Scribbles Abroad

Another amazing swell was predicted to hit Morocco in a couple of days.  The Fiz knew it was going to be epic and a road trip to the south was our best chance of scoring.  We packed our bags, piled our boards on the roof of the car, and began our journey south.  The Fiz drove the whole way, around 5 hours, to Essaouira where we stayed for the night.  As you enter the city guys jingling keys at you, this is their way of asking you if you’d like an apartment for the night.  Traveling with Fiz was so easy.  He spoke the language and knew all the ins and outs.  He had a guy find us an apartment for a good price and even found a guy to watch our car overnight.

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The first camel we spotted.  It’s eating the little fruits from the argon tree which are used to make oil and this awesome stuff called argon butter, similar to peanut butter.

Our guest house was within the walls of the Medina.  The Medina is the old city and is enclosed by walls.  There are usually no roads for cars but only narrow alley ways filled with all sorts of shops, restaurants, and guest houses.  I loved the medina.  The vibe is very different from the newer parts of town.  You are free to wander down the maze of allies while browsing the different vendors selling a variety of Moroccan crafts and goods.

The walls of the medina

Our little room in the Medina of Essouira

I would have liked to spend more time in Essouira but we were on a mission to surf so we continued our journey south.  Stopping at a tiny village to check out a wave but in order to reach the break you need to have a four-wheel drive vehicle, which we did not have.  Luckily we met up with Karim  and Sylvan, the Fiz’s friends.  We squeezed the boards and ourselves into Karim’s truck and made our way to the break.  It was about a 10 minute drive over sandy rocky roads, no way our little car could have made it.  When we got to the point it was a little disappointing.  The swell wasn’t as big as predicted and was barely breaking.  The set up was perfect though and we’d keep our eye on the radar for a bigger swell..

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We spent a night in this tiny village at one of the locals homes.  It was a very simple accommodation but thats all we needed.  It was Friday and in Morocco, Friday is couscous day.  Our hosts prepared us a delicious feast consisting of a huge mound of couscous covered in a heap of vegetables and chicken.  This was one of my favorite Moroccan meals.  It is tradition that meals are served family style and you eat directly from the main dish.  It’s also a rule of thumb that you only eat the portion of the dish that is in front of you.  Think of it like dividing the dish into slices like a pie, one for each person.  Meaning if there’s a really nice piece of meat on the opposite side of the dish, it’s not proper to reach around and help your self to it.  Unless that person is done eating of course, then you are more than welcome to treat yourself.

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Karim, Sylvan, Kahi and the Fiz feasting on Friday couscous in our humble room

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The next morning Karim took us to his secret surf spot at Rock Beach.  It was a beautiful bay with what seemed to be an abandoned fishing village.  We set up a little tent to protect us from the sun and spent the day surfing, and kicking it in the shade.  The beach break was fun with a few small hollow barrels but the point break wasn’t working.  It was nice to surf with only our buddies and to kick it on the beach all day.

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Rock Beach

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The Fiz, Sylvan, Karim, Kahi and I kickin’ it at Rock Beach

Rock Beach chill spot.  This is where we’d hang out after surfing, have some lunch, and maybe even take a nap.

Rock and clay homes are built into the hill-side with tiny verandas overlooking la Catedral at Immsoune

Beach side bungalow Moroccan style

Kahi catching a few waves at the point on the alaia

Later that evening we continued heading south to Insouamme, a long right-handed point break.  The wave wasn’t as hollow as J-Bay but it did have some really rip-able sections.  The Fiz and Kairm reminisced on the good old days when there was nothing out there except for a few fisherman houses.  This little town is stating to buzz.  Thanks to the internet this place is no longer a secret and people pour in from all over the world to surf this wave.  There are still many unknown waves in Morocco but the locals are trying their best to keep it hush-hush.   Throughout our travels we have seen what happens when a good surf spot is over exposed.  The hoards of people, followed by those who want to make money off of them.  Some argue that the exposure is good, bringing money into the town.  Sometimes I think it ruins the town turning them into tourist havens, stripping away the culture.

