We travelled 5+ hours by car from the Atlas Mountains to Imsouane, a small surf and fishing town on the Moroccan coast. Given the variety of vehicles and drivers in these parts of the world you need to be ready for anything. For this journey we won the “car and driver lottery”. We are deserving winners because none of us like long-distance road travel. This continent is going to break us or make us!! Some long drives lie ahead despite an itinerary aimed to minimize them. Anyhoo, our lottery winnings included a leather Toyota Forerunner with AC and a well-dressed, quiet Moroccan with excellent driving skills. It was still a long, hard day for us. Wish us luck in East Africa.
One perk of road tripping is you see the country. We left the mountains in a snap, and spent most of the day in a desert palette of browns, oranges, pinks, and some reds. We passed the occasional oasis of olive trees or oranges or castle-on-a-hill type thing. We zipped through towns of varying sizes. Some bustling, some not. We drove past some surreal industrial complexes. Our driver proudly pointed out a potash processing plant that had serious Mad Max vibes. Real Morocco.
As we neared the coast the terrain became dunes and hills of Argan trees. Then, like a mirage, the Atlantic stretched out before us. We hugged the shoreline on the way into town with Jack Johnson strumming in my head. Arriving in Imsouane, we went for a jump in the ocean and Hazel declared “this is my first time swimming in the Atlantic”. So many firsts. We’ll be here for nearly two weeks to surf and embrace the surf lifestyle. Being sporty and chilling out sound good. Justin will join us soon after he wraps up his European racing campaign.
Surfing is hard. And fun. And elusive to me. Several times I have taken a crack at learning. I once took private lessons for many months, in Half Moon Bay, with a kid that went onto become a big wave surfer and Laird Hamilton’s new BFF. So I’ve had a brush with surfing royalty, which had no effect. I seem to have permanent residence in the beginner zone. Perhaps the challenge is the allure. The kids are taking to it naturally. I love watching them.
Our surf school is more like a surf family. Two brothers run it. Their mom cooks meals for the surfers. The kindness of the family creates a vibe that brings out the kindness in everyone. We join them for dinner every night. Lots of traditional Moroccan food. One night we had a huge spread of full-body fish and veggies. A spearfishing trip the night prior (by one of the brothers and his friend) had brought 20+ fish back to the surf house!! Every day we have private lessons for hands-on help and so I’m not responsible for family water safety :) Our surf coaches are sweet Moroccan surf gurus. They are so genuinely enthusiastic, encouraging and caring.
One late afternoon, our surf tribe went to nearby sand dunes. Our mission was to go sand boarding, watch the sunset, and drink tea. Sure there were some other tourists, a few camels for good measure, some folks rolling around in four-wheelers, but not too many of those things. The landscape was so vast, and the ocean was so vast, that we were all just like little dots. It felt a bit like a miracle to be in this place so foreign, so far away, so beautiful with the kids and the kindness of strangers.
Will, second from the back, doing the classic four-person-standing sand board:
Me (in blue romper) rocking the four-person and showing up in our Surf House insta reel 🤣
At times if felt like being inside a meditation video. Clearly I spend more time imagining oceans than actually being near them!!
Good living from the dunes to dinner:
Below are some more colors and scenes of Imsouane. I am fascinated by the (mostly blue) wooden fishing boats that look like ancient vessels of the sea. A tractor pulls them into the shore break then they valiantly tackle the surf on their way to calmer and fishier waters. So wild.
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