POSTCARDS FROM AGADIR

I had no idea…… There was an earthquake on February 29, 1960 that destroyed 90 percent of Agadir!  90 percent!  I was expecting a typical bus tour of the small African city of Agadir and instead I got an emotional wake up call.  Life as we know it can be changed in TEN SECONDS!

Agadir is a city in Morocco on the west coast of Africa.  Near the top - I am geographically challenged so that is how I picture it in my mind…….  We met our guide and bus on the pier and headed for Danialand which is a fairly new place in Agadir.  It features cable car rides to the Agafir Oufla, which is a former fort on top of the mountain, above the city.  My first reaction when seeing this was “Is this like Disneyland?” AND, “Oh great, another Fort AND I’m afraid of heights AND I don’t like cable cars.”  But, since my mantra for 2025 is OPEN, I headed on up!

WOW!  For me this was an eye opener!  Our guide, Maji, was so good and so informative.  After waiting while we took photos of the beautiful views, he told us the story of these views……. This is not a good story…….

In 1960, there were 35,000 inhabitants of Agadir that lived in the main city.  The Agadir Oufla, a fort above the city, (a former fort that was no longer useful) housed another 7,000 people.  Maji was 5 years old in 1960.  It was 5 minutes until midnight and he was having trouble sleeping so he and his mother were in the newly built kitchen of their home and she was cooking warm milk for him.  The significant earthquake hit, killing his father and two siblings as the house collapsed on them.  The kitchen was all that was left of his home.  The earthquake also took the lives of his aunts, uncles and cousins.  Between 15,000 and 17,000 people were killed and another 2,000 people were missing including his grandfather.  After ten days of searching for the missing, the area within the fort and the whole town was bulldozed……. Now both areas are burial sites and no one can build on them - ever.  Maji had tears in his eyes as he told this story and so did I.

The wall surrounding the fort has been rebuilt, but there is no entrance because it is a burial site. Here is Maji and a cable car with the burial site underneath. In the background is the newly built city.

The old bulldozed city and the rebuilt city.  Last year, trees were planted in the burial site.  Bones were found as the holes for the trees were being dug.

After this, we wandered around the outside of the fort and noticed vendors, snakes and camels!  Someone offered me a camel ride and of course I said yes!  Sometimes on Facebook there is a questionnaire about things we have done in our life.  Now when the question appears “have you ever ridden a camel?”, I can say YES!

We took the cable cars back down the mountain, boarded the bus and headed to the NEW town.  On the way we passed a huge cemetery at the bottom of the mountain.  This cemetery was for the bodies that were recovered after the earthquake.  Maji teared up again and couldn’t look at the cemetery.

Agadir was rebuilt in the 60s and certainly has the 1960s vibe.  There are currently 500,000 inhabitants of Agadir, so the city seems to be thriving.  We visited a mosque, market and botanical garden.  I was impressed and surprised that this city ONLY imports one item: Sugar!  

We passed some nice homes enroute to the city center. And a typical gas station.

Views from the city.  Shops, restaurants and markets.

The mosque.  Beautiful!

More city views.

Beautiful produce and flowers in the market.

Entrance to the Botanical Garden.  We were only there for about 30 minutes so did a quick walk through and took very few photos.  It was a charming little garden.

Two women were at the entrance of the garden.  Their dresses were stunning.

Built in the 60s, many building are starting to show their age.  This is obvious by the front doors to the residences and businesses.  Still, I find the doors charming.  I tend to gravitate towards the more rickety ones.  Here are a few favorites that we strolled by.

That’s it for Agadir.  Tomorrow we will be in Casablanca, Morocco, our last port in Africa.

A final note:

Touring gives one a completely new perspective.  I learned so much today and had emotions that I will remember for a long time.  I am happy for the residents of Agadir, that they will be able to rebound and hopefully will market their city to become a tourist destination - the beaches are beautiful -, but I will also remember their pain.  

Maji said (and I’m paraphrasing here) : “Everyone says that you have been blessed to have survived,  but please understand that it is not a blessing.  Surviving is hard……..”

I will leave it here…..