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A nice wave at Insuamme

A little tube

Crazy scary slab at Insuamme.  We didn’t get to see any one surf it but heard stories about a few guys who towed into some insane barrels.

While in Insuamme we stayed in a little guest house called Chez Hassan.  It had a mellow vibe with a relaxing outdoor lounge area.  Conveniently, next door was the only bar in town.  The point break only works at low tide which was early in the morning, leaving us time to get another session at Rock Beach in the evening.

The owner of our hotel, Hasan, is a fossil finder of some sort.  He hooked us up with a couple fossils from the surrounding mountains.

These are all pieces of fossils.  This is where they clean them up and put them back together.  Then they ship them to France and sell them for $10,00o+ a pop.

We went for a walk along the ocean cliffs.  There were quite a few tiny fisherman shacks built out of rocks along the coast.  The guys fish out there all night sometimes days then return to the village in the morning with their catch.

During our walk we spotted a camel and decided to get a closer look.  She was very friendly but a little intimidating because she was so tall.

The bar was conveniently located next door to our guesthouse.  We spent a lot of time here.

Who needs a worm bin where you have a couple of goats

The next day the swell was picking up again and it was time to head back to that small village to see if we could score that wave.  It was late in the night when we arrived and the local family wasn’t expecting us.  Luckily they had a room for us but they were preoccupied with a wedding and weren’t sure if they were going to be able to provide dinner.  Since there is nothing in this village, we began eating our snacks which consisted of a few bananas and chocolate cookies.   When we were finishing up with “dinner” our host walked in with an entire chicken on a silver platter.  It was so good, we ate the whole thing.

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A super secret surf spot somewhere in Morocco

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The Fiz is an amazing photographer.  He was just messing around and took these cool pics.

Early in the morning we packed our surfboard bags and began walking out to the surf break.  It was about a 20 minute walk, but totally worth it.  At first the break wasn’t working, but an hour later it started cleaning up.  We did two surf sessions and barely made it back before the sunset.  The spot was unreal reeling along the point sideways.  Hollow sections with quick breaks for a few turns then more barrells.  This secret spot wave was almost as good as the other secret spot wave in the previous post.  It was getting late quick and we, or I should say The Fiz, still had to drive 5 hours to Casablanca.

The next couple days we kicked it with our buddy Sammy at his house near Bouznika.  There was a fun looking left right in front of his house and a scary looking slab just around the corner.  The surf potential in Morocco is insane.  You just need to know the right people or be motivated enough to do some real surf exploration.

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Sammy and Sadd battling it out at ping pong

An average day at Da Point

A strange and surprisingly delicious egg, ham, cheese, tomato and onion omelet thing.

Mrs. Zniber invited us over for lunch at her home in Rabat, so we took the train.  It was easy.  Sammy dropped us off at the train station and an hour later we were in Rabat.  Beef and vegetable couscous, prune beef tajine, zaalouk (a delicious eggplant salad), and tuktooka (tomato and bell pepper salad) followed by fresh fruit and chocolate for desert.  The food was delicious and we ate way too much but it was totally worth it.  I have to say Moroccan food is definitely one of my favorite foods.  I absolutely love it.   Always beautifully presented and so full of flavor, you just can’t beat it.

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Couscous!!!

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On our way back home we got on the wrong train.  It was one of those express trains that didn’t stop at the Bouznika train station.  We ended up in Casablanca then had to catch another train back up to Bouznika.  We met some cool people on the train heading north.  They didn’t speak any english, we didn’t speak any french or arabic, but we all spoke a little spanish.  People in Morocco rock!  They are some of the most friendly people and are filled with aloha.

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Our new friends

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We had a few days left in Morocco so we rented a car and decided to head south.  There was a good sized swell about to hit, but a huge storm was also predicted to hit the country in a couple days.  The car we rented was through a friends company and was only around $20 a day.  We first stopped back in Essouira for the night, then continue Insuamme in the morning.

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Overlooking the medina in Essouira

Fresh seafood spread.  Pick what you want and they grill it up.

