After reuniting ourselves with our bags we settled into our room at Motel-Restaurant à l’Araignée Gourmande, which was a very welcome setting compared with most of the grotholes that we had checked ourselves into throughout the past month. The room was spacious, clean and even had a balcony for us to sit out on. Even the bathroom was OK (just OK mind, but even ‘just OK’ is a country-mile better than the average Moroccan bathroom fare). Full marks to the hotel for effort — nothing was too much trouble for the staff here who easily provided the best customer service that we experienced in all of the country.

Oualidia, a relatively quiet coastal resort at this time of year, is mainly visited by Moroccan holidaymakers from Casablanca and has a natural breakwater that creates a lagoon which calms the Atlantic waves to a level suitable for novice surfers like us. At the Tomatobeach Cafe, we found a local madman-come-surf-instructor named Aziz who took us out on the water on his boards. Aziz brought a lot of amusement to our stay in Oualidia; every time we saw him, he was sporting a different adrenaline toy. My favourite conversation with him went like this:

Aziz: Also I’ve got a paraglider with a motor.
DaveB: A paraglider with a motor?
Aziz: Yeah, like a parachute canopy. You need a motor to use it on the beach.
DaveB: A paraglider with a motor? Isn’t that dangerous?
Aziz: Nyyyyyyyoooooooo. Nyooo. Well. Maybe a little. I did do this on it…
(Holds up hand with one finger chopped a lot shorter than it should have been.)

Squiffy’s getting the hand of this surfing lark. I, on the other hand, need a bit more practice and a lot more energy to be able to stand-up for any length of time.

After the waves died down, we walked the beach talking to local fishermen as they brought in the day’s catch of Spidercrabs. If, like us, you don’t like (a) spiders and (b) crabs, then let me tell you, these things are frightening.

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