Tamri, Paradise Valley and Imouzzer

We leave the paragliding spot in the afternoon, Basti by parachute and Mia and I pick him up at the lower landing site by car. From there we drive to the beach, which looked so beautiful from above, but when we arrive we realize that it is totally littered, unfortunately not an exception and it really hurts in the soul how the garbage is dealt with here in some places. 

Again and again we observe how absolutely normal it is here to just throw away packaging, empty water bottles, etc. 

The large amount of broken glass probably results from the fact that during an alcohol or police check, every empty or half-empty bottle is always attributed to the disadvantage of the driver, so we get rid of it as quickly as possible...

We continue disappointed towards Massa National Park and position ourselves in the beautiful dune landscape near a few French campers who have been here for a month. 

The next morning we wake up - as we are used to by now - surrounded by various peaceful dogs. We go down to the beach and see that various fishermen live in the caves under the dunes. The beach is quite clean here, but at the waterline you can also see the washed-up garbage.

We set off to drive through the national park, but we don't see any antelopes or the like, but we would probably have to drive with a guide into the enclosure for that.

We approach Agadir and have learned that there is a large Carrefour there - among other things with alcohol sales - and want to replenish our beer supplies, because some cans (stored in the truck bed) unfortunately did not survive the off-road routes 🤣.

The giant supermarket and the surrounding shopping centers with Apple Store & Co. overwhelm us a bit after 4 weeks of shopping at markets and mini-supermarkets 🙈.

The alcohol sales are in a separate area in the supermarket, which Mia as a child is not allowed to enter - there is even a security person standing in front of it. 

Another phenomenon here, for example, is the availability of sheep cheese and goat cheese... the whole island is full of sheep and goats, but I only discover sheep cheese in the carrefour... the package costs 12€!, instead of 3€ like in Germany; we have not found sheep or goat cheese on the markets either... despite Google I have not found a plausible explanation for this. 

We set off to drive through Agadir, but we don't want to visit the city specifically; the city was completely rebuilt after an earthquake in 1960 and is said to be the furthest west of all cities here. There is even a fancy villa area where you have to pay to drive through... crazy. 

The huge (cleaned) city beach is 5 km long and well visited (it is Sunday), and there is a lot going on along the roadside, food stands everywhere, a lot of traffic, families in tents on the beach... it feels like a Spanish holiday resort. 

We drive past beautiful stretches of coastline and discover garbage everywhere upon closer inspection. 

We arrive in Tamri because there should be wind for kitesurfing today and Basti goes on the water for another hour. We stay here overnight and wake up in the morning again with dogs as company. 

This beach is actually very nice, but unfortunately garbage accumulates in some corners here as well. We drive to the weekly market in the village, buy some things and then drive to beautiful dunes a little way inland, which we hike through and consider our further route. 

A little inland there is the Paradise Valley, which has been recommended to us several times, but we consciously decided not to drive there on the weekend because it is THE excursion destination from Agadir. 

Basti would also like to go kitesurfing below Essaouira, but the wind there will only come at the end of the week. So we decide to drive down the coast again for a while and then make a loop through the interior along the Paradise Valley before we come back to the coast again. 

Essaouira will be our northernmost destination on the coast, because on the one hand we have heard from some people that the section above does not really worth it and on the other hand we want to go inland to Marrakech and the High Atlas, where some off-road tours are still waiting for us 🤩. 

On the coast we jump into the water again and Basti would like to have some fresh fish. We stop in a lively town and throw ourselves into the hustle and bustle. Basti buys the freshly caught fish at a stand, which is seasoned (and paid) right there.

At the next stand is the grill booth, where the fish is prepared and you sit down with a small salad to eat. Basti treats himself to some sardines as an appetizer and a flounder as a main course with salad. 

Mia tries everything - her verdict: 'average' and I struggle as a non-fish eater with the various smells and sights 🤪. 

Then we drive to Paradise Valley, which is only 40 minutes away, a deep, narrow valley where small pools have formed through the river, where you can swim properly during the rainy season. 

The valley is really pretty, wherever there is water, business-minded Moroccans have set up small cafes and chairs in the water.

We stay overnight at the top of the mountain and hike 400 meters downhill the next day in the heat, hoping to be able to swim maybe. That doesn't work out so well, but we have an orange juice in one of the beautiful cafes by the river and then hike all the way up again. 

Mia hikes everything alone, highly motivated, in the heat. We have the backpack carrier with us just in case, but she tells us that we can really give it away now 🤓. 

From there we continue towards Imouzzer, where there are supposed to be 'waterfalls' - more like trickling water, because it hasn't rained in the region for three years. 

When we arrive at the parking lot, we immediately have a guide (whether we want it or not, because foreign tourists are now rare) and he simply goes ahead for 12 minutes to the waterfalls and waits for us there until we come back. 

The waterfalls really only trickle, but the pool behind them is deep and filled with cold water. Basti and Mia go straight into the water and receive applause from the other visitors. 

There are only Moroccans here and as always in these situations, it seems completely inappropriate for me to jump in here in a bikini while all the other women go into the water completely covered. 

So I jump into the water in full gear, because my hiking clothes could also use a good wash 🤣. 

The water is super refreshing and we make our way back to the car - of course not without paying the guide and the parking attendant 🤪. 

Then we continue and stop at a quiet place in the middle of nowhere.