We rose before dawn, part of our new strategy to get up early and beat the heat, and also because we were more than ready to leave the overcrowded, expensive and frankly depressing campground in Agadir. As we left the city, we couldn’t help but notice how much it looked like the developed and ugly side of much of Spain’s coast. The day before we’d seen rows of greenhouses as we entered the city and we left through an industrial estate, with a long string of beach-front hotels and night clubs in the middle.

The coastal road towards Essaouira offered a more appealing scenery, with its beautiful shoreline and plenty of surfers in the water, although we had to deal with more traffic than we’ve been used to for some time and a couple bus drivers gave us a shock as they squeeled past our bikes.

Late in the afternoon we stopped outside a small restaurant, where another touring bicycle was parked. Out came Kristian, a German who was going in the same direction, so we cycled on together. We pedalled until about an hour before dark, when we found a large area with several trees to camp in. The usual bundle of kids came along and watched our every move, until we collapsed into our tent exhausted after another big day.