McGresty
as it happens
Moroccan disaster
The thought of taking a taxi to East Croydon Rail station was abandoned due to nearly all trains for Gatwick Airport being cancelled in the early hours of the morning. Instead I took a train to a station where a tram could drop me off in Croydon. It was around midnite I boarded one to the airport, knowing I would have to hang around the place until 0530 to check in for my flight to Agadir, Morocco.
Thinking it would be nice to spend most of winter somewhere warmer than cold wet England, I flew out to Agadir, Morocco hoping it would be better than last year. I was in for a surprise, it was worse. Being on the western edge of the Sahara Desert, rain is very seldom, not this year!
It was 7pm on Thursday the 18th of December I was awoken from a late nap by fireworks and a band on the street below the apartment. Morocco had won the Africa Cup of Nations soccer (football) tournament and all of Tangier was celebrating. Cars were going up and down the main road beeping horns as other people were joining in the party.
Where I stayed is noisy and sleep is sporadic, the possiblity of another place to stay was on the cards but taking a long time for the guy to get the room ready, cheaper though. The thought of grabbing a flight home has crossed my mind. First though was to check out the other room. It was less money by paying Moroccan prices instead of Western. Trouble is the apartment was on the third floor with no elevator, that did it for me. I booked a direct flight out with AirArabia on the 28th of December to London Gatwick.
To make matters worse, I took a shirt to a tailor shorten the sleeves and on the way back it poured with cold heavy rain. I ended up soaked to the skin and the guy was closed until 5:30 pm. Fortunately the next day was clear and I picked up the shirt, though my jeans were still wet. A very bad cold in the head is following the soak. The rain kept falling but the time at the airport was clear and somewhat warmer.
Thinking it would be nice to spend most of winter somewhere warmer than cold wet England, I flew out to Agadir, Morocco hoping it would be better than last year. I was in for a surprise, it was worse. Being on the western edge of the Sahara Desert, rain is very seldom, not this year!
A Natural Disaster
Morocco as a nation had the worst rain in history. The entire country was soaked with at least 37 people dead and many more injured with the massive floods. After a few days in Agadir I took the bus and train to Tangier. Staying where I have bunked up before, only a few days saw any decent sun. It was very cold, wet and windy, there were a couple of days where even London was sunny and warmer. It was not just rain. The Rif Mountains had 4 meters of snow, very rare. Color me not happy.It was 7pm on Thursday the 18th of December I was awoken from a late nap by fireworks and a band on the street below the apartment. Morocco had won the Africa Cup of Nations soccer (football) tournament and all of Tangier was celebrating. Cars were going up and down the main road beeping horns as other people were joining in the party.
Where I stayed is noisy and sleep is sporadic, the possiblity of another place to stay was on the cards but taking a long time for the guy to get the room ready, cheaper though. The thought of grabbing a flight home has crossed my mind. First though was to check out the other room. It was less money by paying Moroccan prices instead of Western. Trouble is the apartment was on the third floor with no elevator, that did it for me. I booked a direct flight out with AirArabia on the 28th of December to London Gatwick.
To make matters worse, I took a shirt to a tailor shorten the sleeves and on the way back it poured with cold heavy rain. I ended up soaked to the skin and the guy was closed until 5:30 pm. Fortunately the next day was clear and I picked up the shirt, though my jeans were still wet. A very bad cold in the head is following the soak. The rain kept falling but the time at the airport was clear and somewhat warmer.
Probably never again.
Jan 01, 2026
More posts from: On the road
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