Day 180 - Our First Full Day in Sidi Kaouki, Featuring Horses, Wind and Travel Reality

Our first full day here in Sidi Kaouki. We were in temporary accommodation for the first night because our original booking had been mixed up, so we woke up in a little unit next door to where we were supposed to be staying. It was generally comfortable enough. It got pretty cold during the night and an extra blanket definitely would have helped, but overall it wasn’t too bad.

I’d bought some basic breakfast supplies the day before like oats, muesli and milk, and thankfully we already had coffee. The only issue was finding a lighter to get the gas stove going in the kitchen. Eventually I tracked one down, got the coffee brewing and everyone slowly got moving for the day.

Maddie’s a little bit sick at the moment. Just a bit sniffly and snotty with what seems like a head cold, so she was slow getting started. But by around 9:30 we were ready for pickup by our horse riding guide. He picked us up in his car and drove us about ten minutes out of town to the ranch. It wasn’t really a ranch in the way we imagined. More just a stable setup behind someone’s property, but once we met the horses none of that really mattered.

The four horses were Sultan, Maasai, Snow and Peaceful. They were all beautiful and calmly eating breakfast when we arrived. The goal for the morning was to learn how to lead and walk the horses properly. We were going to guide them down through a valley, over to a waterhole and then eventually back to the stables.

The kids had to learn how to hold the leads properly, where to stand beside the horses and how to guide them without getting tangled up. As soon as we walked out of the stables the horses all wanted to roll around in the sand, which was pretty funny to watch. Maddie and Emmett were both naturals though. They learnt really quickly how to stop the horses, guide them in circles and keep them walking calmly.

We eventually made our way down to the waterhole where we used buckets to wash the horses before brushing them down. Maddie had Peaceful for the day and Emmett had Maasai, and honestly it felt like they both really bonded with their horses. It was pretty cool seeing them confidently handling such large animals. They both seemed completely comfortable around them.

Once we’d finished, we walked the horses back up to the stables and left them to finish eating. By then it was already around lunchtime and the morning was basically done. We were dropped back at our accommodation and we headed out to find some lunch.

We found a really nice little café in town that seemed more like a breakfast place than a lunch spot, but the food and coffee were excellent. I had granola and yoghurt while Kia and the kids had salmon and avocado on toast. We also had NOSNOS coffee, which is basically half espresso and half milk, and it was honestly delicious. We had ours with almond milk which made it even better.

There’s definitely a different sort of vibe here compared to Essaouira. Sidi Kaouki feels much more built around sustainability, wellness and surf culture. Lots of yoga happening everywhere, glass bottles instead of plastic, healthy cafés, people wandering around barefoot and generally just a very relaxed lifestyle.

After lunch we headed down to the beach and hired a couple of deck chairs. We spent a few hours just sitting there watching the windsurfers and kitesurfers flying across the water while talking about the trip and researching future plans. The wind here is absolutely relentless.

Eventually we headed back to the accommodation where I had to check a few work things and get some computer work done. We’d officially moved into our actual accommodation by this point and it definitely isn’t quite as comfortable as the temporary place from the first night. There’s no fridge, no proper dining table and the bedrooms don’t really have walls or doors, just curtains separating the spaces. It feels smaller and a bit less private overall.

There are also stray cats absolutely everywhere here, which means we can’t really leave windows open for airflow because the cats just try to climb inside. So the place gets a bit stuffy and closed up, which is a bit frustrating. Still, I’m sure we’ll adapt to it over the next few weeks.

Once I finished up my work, we headed out for dinner at a local surf and yoga place that also had a restaurant upstairs. The food was good, but one thing we’ve quickly realised is that Sidi Kaouki is much more expensive than we expected. It’s definitely more expensive than Essaouira and there are far fewer food options as well.

We’re going to need to work out some better routines and find places that make food we actually enjoy at a price point that works for us, because our budget definitely won’t survive if we keep spending at the current rate. It’s one of those little realities of long-term travel that you don’t always anticipate until you arrive somewhere and start living there day to day.

Anyway, that was day 180. Tomorrow apparently involves actually riding the horses, so we’ll see how that goes.