Moroccan pottery,  intricately painted and gorgeous colors.  I wanted to buy it all, pack it up and take it home with me.

Shops and food stalls in the medina

Berber (Moroccans from the south of Morocco) musicians playing Gnaowa music, slaughtered the spelling I’m sure.

Argon butter and oil from the fruits of the argon trees.  Argon butter is similar to peanut butter but has a rich nutty flavor.  I love the stuff.  The oil is extracted from berries collected from the shit of goats and camels after they are digested and pooped out.

It had just started to rain when we were pulling into Insuamme.  This was the first big rain in a LONG time and the debris that had collected over the months began it journey down the river beds into the ocean.  As soon as we got there we unloaded our bags and headed straight for the surf.  The surf was fun but challenging.  The current was very strong and after catching a wave it was almost impossible to paddle back out.  You would have to paddle in, run back up the beach, and paddle back out.  Talk about exhausting!  There was a brown waterfall that began flowing down the cliff and into the bay and a rim of chocolate brown pooh water formed along the beach.  There was no way to avoid it when getting out of the water.  All you could do was keep your head above the water and keep your mouth shut.  it was nasty!

Insuamme after a crazy rain storm.  You can see the light blue/dark blue gradient caused by the influx of fresh water.

The next day the wind was totally wrong for Insuamme, so we headed further south in search for a surf-able wave.  There was a part of the coast that faced north and was sheltered from the stiff south wind.  The waves were massive and we were very under gunned.  We stopped along the coast to admire a few insane slabs that were absolutely crazy.  Further south the winds were back on shore and messing everything up.  We decided to pack up and drive back to Bouznika..

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As we were leaving Insuamme we could see the massive storm moving in.  The roads in the south are windy, muddy and prone to flooding.  Not the safest in a rain storm.  We were about 30 minutes ahead of the rain storm and were spared from the rain while driving the most dangerous roads.

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The crazy rainstorm moving in on the left.

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All the rain turned the road into a swampy muddy mess and our entire car got covered in mud.

We spent the night in Bouznika and the next morning we were off to Chefchaouen, a city in the north of Morocco.  Chefchaouen is a popular tourist destination known for its beautiful handicrafts but is also renowned for its kif.  Kahi and I wanted to go on a tour of the fields in the surrounding countryside but it was raining cats and dogs.  One of the parking attendants helped us find a nice place to stay fin the medina and watched our car during the night, for a small fee of course.  Since it was raining we didn’t get to experience the town as much as we would have liked.  The power went out in the city while we were eating dinner and it was difficult finding our way back to the hotel in the dark allies of the medina.  Since it was still pouring rain the morning we decided to head back to Bouzinika so that we could spend our last couple of days with our friends.

The fancy hallways of our guesthouse in Chefchaouen

Flooded fields in northern Morocco

Our friends Saad, Nashla, Damya, Omar after eating a fabulous meal prepared by Nashla.  It was nice to spend our last couple days with our friends.

A cool tortise we found in front of Saad’s house

On Christmas it was our friend Maha’s birthday and they threw an amazing birthday.  The food was unbelievable and the people were too funny, we had a blast.

Yummy sushi at the party!  We love love love sushi!!!

Kahi and I in front of the giant mosque in Casablance.  It’s huge and the mosaic tile work in unbelievable.

Our time in Morocco seemed to fly by.  We could have spent more time hunting for waves in the south and explorting the mountains in the north but the clock was ticking.  Morocco has been one of our top destinations.  Not only did we score some of the best waves here, we also got the opportunity to spend a lot of time with friends.  The people in Morocco are amazing.  Caring, loving, and friendly.  They are filled with what we call the Aloha Spirit.   I want to give a thousand thanks yous to The Fiz and his beautiful wife Maha for opening their home to us and making our time in Morocco so special.  We couldn’t have done it without you.  Also to all of our other friends who showed us such an amazing time.  It was so hard to leave and say good bye, but we’d be back.  We love Morocoo.  Plus i still need to ride a camel.