On the Friday night at around 10pm we heard fireworks going off in the town. Although it was November 6th, we assumed their display was nothing to do with Guy Fawkes.
We slept badly on Saturday night, the wind had increased and our awning was rattling noisily. I got up about 3.30 am to bring in our towels, thinking they might blow away. It was still dark outside but it was surprisingly warm; I checked the temperature and saw it was registering 27°, ten degrees warmer than the normal night time temperature. It was hot for the next twenty four hours, reaching 32° and then it returned to normal, 18° at night and 26° daytime maximum. We needed regular dips in the sea to keep comfortable. Sidi Ifni is on the same latitude as the Canary Islands, several hundred miles to the west.
We had a late Sunday lunch at the café next to the campsite, overlooking the beach. When we arrived we were ushered into the kitchen and shown two tagines keeping hot on the stove, one with a whole fish and the other with chicken pieces. We paid less than £10 for a beautiful salad each, then the fragrant tagine of chicken and fresh vegetables, followed by a plate of fresh fruit, plus bottled water and loads lovely fresh bread.
The leading supermarket in Morocco was Marjane and we passed lots of these huge retail outlets as we drove south but, as far as we could tell, there were no supermarkets in Sidi Ifni. Apart from the fresh food market, we wondered where all the other shops were until we got accustomed to what they looked like. Most were small dark shacks with goods piled up outside or they were just kiosks. It was difficult to see what each shop sold but, as it turned out, even the smallest shop sold absolutely everything. Bottled water? The owner would reach down and produce a variety of sizes. Eggs? A bowl full of fresh eggs would be magicked up from the gloom. Beach towels? Choice of several sizes and colours.
