Port Visit 2, Morocco

Just got back from the afternoon at the beach w/ some of the officers from our crew & a couple officers from the Moroccan Navy. We had a wonderful meal of homemade (by Navy liason's family friends) “Kous Kous”, a dish w/ the kous kous pasta, chicken on the bone, various veggies (carrots, squash, sweet potatoes, cabbage and pumpkin…yes pumpkin). It was served family style in a 3” wooden bowl. Everyone had their own spoon, but we all ate off the same plate… It’s tradition for the host to break up the big pieces w/ his hand and put those pieces in front of you to eat. The food was amazing…the kous kous was flavored w/ curry and saffron, and tasted amazing. For desert we had fresh honey dew melon and small bananas…very good as well. After the meal, we had traditional 5 herb tea (lemon, orange, mint and a couple others) w/ fresh minced mint leaves and lots of sugar ;) It tasted like a mojito, sans RUM…but very good, he said it was for good digestion after the meal.

Hayghem (Moroccan liason) came and picked us up from the ship, transported us to the beach and we ate at a little café on the cliff above the beach. Very nice. The weather was beautiful and warm, nice ocean breeze all afternoon. Don and I went for a swim in the ocean after the meal. The water was about the same temp as VA, warmer to swim for a bit...

After the meal, we went to an old fort raised high above the city. We had a 360 degree view of the city of Agadir, population 500K. I’ve attached a couple pics of that…