I let myself be convinced to join a horse riding trek from Agadir to Essaouira, the prospect of riding an arab-berber horse and a stallion at that kind of appealed to me and so Royal Air Maroc takes me from Brussels to Casablanca and from there to Agadir. To my pleasant surprise, my luggage has followed me all the way, and there is a reception committee waiting for me. Dominique of Caval'Rando and two members of the local team Rene and Alain. Other participants have also arrived on the same flight and they take us to a hotel in Agadir where we will spend the night, have diner and become acquainted with our fellow riders.
The next day they take us to Agrhrod, a place at the coast, where the horses are waiting for us , some 30km from Agadir. There we meet the rest of the team, Momo the guide and his assistant Hassan, Rene the driver of the 4wheel drive, and the cook. We are 15 riders, 2 guides, Dominique and 12 guests of which 10 ladies. My horse is a grey stallion , Sandro. A beautiful horse . The saddles are english cavalry, a bit hard but comfortable. Our luggage is stowed in the 4wheel drive, everybody gets his saddle , tack and saddlebags and some good advice. Riding with stallions demands some precautions, for they are not really friendly towards each other. You have to keep a good distance between the horses. Around 11am we start and move inland. The land is dry with an abundance of arganiers, a special kind of trees that need precious little water, which is why they still look so green. They have a bark scaled as if of a crocodile and from the stones of the fruit, an expensive oil is made. For a long time we just follow a track along a hilly region with small villages sparingly dotting the countryside until we arrive at our first bivouac place. We water the horses on a water reservoir which is also used by the people of a village nearby for their goats and to do the wash. Obviously for the children of the village we are a welcome diversity and they observe us with great curiosity from a distance. Upon our arrival the horses are tethered at a respectable distance from each other, the team has erected the great tent, the field kitchen has been installed, the small tents have been pitched and there is tea, mint tea, lots of mint tea. Our meal is a typical moroccan dish , meknez, which you normally eat with your hands and bread. Not for me though because this dish is not just delicious it is also boiling hot.
I am being awakened by the braying of a mule from the village nearby. At 7am the sun is high up in the sky. A quick wash, more like a cat lick, brush your teeth with water from your canteen and we are ready for breakfast. Tasty bread with coffee or tea, mint tea, lots of mint tea. The horses are being fed by the team. After breakfast the horses are saddled and are given ample opportunity to drink because in the course of the day there may not be enough chance. And then we are on our way again. We descend in a canyon and follow a track through the rough countryside. The picnic is under large arganiers in the shade. It is hot, there is a little bit of wind and a lot of flies that bother the horses immensely. Our destination for tonight is a valley of and with lots of palm trees, the valley of Timekti and from high up the pass we have a good view. This valley even has a small river with water. Our bivouac is at the river side and under the palm trees . very nice. Not so nice is what happened to Dominique's horse, he got a long splinter just above the hoof through his foot sticking out from both ends. Trying to remove the splinter is not successful and results in spectacular scenes. The horse, Mansour cannot finish the ride, he has to be replaced at first opportunity. There is not much wind here under the protection of the trees and the valley and we eat outside a nice tagine followed by tea, mint tea, lots of mint tea. We have a bright star-spangled sky, dogs bark in the distance but I fall asleep almost immediately.
at 6.40am I am awakened by the whinnying of the horses being fed. The sky is a bit cloudy and it is cooler. We follow a newly build wide dirt road along the river. It is a bit monotonous but not bad for Mansour who keeps going thanks to some heavy painkillers, tonight he will be relieved. We have another sick horse by the way. One horse has an inflammation on the kidneys and moves with difficulty. That does not seem to alarm the crew, evidently it happened before and they are confident it will pass. The road is long and twisting, monotonous, yes, but with great views over the surrounding area . Around noon we arrive at the souk van Tleta Tannkert. A weekly market on the Tuesday for the inhabitants of the villages close by and far away. From afar we can hear the braying of the dozens of mules and donkeys waiting for the return of their owners with their provisions. The market is a quantum leap back in time. This is not a village but a place where there is only once a week some activity. Shopping is done by the male , not a single woman in sight. There is a "bar annex eating place" where we are having tea, mint tea, lots of mint tea . After the picnic, with view on the souk, we leave the road and move into the mountains following a narrow track. We pass along villages and are often enthusiastically greeted by children . Our bivouac place is near a wide wadi, strewn with fossils . The replacement horse for Mansour has arrived and he is taken home for treatment. Tonight we are having couscous and afterwards there is tea...
