Day 2 in Morocco - Agadir

Today we were in Agadir. It does not pretend to be representative of Morocco as a whole. It is a modern city built after much of the original was destroyed in an earthquake of 1960. Nevertheless it was worth a visit and somewhere to compare to Casablanca.

At first our “Best of” tour looked like shaping up disturbingly similarly to yesterday’s further north. The first stop was the Casbah and offered panoramic views through haze which was reluctant to clear but gave way in due course to a perfect Spring day. I felt I preferred not to be there in August’s temperatures of 44-46o. The second stop was inevitably a mosque.

It was interesting though to drive around Agadir and its suburbs. There is prosperity in places. There are wide avenues facilitated no doubt by the unfortunate demolitions of 50 years ago and for the same reason, still a lot of empty spaces. Traffic seemed orderly but I could not help but look at the Zetrap buses and wonder whether at least some of them should read “Ze Death Trap”. Delightful flowers such as hibiscus and jacaranda were abundant.

Morocco is a liberal and stable country but the proud discourses on the still limited emancipation of women since 1947 do grate a little on ears from countries where womens rights have been familiar for rather longer. What passes for progressive in the wider region of North Africa and the Middle East just seems a little patronising to me and will until women across the world are universally and irrevocably equal in every possible facet of life and work.

Today’s souk was rather spectacular; many times larger than the Casablanca food market we visited yesterday. I don’t think any product or skill was unavailable under a vast roof. It made WalMart look like a place with a limited range. The produce again looked very fresh and there were enticing smells in the air but I have to say that in part of the market at least the flies were in the air thick enough to inhale.

We finished with a visit of well over an hour to what might be characterised as a Berber variety show. It was rather loosely put together but nonetheless entertaining. We sipped mint tea. The adventurous rode camels. The less adventurous (me) settled for a photograph. We saw tumblers who were very good, Berber horsemen, a snake charmer, assorted musicians and a belly dancer. I have no way of knowing whether the amply proportioned belly dancer was good or bad but I could not help wondering how her scantily clad appearance was consistent with the much vaunted requirement for “decency” amongst women.

I am glad I have been to Agadir. It passed the Earthquake Test. I am glad we came to Morocco again.