We left Ait Ben Haddou for a long drive (almost six hours) west to Essaouira. Once again, I was glad not to be driving as we enjoyed the trip in our comfortable van. Essaouira is an old port city that is now a fishing village/beach resort.
The medina of Essaouira is surrounded by very impressive walls, which were built in the 16th century when the Portuguese fortified the city to control Atlantic trade routes. The views were fabulous:
Now, in addition to tourism, fishing is the main part of the city's economy. For some reason, all of the fishing boats are a uniform color of blue.
Of course, being in a fishing village meant that we ate a lot of good fish including, to my great appreciation, fresh oysters right from the ocean at stands in the port.
The beach in Essaouira is beautiful, and at low tide extremely wide, reminding us a bit of the beach at home in San Sebastian This being Morocco, you can find anything on the beach from kids playing football (soccer) to camels. Yes, you can take a camel ride on the beach in Essaouira (we did not), while watching surfers. Nor did we attempt to kite surf, which is what the people next to the camel below are learning to do. Essaouira is well known for its winds.
One night, we had dinner at a very nice restaurant accross from the beach so we could watch the sunset. The food was really good, and we were especially happy to have a bottle of local wine for one of the few times on the trip as most places do not serve alcohol.
We really enjoyed our few days relaxing near the beach before jumping back into the craziness of Morocco in Casablana.
More soon.
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