22 March 2023, Ounagha, 24.03km
Camping de Oliviers R215.67 [DH120]

On the bike this morning, climbing our first long hill, it occurred to me that my "elevation gain" whatsapp was likely confusing if not downright misleading!
Nowhere in Morocco is over 6000m high. The highest point, Mount Toubkal, is 4167m. Marrakech lies at just 466m above sea level. This means that whether we approach it from Essaouira or Agadir, we end up at less than 500m elevation.
When one plots a route on Ride with GPS, however, it records ALL the inclines and declines between point A and point B. So... to reach Marrakech from Essaouira, requires that we climb 1500m, drop 1000m and end up at 500m (ish) - all in stages, of course. The Agadir route includes crossing the mountains not once but twice, hence the 6500m elevation gain. Bet the declines on that route are a blast!
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Fear is a strange animal. On rare occasions only is reality worse than your imaginings thereof. More often, one's fears are exaggerated.
Dropping like a stone into Essaouira a few days ago, I could not imagine it would be possible to cycle the same hills out again. So anxious was I, Charl had to wake me last night from a screaming nightmare which left my arms and legs inundated with adrenaline.
But guess what? We could and did cycle those early hills and several more that followed. We drew cash before leaving the city, pumped our tyres at the Total garage, and consumed a sticky bun from their Bonjour shop. Then took our time and our breaks, calling it a day just 24km later in Ounagha.
We are spending the night in a bungalow at a campsite frequented by travellers in vans. Two French couples, come prepared for a dusty game of boules, a Welsh couple, both patent and trademark attorneys, both working from the road, and several others.
Summer has arrived, and the ride was hot, with little of note to report from the road except that at one point I heard grunting and oinking behind me and turned to find a veritable flock of wild piglets running alongside me. Perhaps they were looking for their mom...