn't seem to have any outstanding buildings. We wandered down to the beach, passing about twenty of these newish hotels and malls. Having Hassan looming behind me saved me a lot of trouble from business hungry salesmen. They would get halfway through their spiel and Hassan would say something and a lengthy but terse conversation would follow between them.
I would walk on knowing that he would follow when enough manly pride had been established.
Whenever I went out and about it was the same story. Tourists are well catered for with plenty of bars, clubs, restaurants and lots of little play places for the children but there was a monotonous and sort of soul-less aspect to the place that I didn't find enticing.
I've gotta get out of this place!
There are lots of trips out from Agadir and nearly all the hotels will provide you with plenty of information about what is available. Locally booked trips are about half the price of the ones the reps offer. I find when on holiday that it's best to ask people who have been there a week or so what their best holiday trips have been. In my hotel this wasn't an option for me so I went down to the local tourist information which was at the North end of the beach. As tourist information offices go, it was as much use as a chocolate fireguard. Hassan, for some reason declined to go in with me so I had no translator. Whoever hired the staff for there was not a genius. Nobody understood a word of English and there were no leaflets or maps or pictures or anything really. In fact the only bit of English about the whole place was the sign outside saying "Tourist Information" It should have said "Abandon Hope All Ye Who Enter Here!"
Old Agadir, site of a tragedy
I decided it would be interesting to visit the ruins of Old Agadir which is up a mountain 3k North of the city. Climbing out of our taxi we were greeted by the most magnificient views over the city and the sea. It was truly beautiful.
Unfortunately we were also greeted by a large gang of children all carrying kids. (The goat kind of kids!) Before I knew it I had an armful of kids. Now I don't know about you, but I am a sucker for animals and these kids were very cute. But what was I supposed to do with them all? I duly admired them and tried to hand them back. No chance! The human kids were not having any of it! Apparently I had to buy them! Hassan was pretending he had gone blind, and deaf! Telling them that I couldn't take them home was useless, the children mimed that they were for eating. "Erm, no, I don't think I want to eat them." One little lad obviously thought I was mad. "You buy" he said very slowly, as though talking to an idiot, which he was."You eat. We take your pound. We eat." Irrefutable logic really! I suggested a compromise.
"I give you one pound"
"Each!"
"No! Not each! I give you one pound and you keep the goat until it's bigger, then you eat." I don't know why I thought that would work!
Hassan eventually rumbled back to the same planet and noticed I had a problem. He took a pound off me, put the kids on the floor, threw the pound about fifty yards away and suddenly you couldn't see either kind of kid for dust. Sorted!
We toured the site unmolested and for me it was fascinating and very sad.On February 29, 1960, 15,000 were killed and a further 1,000 injured in one devastating earthquake. Because of fears of it happening again and of disease, the whole city was evacuated and rebuilt as New Agadir. The King of Morocco decreed it should happen and it did. Within five years the whole city had been emptied and abandoned. (What was left of it after the earthquake.) Unfortunately the site has very little information available on site. Also it is a dangerous place for children with no safety barriers and no shelter from the relentless sun. So if you decide to visit be warned.
Having been told we could get a taxi back, sure enough there was not a taxi in sight anywhere! We trudged the few miles back down the mountain in ferocious heat with me doing 'Ice Cold in Alix' scenarios in my head. Unfortunately in the first bar we came to Alcohol was 'Haram', so we drank Coca Cola instead. It's not quite the same!
Just a general overview
So there you have it. New Agadir is only 50 years old so there is little of antiquity or archeological interest. It's just a hot, sandy, modern holiday resort and if that's what you want, it is great.
If you want to mix with the locals and see a more engaging and authentic Morocco, get on the buses and go up or down the coast for a few miles. That's where I found interesting sights and deserted beaches. (And nearly got arrested, but that's another story!)
Don't bother going on your own if you're a single woman, the hassle is not worth it unless you can hire a bodyguard and then you just get a different type of hassle!
It's a really good place to visit for a beach holiday. But apart from the cheap local transport to the outlying authentic Morocco has not much else to recommend it.
Aga- don't don't don't! Agadir. Morocco 
Top review :) x