Lagoon, Portuguese fortress and camping on the beach

Our first day in Oualidia was a nice sunny day, we had a good lay in and then started off with a nice stroll around the beautiful lagoon created by the rocks by the ocean. It was so peaceful and quiet, with very few people around, you could quite imagine you were on a deserted island of sorts. We went all the way around the lagoon until we reached the rocks on the other side and decided to climb them to get a better view of the ocean. It was definitely worth it!

Carmen on the lagoon beach

Standing on the rocks around the lagoon

Unfortunately we couldn't stay out on the rocks for too long as the tide was starting to cut off our escape route back to dry land so we had to head back. When we made it off the rocks and headed along a different part of the beach we came across Matteo with his fishing rod out and trying his luck whilst Bianca was reading. We decided to leave them in peace and head back to get some lunch and write some things down. After writing some things down for the blog and Carmen's journal we had a long discussion about our trip so far and what we would do next.

Matteo trying to catch some fish

We both had mixed feelings on the trip so far. We had met some really nice people and had some great experiences and seen some amazing things, but we had also both had moments when we were really not enjoying the journey and just felt that we wanted to give up and go back home. But I think we were slowly coming to realise that this was partly to do with the fact that we hadn't fully let go yet. We were still giving ourselves goals and deadlines to be in certain places, at certain times and when we weren't managing this, due to injury or weather conditions or other reasons we were getting frustrated and this was causing us not to enjoy the experience of the journey so much. We decided therefore to try not to plan things out too much and try and let go of that way of thinking and see if that would help because at pretty much all the other moments we were having an amazing time. That evening helped to highlight exactly why we were traveling as we sat on the beach and enjoyed the sunset.

Sunset on the beach

The next morning we headed up the coast in Gustav to El Jadida where we were expecting to part ways with Matteo and Bianca, but instead they offered to continue taking us up the coast, which we were more than happy to accept, as we really liked spending time with them. There was also the added bonus that it gave Carmen's knee extra time to have some rest as well.

After deciding this we headed into the Cite du Portugaise to have a look around. Cite du Portugaise was a fortified city and has influences from both European and Moroccan cultures, which makes it quite unique. It was surprisingly quiet and quite small, we were expecting a much more medina like atmosphere. We first of all visited the cistern, which was similar to the one we had visited in Istanbul but on a lot smaller scale. It still made for some nice pictures though.

Underground in the Portuguese cistern

Following this we headed up onto the walls of the small city and walked around seeing the port where all the boats were moored and went out daily to catch their fish. We also saw some cannons that were around the walls, originally used to defend the city. Unfortunately I had some problems with my camera at this point and wasn't able to take many pictures.

One I did manage to get was Carmen on top of the wall

Then Matteo and Bianca wanted to hit the road to try to reach Casablanca to see the Hassan II Mosque. However after looking on my Morocco guide on the tablet, it said that the mosque was not open to the public on a Friday. So it was decided to take it slow up the coast, stopping at a cafe to have a mint tea whilst talking about european politics, which Matteo is very passionate about, and it made for a very interesting conversation!

We ended up in a place for the night called Dar Bouazza, just 20km away from Casablanca. We set the tent up just off the beach, then went for a nice chat in Gustav, with some wine, and talked about travelling to different places and some of their traditions. We then later went for a meal with Matteo and Bianca at a local restaurant/cafe.

Our camping spot next to Gustav, just off the beach

Later that evening Carmen got a bit worried after a local woman approached us, saying that camping on the beach was not very safe as there were lots of youths about. However we experienced no problems at all, only a few youths making a bit of noise a fair distance away, but that stopped before midnight. Overall it was a really nice experience hearing the ocean inside the tent and as you fell asleep. We had a really good nights sleep and then woke up to a really nice view as an added bonus.