Archives du mot-clef Agadir

Beachs of South of Morocco

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Beachs of South of Morocco

Taghazout

For the cadiris. the inhabitants of Agadir, Taghazout is a comfortable way to escape the over-visited Agadir beach during the summer months. tocated 17 kilometers north of Agadir, backed against the mountains and bordered to the south by a small plateau, it has seven km of almost unspoiled beach. To the north, it provides a world famous surfing zone. Access from the road is direct. This beautiful site near Agadir will see in the year 2007 a new seaside resort whose ‘approach construction is already underway.

Agadir

Nine kilometers of golden sand has established the international reputation of the beach at Agadir. This long and very wide band of sand came into being as the result of the immemorial work of the souss wadi whose mouth shelters win to ring pink flamingoes and marks the beach’s southern limit. The city of Agadir was tucked away in the north against the steep mountain slopes before the 1960 earthquake destroyed it.
It dominated the port and an immense field of shifting dunes bordered the beach until the Department of Water and Forests planted a eucalyptus forest there in the 1930S. It was then that tourism development progressively began to take possession of the site. A marina, whose construction bas been started, will bring the infrastructure of water-based activities that will be enjoyed year round.

Tifnit

Although situated less than 30 km to the south of Agadir, Tifnit beach has remained totally unspoiled. Its only inhabitants are a few fishermen with their boats. The beach is small, and in comparison to the size of its neighbors, it might be considered a creek. A very wild setting and a tempestuous, sometimes even dangerous tide, led authorities to protect the area. And if tourism development is foreseen, it will be that of a village open to eco-tourism.

Sidi Ifni

Sidi Ifni is one of the mythical ports of the south. Coveted in the 18th century by the colonial powers because it was one of the rare landing points on this cliff-crowded coast, Sidi Ifni was a Spanish enclave until 1969, and its architecture still bears witness to its Hispanic past. The city and the’ military base were built on different banks of the wadi. The sand and pebble beach is washed by very cold waves at the foot of the new port that replaced the old one. Remaining from the old port are two immense cable car towers that loom over the water like ghosts. Heading north over the sand at the foot of the cliffs, nature bas imposed its rights and has produced some superb beaches.

White beach

This is the longest beach in Morocco, 52 km from Foum Assaka in the north to Foum El Oued in the south, christened white beach by the airmail aviators that flew over this huge white ribbon, it still remains difficult to reach. There are 40 km of an occasionally difficult track and stretches of cliffs that have protected it for a longtime.
So that everyone might enjoy this unspoiled place, it has been designated as one of the six seaside resorts that the Kingdom wishes to develop over the course of this decade.

Tan-Tan

Tan-Tan, with its echo-like name, is a mythical city of the Moroccan Sahara, built on a wadi 20 km from the sea. It was only with the development of fishing, the creation of a port and a road that the name of Tan-Tan beach became known. The beach is nice. Nature lovers, however, will undoubtedly prefer its more unspoiled neighbors that can be reached by taking the road along the cliffs to the south. At the mouth of a wadi, you often disco ver unspoiled beaches of exceptional beauty.

Tarfaya

At 107 km north of Laayoune, the area of Tarfaya is surprising for the stretch s of deserted beach and the silence that reigns there. Its fish-filled shores are held in high esteem by sports anglers. The only inconvenience is that violently strong winds sometimes blanket the region with sand. To visit Tarfaya Beach is also to go back in time and to commune with the memory of Antoine de Saint-Exupery who was head pilot of the local airport. Here, you can find the old runway where the famous Airmail planes took off and landed as well as the ruins of the Latecoere building facing the sea. A second building stands in the sea, the « Casarnar, » the old commercial warehouse that was built by the Englishman Makenzie and was later taken over and used by Sultan Moulay Hassan I toward the end of the 19th century.

Foum El Oued

Here the word « immense » takes on al! its meanings. Without doubt, it is the best place to swim within 25 km to the south of Laayoune on the Boujdour road. Foum El Oued is the regions only beach equipped for bathing and is almost deserted out of season. At the end of the long, lighted coastal road sits the bay’s first hotel.
This magnificent location, where the unflagging waves of the Atlantic pound the shore, hopes to become a popular tourism destination.

