Agadir, This Place is something else

The fertile plains, sudden granite mountains and long stretches of pristine beach of Morocco’ssouthwest corner announce that you are arriving somewhere different. And you are.  The Soussand the Anti Atlas are the most geographically varied regions of Morocco and also the mostculturally distinct.

And as if the vast, challenging nature of the landscape has had a softeningeffect on the character of the people, the sort of hassle visitors can suffer elsewhere in Morocco,is rare here, while the hospitality is legendary.

The Souss plain, with red-walled Taroudannt at its centre, is one of Morocco’s most importantagricultural zones. To the south lies the Anti Atlas, not as challenging as the High Atlas, but lessvisited and with plenty worth visiting, including the contorted slopes of Jebel Bani, prehistoricrock carvings in the Akka Oasis and the idyllically peaceful Ameln Valley.On the coast, Agadir is both the principal port of the south and Morocco’s premier beachresort.

The glorious coast runs hundreds of kilometres south, past nature reserves, the art-decosplendours of Sidi Ifni and the tiny town of Tarfaya.Further south, the Western Sahara is a vast, desolate and lightly populated tract of hammada(stony desert). Inhabited by free-spirited Saharawis, fishing communities and industrious Moroccans,it is a hotly disputed territory and is watched over by the ever-present security forces. .