13 March 2023, Oualidia, 45.71km
Dar Sultan R296.55 [DH165]

The last 15kms of 45.71 total were made possible by the fact that the R301 was slightly elevated, and we could not only see the Atlantic, but benefit from the cooling breeze washing across it. (At nearly 6pm, the welcome breeze has transformed into an icy wind.)
Between Sidi Abed and Oualidia is small-scale but intensive farming, mainly vegetables and wheat. Nearing Oualidia a wetland lies between the road and the dunes, home to a variety of birds and fish; oysters are farmed in the lagoon.
Sounds from the road: motors of some sort doof doofing as they pump water into the fields; the mournful hee-haw of tethered donkeys; a yell that reveals a farmer, farm implement held high in greeting; two-stroke auto cycles with a distinctive and loud popping prrrrr.
It is a little disheartening to push your bike up an incline to a cell phone tower to see another tower in the near distance as you crest. And if I were king, I would abolish guest accommodation three flights up!
We are greeted by men, women and children, either in French or Arabic. And today a motorist, working in admin for Morocco TV and radio, stopped to chat to Charl and insisted he accept two packets of biscuits. Kind people.