Dakhla

One does not go to Dakhla to swim, but to fish. This small pioneer town was called villa Cisneros and was nothing more than a military camp of huts that faced a lageon filled with fish. Speckled perch, sea-bream, and sardine await your hook

Travel to the heart of the great Atlas

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Travel to the heart of the great Atlas

Twelve kilometres north of Agadir, on the right, a winding road crosses over 24 kilometers of mountains. Then, you come upon an astonishing diversity in relief and very varied vegetation where argan trees predominate. It is the picturesque road of honey that borders a veritable natural botanical garden nicknamed « the valley of heaven. »

Hidden at the heart of the High Atlas, stretched over the lowest slopes of the Highest peaks, Ida Ou Tanane is a vast territory that forcefully asserts itself thanks to an extraordinary panorama, and it is where the Berber tribe of the same name has long rei¬gned. Actually, Ida Ou Tanane is made up of two great natural parts that integrate with the rising mountains of the High Atlas. Idouthama, a Berber term that means the « lowest place, refers to that area that spreads out between 700 and 1200 meters in altitude.
There, Berber villages that time and civilization seem to have left untouched are anchored in a rich and alluring nature; they appear to open their arms with warmth. The village of Tazarine (for « dry fig’) is the last town that separates Idouthama and tdo Ou Tartane from other equally Berber territories.

Like the other villages, Tazarine slumbers under the shade of argan, almond and olive trees. The two-story Berber houses are made of clay. The main entrance of each house gives access to the ground floor designed essentially to house livestock and was therefore conceived as a stable. The second passage leads to the upper level where families dwell. The typical way of life there is set in the most traditional ways, such as the milling of flour and the fruit of the argan tree, and the use of the tradition al oven, indispensable in every home. Moreover, they use argan tree oil that the Berbers of the region consume on special occasions and which they offer with pleasure to their guests. Also in common use is Amlou, a delicious marmalade made from a base of argan oil, almonds and pure honey.

Olive oil is indispensable in their kitchens as well as in their daily life. Each season, the villagers combine their efforts to press their olives in a gigantic oil-press that has been in use in the town for over a century. Higher up, at an altitude of approximately 900 meters, an astonishing flat rock formation juts out from the face. It bears the name of Zolado or « make up your eyes with the wind » and overlooks ldouthama. This original name refers to the light wind that blows there throughout the year and slightly irritates the eyes just as traditional Kohl does. This fairy tale view is a natural mixture of authentic forms and colors. it contains abundant and verdant oases, sky scraping peaks, and modest ochre-colored houses scattered here and there. To add further pleasure and amazement, the lake of the Abdelmoumen dam adds perfect harmony along a peaceful and endless passage across this magnificent scenery.
Then at a height of 1200 meters, there is the second part of Ida ou Tanane which is called Iguinthama or the highest part.
At this altitude, in the middle of the honey route, rises the village of lmouzzer, the ancient capital of the Ida Ou Tanane tribe. The name means waterfall in the berber language.

From this height, the town dominates ldouthama, Iguinthama and the whole of Ida Ou Tanane, Imouzzer as a gesture of good will diverts its fresh and regenerating water into a large lake that nature has created and where one can take one’s ease with great pleasure in springtime.
The waterfall gushes forth over many levels and flows over the rocky watts whitened by the crystallization of limestone that has earned it the nickname « the bride’s veil. » Mountain climbing in the High Atlas continues, and the discoveries that are progressively made are more and more surprising. From one summit to another, the landscape changes. Behind every mountain a surprise awaits. The regions weekly souks are snared between the villages of Iguinthama and tdouthama, and both carry us back in time. Thanks to the expanse of its territory, its natural abundance, and the diversity of its peaks, Ida Ou ïanane offers the unexpected opportunity to test the depth of our passions by crossing the mountains of the High Atlas on foot or by mule. The rewards are many; they include the search for adventure, the desire to discover an ancestral culture that deserves interest, or to hunt partridge and wild boar. And why not, while you’re at it, practice such extreme sports as parachute jumping or hang gliding from the highest summits of Iguithama to the oases and the sand dunes of ldouthama. Finally, after having conquered the tallest mountains and after having spent a day in the most out of the way places of Ida Ou Tanane, the honey route slowly begins its descent and ends 20 minutes from Agadir on the road to Essaouira. Here, the magic loop that was created in the wake of the High Atlas, comes to an end stop to the great regret of the traveler who had just taken it