Day 5 Agadir Morocco - Mount Oufella & Exploring Agadir

Day 5 and, despite getting a 5K run in yesterday, my body was starting to crave some proper training. Luckily, I'd been sensible enough to choose a hotel with a reasonably decent gym. Admittedly, it was nowhere near the standard of the hotel gym we had in Mexico last year, but it was more than good enough to get a workout in.

So, before my usual morning sea dip and double espresso, I headed down to the gym and got stuck into a hex bar deadlift session, followed by a little Metcon to get the heart rate properly elevated. Holiday calories don't burn themselves, you know!

Today was also our first proper excursion, with an afternoon trip that included a cable car ride up Mount Oufella, followed by a little tour around some of the local markets and a visit to a Moroccan pharmacy.

Now, this wasn't your typical Boots. The pharmacy seemed to stock a remedy for pretty much every ailment you could possibly mention. There were all sorts of local potions, creams, exotic teas, smelling salts, powders and various other things that I'm still not entirely sure what they were supposed to do!

Somehow, I think they spotted us coming from about a mile away because we ended up spending around £50 on various honey and powder mixtures for Tina's asthma, lip balm for Brandon, some smelling-salt-type stuff for Joshua's snoring (and apparently for use in the gym), and even some snail slime skin cream for Holly!

I'm not entirely convinced everything we bought was going to cure anything, but at least we had a good laugh in the process.

The cable car itself was great fun and certainly the easiest way of getting to the top of Mount Oufella, which rises around 774 feet above the city. Given Tina's foot and her asthma, there was absolutely no chance she was going to be walking up there, so the cable car was definitely the sensible option!

At the top sits the remains of a 16th-century kasbah, which was the only major structure in Agadir to survive the devastating earthquake of 1960. The earthquake effectively destroyed the old city, so when you consider that this happened only around 65 years ago, it's quite incredible to see just how much Agadir has rebuilt since then.

There's also a huge amount of investment and development taking place across the city, particularly with Morocco co-hosting the 2030 FIFA World Cup. New infrastructure, roads and buildings are appearing all over the place, and it's clear that Agadir is continuing to develop at a rapid pace.

From the top of Mount Oufella, we were treated to some absolutely stunning panoramic views across Agadir, the coastline and the surrounding area. We also encountered quite a few of the city's resident stray cats, of which there seem to be absolutely loads in Morocco. They were everywhere!

Once we'd taken in the views and inevitably taken far too many photos, we jumped back on the cable car and headed down towards the city before making our way to the famous Souk El Had for a bit of retail therapy.

The souk was pretty much exactly what you'd imagine a North African market to look like—lively, buzzing, colourful and full of narrow, sheltered walkways. Arabic music was playing, traders were shouting across the stalls and there were wonderful smells coming from the spices and local street food. It was a really vibrant and atmospheric place to wander around.

Of course, no trip to a Moroccan souk would be complete without some serious haggling. As usual, we turned it into a bit of a family competition to see who could get the biggest reduction from the original asking price.

I think Brandon may have taken the crown this year after managing to negotiate a pretty decent deal on a pair of sunglasses. He also managed to pick up a 2026 Moroccan football away shirt for the equivalent of just under a tenner, which I thought was a pretty good result.

All in all, it was a fantastic day and a welcome break from spending every waking hour beside the pool. Everyone really enjoyed getting out and seeing a bit more of Agadir, and it gave us a great taste of what Morocco had to offer beyond the resort.

And with that, we headed back to the hotel, knowing that tomorrow was going to be a very big day indeed…

Marrakesh was calling!

Hotel gym calling my name after 4 days of rest.

Pretty good for a hotel, but shows how spoilt I was in Mexico.

Hex bar loaded up for some deadlifts.

How many reps make one mojito?

A pregnant stray cat chilling on the sun beds and looking like it was ready to drop at any minute.

A bit more pool fun before our afternoon excursion.

Joshua sensibly keeping a shirt on so as not to burn.

Holly's attempt at a jump and catch.

Surprisingly quiet in the pool again today.

Brandon trying to get comfortable tanning his back and Holly hiding from the sun altogether.

Another quick check-in for me to see how much conditioning I have lost in 5 days.

Ah who cares, lets have another mojito.

Waiting outside the lobby for our transport to todays excursion.

About 15-20 mins and we arrived at the cable cars.

Each pod sat 8 people!

3 Amigos on one side.

Real men on the other side.

Up, up and away.

Starting the 774ft ascent.

Holly nit sure every time the cable car traverses one of the towers and it rocks around a bit.

Things on the ground starting to get smaller.

Selfie looking back at where we came from.

Which is far in the distance now.

Still a long way to go to get to the top.

Me and Josh on the cable car.

Finally the landing dock at the top of Mount Oufella.

Some of the infamous mist just ruining the view.

A bit clearer in that direction.

The 16th century fort at the top of Mount Oufella.

It was a bit toasty and hot up there.

More of the fort.

This picture gives an idea of the scale of the building.

The 4 of them (me behind the camera as usual).

Unless I do a selfie and then we get all 5.

More views from the top.

Josh isn't build for this type of terrain in this heat.

Now that is how to get out and about.

More views.

Holly at the top.

Me, Tina and Brandon - the other 2 started to head back and seek shade.

Me and wifey.

Time to head back down.

In the local pharmacy Joshua tries some smelling salt type stuff which is supposed to be good for snorers!

They saw us coming a mile off though and we spent a small fortune.

Exploring the famous Souk El Had.

Super colourful and vibrant market place and absolutely huge!

Amazing place to get a bit of retail therapy in, although the haggling gets a bit tiresome.

Shame the picture can't capture the smells and sounds.

A little outdoor area in the market place - or is it the set to Indiana Jones???

Mosques everywhere as you would expect.

The towers on the Moroccan mosques are all square profiled for some reason and not round.

Later back at the resort and one of our favourites from the buffet restaurant was this fish. Oh my god, the best I have ever had.

The hotel buffet was always so colourful and well presented.

Lot's of new a delicious little treats to try out.