April 4th, 2023 Day 91 of 128

Agadir, Morocco

Hello from Morocco. Last night we sailed across the Atlantic Ocean from eh Canary Islands back to the continent of Africa for our next three port of call in Morocco. The winds reach storm classification last night at a speed of 50 knots. We could hear it whistling through the seal on a balcony door. So not a great nights sleep, but not absolutely horrible. We awoke this morning still making our approach into the pier. We had a later arrival then planned and therefore it delayed our excursions as well. Megan and I headed to the Pinnacle Grill for breakfast. We hadn’t eaten in there in a while. As it is predominantly Muslim here in Morocco and especially since it is in the season of Ramadan, we are dressing out of respect to the religion and culture while we are here. Originally, we were prepared to do it on days we were visiting churches, but we decided this morning we will do it the whole time we are here. So no bare shoulders, no mid drifts shirts and no bare knees. We met our excursion group on the Main Stage around 10:00 for our tour of Agadir and the Berber market. We had a scenic drive around the town and so many beautiful things. Our first stop was at the Kasbah that is being rebuilt on the original sight of a 16th century structure. In 1960 an earthquake destroyed the entire city of Agadir and they have been rebuilding it ever since. During the reconstruction human bones were discovered and the renovation work stopped. There was a lovely panoramic view of the city from this mountain top which is 700 feet in elevation. There were locals there with Camels, baby goats and snakes all urging us to take pictures for a price. After we left the Kasbah we drove into the city and visited an Argon oil manufacturer. This particular collective is run by women. We purchase some Jasmine infused Argon oil. They told us the history of Argon production here in Morocco as it is one of their largest exports. It is also a Unesco Biosphere Reserve (like the Volcanic Park from yesterday). I had never heard of one before yesterday and now I have been to two in as many days. From there we walked to the Sundy Berber market. What an establishment this is. Over 6000 vendors and stalls of sellers inside a wall structure. You have to take picture of the entrance you use so you can make sure you leave the same way you came in. Our guide stays with us the whole time and we mostly just walked through the shops. We had about 15 minutes to shop and he gave us a small “boundary” we had to stay in do that no one wandered too far and got lost. High pressure sales is an art form here and “No” means harass me more and try and break me down to them. We bought a magnet and I bought a pair of sunglasses because I left mine on the ship. Lastly, we had a stop at a beachside cafe for a light snack of cookies and I had an apple soda and Megan had a coke. We learned a lot of information and facts about Morocco and Agadir today and I will summarize the most interesting ones I learned.

Agadir is the 10th largest city in Morocco. It has rained just seven days here in the last four years. Men are allowed many wives, but the King has set a new law in place that limits them to no more than 4. He made a joke about bring his new wife home with him from California (me), I told him I don’t share well. Here the women do all the work in the fields. Children are required to go to school from about age 7 only until about age 14. But many children are pulled from their education sooner to help their families by working. 42% of the population is illiterate. When it is time for an election since the locals cannot read, each political party is assigned a symbol and they just place their vote next to the symbol of their political party. There are three words written in Arabic on the side of the Atlas Mountain here in Agadir. They are the words God, Country and King. The words are illuminated at night. In the summer time the temperatures here run around 107 degrees. They are extremely lacking in their health care system. You can only have insurance or go to the hospital is you are employed and 70% of the population do not qualify. The current king, King Mohammad the 7th is changing this now and trying to better his country. They are going though a major renovation and revitalization of Agadir and hope to have it a mecca of tourism and industry by 2025. We drove by the Mohammad the V Mosque. It had two separate entrances, one for men and one for women. There are several photos I took today of the things we saw on our adventure. After our refreshment stop the bus took us back to the ship.

We were back on board by about 2pm so I had time to write most of this blog for you. Tonight we had dinner at the Pinnacle Grill with Gail and Marty at the Tamarind specialty pop up restaurant again. We enjoyed it so very much. We also got to sign up for a special themed Indonesia dinner coming up in a few weeks. Tomorrow is a sea day so it will be nice to have a down day and prepare for two more stops coming ahead in Morocco as well. Wishing you all a wonderful rest of today. No time changes tonight!! YEA!!

Just as an after note. We are still in port. They have changed our all aboard time several times today. Originally 4:30, than 5:30, than midnight and currently 10:00pm. We are having an unexpected overnight here due to the storms and winds that plagued our crossing last night. We hope to set sail tomorrow morning around 7:00am and then head north to Casablanca. We are at the mercy of the seas and we are rolling along. Hugs!!