Spirit of Discovery blog

What does one normally do with the week between Christmas & New Year, aside from dissecting a seemingly never-ending turkey?

Well, we visited Africa – Morocco, to be specific. First up was the port of Agadir, famous for its bustling souks, and perhaps infamous for a massively destructive earthquake back in 1960.

Morocco is a fascinating country, always striking me as being an interesting mix of African, French and Arabic. Agadir, apart from reminding me of an irritatingly catchy 80’s song, lies at the foothills of the Atlas mountains which can clearly be seen from the shoreline.

Taking a tour around the city today around lunchtime, I spotted the usual camels staring nonchalantly into space whilst casually dribbling – always puts a smile on my face.

Whilst in the souk I was persuaded to purchase a little bit of tat (don’t tell my other half), but more amazed at the sheer amount and variety of items on offer – all behind vendors professing to offer you the best price ever.

The weather was fantastic, with clear sunny skies and temperatures reaching around 26oC.

After a relaxing day at sea, we popped into our second Moroccan port – Casablanca.

The largest city in Morocco and its main economic hub, it also boasts one of the largest artificial ports in the world as well as the Hassan II Mosque; the seventh largest on the planet and dominating the skyline as we made our harbour approach in the morning (not to mention reassuring me that we had found the correct harbour).

With lots to do in and around this massive city (not to mention visiting the famous Rick’s Café) it was no surprise that the ship remained mostly empty throughout another gloriously warm and sunny day as everyone enjoyed their time ashore.

Late that afternoon, it was time to set sail again along the Moroccan Atlantic coast towards our New Year’s stop of Gibraltar…

Kind Regards
Captain Kim Tanner