53km Essaouria – El Mehattat

A hilly route, once againA cyclist inside EssaouiraAfter bumping into Kristian in Essaouria we decided to join up again for the ride to Safi. We met near his hotel in the center of the city and tried desperately to figure out the way to the coastal road to Safi. After a little hunting around we finally found it but it didn’t have any resemblance to the road on the map.

The winds were very strong and all in our face so Kristian got into his “bull” mentality, as he called it, and ran ahead of us, head down and pedalling for all he was worth. We dawdled a little more, stopping for lots of snacks and enjoying the wonderful sight of very large waves crashing on the beaches. It was almost tempting to stop and just watch them for hours. The wind kept blowing all day, until at about 3pm we caught up with Kristian lazing about under a tree, having had enough wind for one day or hoping the wind would stop. We waited with him for a while and not long afterwards we all gave up and found a camping place nearby.

Just as we finished supper, a local man came by to offer us some bread from his house. Andrew stayed with the tent and bikes, while Friedel and Kristian went for an hour of Moroccan hospitality, coming back with some lovely flatbread for the morning.