DAY 7 IN AGADIR
LAST DAY IN AGADIR
Michael Mantz, Kee Hua Chee and Princess Dr Becky Leogardo enjoying Italian food across Royal Atlas Hotel & Spa
Sunset at Agadir beach in front of our Royal Atlas hotel
Cool pool
Michael Mantz admiring the swimming pool complex
Kee Hua Chee withRoyal Atlas beachboyMurad
The Citadel, mountain slope with Arabic characters that extolled God's greatness and love of country and King which overlooks the new Marina and Argadil beach
View from my balcony of Royal Atlas's pool and garden
I loved the pool design as the mature palm trees look like they were floating on their individual islands on the water!
The pool is so Olympian this could almost be part of the sea
Sunset by the pool was a daily major attraction
Enjoying a last lap as the sun began to set
My Leica grabbed this dramatic sunset amid the fronds
I and my trusty Leica waited patiently for the wind to flap Morocco's national flag flat!
This couple huddled so close they practically merged as one as they enjoyed the glorious sunset
A seemingly endless stretch of sand, calm water perfect for swimming and mild weather are what European tourists come here for!
Deck chair view of the Citadel and new Marina across the bay. The words on the hill slope refers to God's greatness and love for country and King
The colour orange is much favoured in Morocco as seen in the umbrellas which matched the t-shirt of this tourist
THE DAY STARTED SOMEWHAT DRAMATICALLY. SINCE THE LAST 2 DAYS, GLORIA MANTZ, THE ONE AND HALF YEAR OLD DAUGHTER OF PRINCESS BECKY AND MICHAEL MANTZ HAD BEEN HOSPITALISED FROM FLU.
THE DOCTOR AT GLENEAGLES PHONED TO REASSURE HER GLORIA WAS UNDER THE BEST TREATMENT MONEY COULD BUY AND IT WAS NOT SERIOUS. GLORIA MANTZ WAS TAKEN TO GLENEAGLES WHICH WAS NEARBY THE HOUSE BY BERTHA THE MAID, BAL THE BODYGUARD AND ZAINAL THE DRIVER SO SHE WAS IN CAPABLE HANDS.
STILL, GLORIA MANTZ WAS HOSPITALISED FOR 2 NIGHTS AND 3 DAYS TO MAKE SURE ALL WOULD BE FINE AS SHE WOULD BE UNDER 24 HOUR SURVEILLANCE. OF COURSE RPINCESS BECKY WAS WORRIED AND SO WAS MICHAEL MANTZ BUT SINCE THERE WAS NOTHING THEY COULD DO FROM MOROCCO AND AS GLORIA WAS UNDER THE BEST MEDICAL CARE, THEY WISELY CONTINUED TO ENJOY THEMSELVES.
When Gloria was in hospital, her older brother Daniel had been suffering from the sniffles and was also ailing. The doctor gave him some medicine but he refused to take the anti-biotics. Gloria Mantz was discharged yesterday in good health but Daniel succumbed to the same illness! He too was taken to Gleneagles and had to go there twice a day for injection and drips that lasted an hour each time!
Poor Princess Becky. She exclaimed, "Just as Gloria got well, Daniel has fallen sick! I cannot now stay in Morocco as I cannot enjoy this holiday anymore so I shall fly back this afternoon."
I pointed out Gloria was in the best hospital and under the best care and there was nothing she could do in Kuala Lumpur that the doctors could not. After all, Princess Dr Becky Leogardo is a Doctor of Humanities, not a practising physician so she could not prescribe any medicine!
Still she was adamant Michael and I would stay back and continue our holiday while she returned home on Friday 21 October.
So I went to Concierge to sort out the return flight. The quickest and only available flight was the next day on Saturday 22 October. She would fly from Agadir to Casa Blanca to Doha and Kuala Lumpur. She would only arrive on Sunday afternoon and the entire trip would take around 22 hours as the 2 transits in Casa Blanca would be nearly 8 hours! As she would arrive on 23 October and we were returning on 24 October reaching KL on 25 Oct, there was little point in rushing home. I pointed out the trip alone would make her ill and prostrate!
She phoned her sister Ruth in Manila to ask her to fly to KL but Ruth said she was always communicating with Daniel and the household staff on Facetime and all was well. So somewhat reluctantly Princess Becky agreed to continue our Morocco adventure.
Michael Mantz drove us to Agadir Massage Centre where he enjoyed a great massage yesterday while I shopped at Colours of the Orient. Princess Becky asked me to take her to the store which I did. We then went for more shopping as we were told there was a small enclave selling local artisanal products.
Alas, the Moroccans practised the afternoon siesta and the shops were closed from 1 to 3 pm! We were stunned. I thought Morocco was like hardworking Asia where store owners open their shops as long as there are customers! To close shop for 2 hours or more each day is a luxury most cannot afford surely! I always assumed the Moroccans would keep their boutiques open the way their souks are managed.
So we wandered around the commercial part of Agadir which was not very interesting since few tourists went there. Princess Becky was attracted by the sight of a restaurant with roast chickens slowly being basted and cooked. Though she normally dines in 5 star restaurants, she is quite adventurous and if the food looks good, she will eat there as she is not the plastic, pretentious type.
The menu featured similar dishes we ate in fancy hotels but at 1/10 of the price. We could hardly believe a meal could cost 12 dirhams which is around RM 5! So we ordered recklessly and the bill came to nearly RM 52 which was not dirt cheap after all! But we did have a whole chicken which costs RM 36 so overall this was the cheapest meal we had as there was so much left over we asked for a takeaway for Michael Mantz who was enjoying his 2 hour massage.
We returned to Royal Atlas and later Michael Mantz and I went to the beach to lie in the sun. mean Michael had his deckchair in the late afternoon sun while I basked in the shadow of the beach umbrella. As the sun began to set, its rays kept changing and I had to keep dragging my deck chair ever backwards to follow the umbrella's lengthening shadow!
In the evening we walked across the road to an Italian restaurant for a casual and delicious meal.
THE END
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