I must be getting old

On a Cliff


I read in LP that there is a beach 3km south of town called Paradise Beach and that there is a trail along the coast that leads to it. You can also get there on the back of cart pulled by a donkey but I don’t know where they pick up and the walk along the coast sounds nice. I put on my tennis shoes and decided to spend my day walking to the beach and enjoying what it had to offer. With a name like Paradise Beach the expectations are very high. As I worked my way south along the trail it gradually got smaller and the terrain got rockier. The trail went in and out of several construction zones and also ended on the top on cliffs several times, all making it rather difficult to follow.

I kept seeing other groups of people around me so I knew I had to be going in the right general direction. The other people was encouraging but it seemed to me that I had traveled further than 3km already and there was nothing but rocky cliffs in sight. Suddenly I was in a spot where I couldn’t see any of the other groups, I knew I was going the correct direction because the ocean was still on my right though. I decided that when I reached the top of the next hill I would reevaluate the situation if I didn’t see the beach. When I came to the top of the mountain all I could see was the beautiful flat beach laid out below me. What had been nothing but jagged large boulders was now a beautiful beach. The beach here is beautiful and amazing, it’s not too crowded and there are chairs and umbrellas for rent along with food and drinks to purchase.

I walked to beach once looking for a prime spot and picked the best location I could find and got myself an umbrella and a chair to relax in. The beach here is very deep with the water furthest away and then a large flat sandy area that people were playing soccer in and then rows of chairs and umbrellas and lastly restaurants and snack bars.

As the day progressed the water started creeping up the shore and slowly submerging everything in its path. First the soccer fields were taken by the sea and then row by row of chairs and umbrellas had to be taken down to prevent being washed out to sea. I was in the third row of chairs and by 4:30 pm I had waterfront property for about 30 minutes until my area was also taken by the sea.

The people at this beach are definitely more western than any other beach I have been to in Morocco. There are many more girls here than other beaches and the ones that are here are actually wearing swimming suits. There are also plenty of fat people wearing clothing that is far too revealing. There ought to be a rule that women over 200 lbs have to become practicing Muslims and keep all of their flesh covered.

At night I went out to the street to find a place along with thousands of others to drink tea and watch people walk by. I found a couple of vacant tables but decided they weren’t in prime spots so I kept looking. I found an immensely dirty table that was in a decent spot and vacant so I quickly snatched it up. I turned the table so the dirtiest part was away from me. The table was covered in discarded peanut shells and spilt drinks. There was a table next to mine with three guys who yelled at the waiter to clean up my table for me. Men here yell at each other over everything in such an aggressive way that I often expect it to come to blows between them. It never does though, just as quickly they lower their tones in resolution and often end the conversation in an embrace and air kisses to the cheeks. As the waiter cleaned my table and took my order one of the men at the table next to mine started to talk to me in English. Two of the men were also accountants and quickly invited me to join them at their table so we could continue our conversation. The men offered me some Moroccan snacks they were eating and I had a small piece. It tasted like two pieces of thin bread with some kind of mild cheese or butter between the pieces. It was nice of them to share and they insisted that I finish the snack off. They informed me that they were going to join the masses wandering around the streets and invited me to join them. I accepted their invitation and gathered my belongings while they paid for my tea.

I learned that the purpose of all the walking is to see friends, but more importantly to look for girls. We wandered the streets all over the town with the other masses looking at the places, entertainment and the people. Of course we each took turns with our own commentaries of the things we saw. We stopped and spoke with a couple groups of girls, they spoke, I smiled and laughed when everyone else laughed, then we would move on to find a new group of girls. Shortly after midnight I asked them how long they normally walked until and they told me 2 or 3 depending on the rest of the crowd. I thanked them for the tea and the company and wished them luck in finding some girls, I was tired and ready for bed.


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