Day Thirteen - Marrakesh - Essaouira

Day  Thirteen

Date:     10 May 2013

Place:    Marrakesh - Essaouira

Weather:   Sunny  with cooler conditions at Essaouira

Accommodation:   Residence el Mehdi

We were on our way to coastal resort of Essaouira which is quite a Europeanised port city. 

The landscape was once again very barren and I’m not sure how the people live in such harsh conditions.  Donkeys were grazing on sparse food and there were some sheep however there was very little grazing land.  We passed olive groves and argan trees and we were lucky enough to spy the goats up an argan tree eating the fruit!

Donkey and cart in the middle of nowhere!

 



We were lucky to get this photo as the bus sped along!  Goats are pretty hardy creatures around here.

 

Our first coffee stop was half way at Chichaoua where an Arabian horse festival was being held.  We spied a few horsemen  in wonderful white robes adorned in red and yellow as they rode through the street.  They wore large sheaths for their daggers and were quite a sight for us.

Not too far along we visited another argan oil outlet and watched the women grinding the seeds.  Out came the mint tea and we tried the ground argan seed (not unlike tahini) with honey on home-made flat bread.   The obligatory shop visit followed and we came away with some more cream – it had better work!

A real production line!

 

The road took us high above the township of Essaouira and we stopped for a photo opportunity.  Unlike the majority of homes in Morocco which are coloured the brown earth colour the homes in the town are white with a lot of windows and doors painted blue.  I felt like I was back in Mykonos!

Beautiful Essaouira.....ocean in the background.

 

The hotel is very comfortable with spacious rooms in a riad style.  It is also very handy to the main streets of the shops so we were pretty happy with that!

Loading up the hand pulled wagon with our luggage to make its way through the medina to our hotel.

Our hotel from the laneway.

 

Our guide settled us in then we followed him to a restaurant not too far away.  The town has a very French feel about it with a lot of European tourists consequently there is a lot of French spoken.  With another tagine digested we were then on to our next stop – the silver shop!

Reminded me of Byron Bay!

 

There were multitudinous varieties of pendants, bangles, rings and ornaments.  Many of our fellow travellers came away with lovely purchases.

It was now time for a rest and most of us went back to the hotel for some R&R.  I must have been tired as I slept a couple of hours even though our room is on the street side and very noisy.

We met up for dinner and sunset drinks overlooking the ocean and the remains of the fortress.  The restaurant offered a great array of food options however it was very busy and service was slower than usual.  To add to the mix, the electricity went on and off a few times so a candle was lit so that people could go to the toilet!

Remnant of the old 18th century fortress - a view from the restaurant.

David coming out of the WC with his candle!

 

Generally, everyone enjoyed their meals but by the end of the evening we had had enough of the loud music and we were ready to head back to the hotel.

We are looking forward to a free day in Essaouira tomorrow and massages which quite a few of us have booked.  Of course, shopping will be the order of the day as well.

Tomorrow evening is the last ‘official’ dinner as our guide will be moving on to another tour.