The sun is up in the sky and it looks as if it is going to be hot. We have breakfast and are ready to move out around 9am. We start N-NW along a narrow track. We cross the wadi
and pass meagre fields , goats are being herded by children, mostly girls, there still is no compulsory school attendance. On several fields groups of men and women are mowing like our ancestors did with a sickle. Everything here seems to be small scaled. We get a friendly wave from everybody. Donkeys loaded with all kinds of merchandise (sometimes even with a goat or a sheep) suggest that we are nearing another souk. It is a big one , complete with publicity for coca cola, knorr and tide but still without women. We stop for our picnic and a visit. It is really the equivalent of a shopping centre , more primitive obviously but you can find practically everything here, earthen ware, clothing, toys, vegetables, fruit even the ladies from our group find something to their liking.
Big surprise, tonight we will have opportunity to take a shower. Public showers in the small town of Tamanar not far from our bivouac. They take us in the 4x4, it cost 10Dirham (1Euro) and it is a real treat. Surprises for tonight are plentiful because after diner there are 4 musicians who bring us their version of moroccan disco to the delight of our moroccan crew who makes sure that the dance floor is quickly filled.
The wind has gone down, the sun shines. We are now moving in the direction of the coast. Up and down successive hills and with an occasional steep descent on foot. The closer we come to the sea the harder the wind blows. Our bivouac is high upon a cliff overlooking the beach and the sea. Beneath us, at the beach is a small fishing village . We can walk our horses in the atlantic ocean . Here on the coast the wind is really strong and cold. We are having a tagine with fresh sardines. Very tasty and then there is the inevitable tea, mint tea...Next to the big tent is a concrete cistern to collect rainwater the only source of potable water for the people of the village.
The wind has gone down again and the sun is up. The fishermen must have sailed early in the morning with their small craft for the beach is empty. We will follow the beaches today in the direction of Essaouira. That is to say, where possible because the different beaches are separated by big cliffs which we have to pass overland but the beaches itself are immense and deserted and an open invitation for great gallops . The sea here must be paradise for wind surfing, but we have the wind, which has started to blow again in force, right in our teeth and it is no fun. Late in the afternoon we can see Essaouira in the distance. The ride ends in a village not far from Essaouira. The horses are stabled and we prepare for our transfer to the city where we will spend the night in a hotel.
The hotel is in the old walled town, the medina, not accessible for cars, all luggage must be transported in handcarts . We have diner together in the evening with the crew and next morning is the time to visit the town and to do some shopping. The fishing port , the ramparts , the narrow streets , all very picturesque. We take our lunch in a little fish restaurant near the fish market , very rough and ready but real tasty. And then it is time for our last transfer to Marrakech. Our hotel is also near the medina but is in dire need of a face lift. There is a staggering number of tourists and it seems as it the 2 million inhabitants are all strolling on the big central square and in the neighboring souks. A huge crowd.
At 11.15am everybody is supposed to be ready for the transfer to the airport. Not so, unfortunately, ladies and last minute shopping you know! When we arrive in the airport the chaos there is overwhelming. There are 2 flights for Casablanca, one at 13.10 (mine) and one at 13.25 and what seems like thousands of people queuing at only 2 in-check counters. When it is finally my turn I am booked on the flight of 13.25. Not so good for I have a mere 40minutes to catch my connecting flight to Brussels. And then the shit really hits the fan; the flight has a 1 hour delay. Not to worry, flights in Casablanca will also be delayed. Sadly not the one to Brussels. An extra night in Casablanca. Next day we (I am not the only one) are picked up at 5.30am, the flight is at 8.10. I have my boarding pass already and my luggage is transferred (I am told). Boarding is on time but then there is a snag. A single piece of luggage has been loaded for which no passenger was checked in. That has to go. For 2 hours we wait in the plane until somebody realizes that the whole thing is a clerical error, and when I arrive in Brussels my luggage...is not on board. I only receive it on Tuesday, and oh yes, Royal Air Maroc does not deliver delayed luggage at home, if you want it you have to go to the airport and pick it up. If you decide to fly Royal Air Maroc you better know what you can expect.
information at cavalrando and at pyrenees-a-cheval
