Essaouira

We have been travelling for four months on this trip!!

We took a grand taxi (a beat up big Mercedes that takes 6 passengers) from Taghazout to Essaouira. It was quite an experience – picking up and dropping off locals on the way. We occupied 3 of the 4 seats in the back. They are legally allowed to take 6 passengers and the driver. The journey took 2 hours and was quicker and cheaper than the bus. Another unique experience, but we made it in one piece. We were told Essaouira was a chill out place also, so we were looking forward to it. Turns out it had two faces – the medina and the beach.

We stayed in the medina and had our first taste of it. We were in a hostel first and then moved to a riad. These are old houses that are usually 2,3, or 4 storied and have a terrace and are decorated very traditionally. Turns out we were lead astray as the price we believed we were paying turned out to be another figure on checking out!! However it could have been much worse. We walked the streets and alleyways that were packed with stalls and markets. This was our first real taste of being hassled and having to bargain. Richard enjoyed it at first, but it got quite tiresome as they often would back track and stretch the truth!! Little did we know … it was only going to get much worse!!

The town is on the coast and is a busy fishing village. We went down there and watched the locals go about their business. Sardines are big plus lots of other strange smelling ‘poisson’. Georgia struggled a bit with it, especially at the end of the day wondering through the fish market. Refrigeration is not big here!!

The highlight of our few days here was a cooking and photography course. Richard went with Darren (English) to learn more about photography and Georgia and I went with his lovely Moroccan wife Nami and spent the morning shopping at the markets and cooking. We learnt a lot and had a great time. The lads joined us later at their apartment for the salad, tagine and briouts we had created. It was very nice – and quite simple. Apparently the secret is in the spices – there are dedicated markets here full of them. Georgia also took the plunge and got a tattoo – one of the fading henna variety! It was quite an interesting process.  

That evening they invited us to a cafe in the medina that is run by an English couple for a quiz evening. We took them up on the offer – bangers and mash were on the menu. We went to the off licence out of the medina and bought a bottle of red wine for $7.00, so not sure how good it would be. Turns out it was quite a smooth Sahari. Our team came second – the questions were quite tricky. Georgia was quite chuffed – she knew that Napolean crowned himself, and that Cambodia was bombed most in the Vietnam War. So we had a great day and quite social. Naomi explained some of the muslim customs to us and some of the cultural issues in Morocco. So it was really interesting, as we hadn’t spoken for long to a Moroccan – apart from the usual tourist chat. Her English was very good and she was keen to practise.

We spent an afternoon on the beach – along with most of the township. We were offered sales of everything between beach loungers, watches, drinks, ice creams, camel rides and ‘happy’ cakes. Quite an eye opening time amongst the red fine sand.

We took a bus to Marrakesh – two and a half hours in total. The fun was about to begin in earnest.