Day 185 - Horse Riding Chaos and Pumping Waves in Morocco

Kia and I were up around 7:30 or 8 and decided to head out and make coffee. We walked out to the outdoor kitchen and seating area and it was absolutely packed. People everywhere. Mohammed, who’s usually up a bit later, was already in there making breakfast.

I walked in to make coffee and said, “Jeez, it’s busy.”

“Tour group,” he laughed.

While making coffee I got chatting with a lady from Sydney who’d just finished a big trail walk through Portugal and was now doing an 18-day Morocco tour. It was honestly just nice hearing another Australian accent again. Feels like it’s been ages since we’ve heard someone speaking Australian English. We had a really good chat before she headed back to breakfast and we took our coffees upstairs to the rooftop with the kids.

We’d figured out the rooftop was actually way better for breakfast because there were far less flies and bees up there. It meant Mohammed had to carry breakfast upstairs for us, but it was definitely worth it.

A young German traveller staying here joined us as well. We’d spoken to her a few times already around the accommodation. She’s studying at the moment and spending a couple of weeks here doing surf lessons and horse riding. It was cool just sitting around chatting with people from completely different parts of the world while eating breakfast on the rooftop overlooking the ocean.

After breakfast we were told we’d be getting picked up at 10 o’clock to go horse riding down to the beach. They’d left some horses at one stable and some at another, so we first had to drive to the original stable to collect helmets, saddles and one of the horses. Then we had to move that horse about a kilometre up the road to the other stable.

The original plan was for Kia to ride the horse while being guided by car, however that tactic wasn’t successful, so we changed approach. I ended up driving the car with Kia and the kids while our guide rode the horse up to the other stable.

Once at the new stables, we had to brush the horses, saddle them up, move horses around between paddocks and sort out all the gear. It felt like we were real stable hands and eventually we got everything ready and led the horses out to a mounting block just outside the compound.

I hopped on Sultan first, which is probably the least friendly horse there. He definitely has a mind of his own and isn’t overly interested in listening. I ended up sitting on him for quite a while waiting for everyone else to get mounted while things were still getting sorted out.

Maddie was struggling a bit getting on and getting her horse moving, Kia was worried Maddie’s horse had an issue with its leg, and everything just dragged on longer than expected. By that stage I was honestly pretty stressed sitting on a horse that clearly didn’t want to cooperate.

But eventually we all got going and rode our way down toward the beach.

The ride itself was really cool once we settled into it. We rode down onto this remote beach lined with little fisherman restaurant shacks, then up over a big sand dune before parking the horses under some shady trees.

We desaddled them and headed down to one of the shacks where we had Moroccan tea and biscuits while looking out over the ocean. It was a really beautiful spot and a nice chance to just sit, breathe and reset after the stressful start to the morning.

After that, our guide grabbed Maddie’s and Emmett’s horses and led them further down the beach and into the water for a wash. Kia and the kids went in with them while I stayed back on the beach watching.

Emmett’s horse ended up laying down and rolling around in the ocean which was hilarious to watch, while Maddie’s horse stood calmly out in the deeper water while everyone splashed water over it and washed it down.

It was honestly a really unique experience. One of those moments where you stop and think, this is pretty wild that we’re here doing this.

Once the horses dried off, we saddled them back up and rode back to the stables, de-saddled everything again and eventually got dropped back at our accommodation.

Overall it was a really cool few hours and definitely an experience we’ll remember. Stressful at times, but also funny and very uniquely Morocco.

Once we got back, Kia headed off to sort the washing while Emmett and I grabbed a bodyboard and headed straight down to the beach to hit the waves.

The waves were absolutely pumping and perfect for bodyboarding, which was funny because when we first looked out from the accommodation they didn’t seem that big at all. It looked pretty calm. But by the time we were actually out there in the water, the swell had picked up a lot.

There were beginner surfers everywhere getting absolutely smashed trying to paddle out through the waves. It was pretty chaotic and intense out there, but Emmett and I had an awesome time.

After that we headed back for showers and then went to our favourite restaurant for dinner.

We ended up chatting to a family from Holland who were a bit puzzled about how we could homeschool our kids for a year while travelling. They seemed genuinely curious but also slightly concerned about what exactly we were teaching them. It’s funny how different people view the whole worldschooling thing.

After dinner we headed back home, got everyone into bed, and that was day 185.