When the ship was delayed by a month, we made an impulsive decision to book a trip somewhere to make the most of what should be our big trip. We have both tried kite surfing previously but never quite had the weather or time to get to a good level so hoped to finesse these skills in Morocco…a kiting Mecca!
We found a school in a town called Essaouira, about 3 hours north of Agadir and with the help of the owner of Atlanticzin Kite – Redouan, we booked our flights and course within an hour. Several YouTube videos later and we thought we had all we needed to become pros.
We arrived in Essaouira around 5pm after an extremely long day of travelling (classic EasyJet delays). The following day had light winds so James spent the afternoon surfing, whilst I nursed the start of a stomach bug.
Finally the day came where the winds picked up and we were both able to get out and learn. I started with a beach lesson, where I was absolutely covered in sand, and James picked up with his water starts. The hours passed so quickly and before we knew it, we were on day 2 of kiting and in the water for me, learning to body drag. There is something quite intimidating about a huge kite, powerful enough to launch you out of the sea at speed, with a beach full of people around you. I was very much feeling a novice and questioning my ability. James however was flying!
And then the proper stomach bug hit us. James was fevery and I was doubled over with cramps. 2 days in bed, very frustrated but we had to listen to our bodies and rest up!
We managed to get out one afternoon and explore with the camera, and naturally James stopped to stroke every cat we saw. The Medina was full of life with vendors selling everything from carpets to peanut butter. I was able to watch James kite at sunset with camels walking past him on the beach which was pretty awesome.
Our finals days came round and whilst I had a few more lessons, I wasn’t able to conquer the fear of killing someone with this huge kite, so my lessons were paused until we find somewhere a little quieter to learn 😊 whereas James is pretty much there with his kite skills now, feeling confident and ready to kite all over the world!
And next, we are excited to say that the truck is leaving the UK today….so we are on track and we ourselves leave the UK on Tuesday. So a weekend of goodbyes and then we can finally hit the road….we couldn’t be more excited!!
More to come once we’re across the pond 🤙