Excellent Visit to Essaouira

If you like this article, please share. Thanks!

On the Way to Essaouira

Today we boarded the bus for a side trip to Essaouira, once Morocco’s main trading port and a stronghold of the Jewish culture.  I really loved this day trip, and I would highly recommend visiting this windy port town home to a picturesque fishing harbor, a medina, a beach with surf, and the world famous Gnaoua Music Festival which takes place in June.

Goats in a Tree

Along the way, we passed by large fruit farms located closer Marrakesh due to the underground rivers, as well as wheat and barley farms which were located in the drier areas near Essaouira.  The reddish dirt, rich with iron, is a perfect growing area for the argan trees, popular among goats. Our first stop along the main road was to see goats in a tree.

• 

• 

• 

• 

I wish I could say in this instance these goats were in the tree naturally, but I unfortunately must admit that a shepherd has trained his goats to pose in the tree for all the tourists.  In exchange for a small fee, we could snap photos.  I didn’t have any change on me.  In addition, I’m opposed to paying a fee for something manufactured with animals.  As such, I snapped photos from afar with a zoom lens until I briefly joined Suman closer to the tree.

I had already seen goats climb the trees in the High Atlas Mountains naturally, so at least this wasn’t completely unorthodox, as they do climb trees to eat the foliage.  Though with more goats in a much larger tree, this sight was far more extraordinary than anything we witnessed on our hike!

Assouss Argane

After visiting the argan tree forest, we stopped at an argan oil cooperative, Assouss Argane.  The argan oil comes from a nut which falls from the tree and is harvested in the early summer months.  The cooperatives created by the government have given many Berber women job opportunities.

We watched them crack the nut and extract and grind the seed into oil before we picked through shelves of product.  Argan oil is rich with vitamin E, so I bought some oil for my face.  Hopefully with a little use, my skin will be soft and silky smooth!  I learned later from my travel book that while more expensive, it is best to buy from members of the UCFA in order to support the rural women.  I’m not sure we succeeded at this, but hopefully our purchases still helped some ladies.

• 

• 

• 

Essaouira

We continued past a variety of towns with markets and eventually arrived at Essaouira, home to 6,000 people, far smaller than the bustling city of Marrakesh with a population of 1.5 million.  Essaouira is known for its windsurfing, silversmithing, painting, and woodworking.  The wooden articles are made from the thuya tree, an unassuming conifer whose scrubby foliage and knotty trunks are nothing to write home about.  Its root, however, are full of beauty, and the Berbers pass down from generation to generation the skills needed to select, harvest and work the wood.  The best pricing for these crafts is in Essaouira.

• 

• 

Le Seven

Our first stop in this picturesque village was for lunch at Le Seven.  The restaurant’s floor to ceiling windows provided a lovely view of the beach and boardwalk from the main street.  Waves broke on the sandy beach as we were served a three-course lunch.  We started with a cold salad and then had fish for an entrée.  Given we were at a fishing port, it seemed like the fish would have been fresh, but it tasted frozen.  The best course was the dessert with a local beer.

• 

• 

• 

Centre de la Bijouterie Artisanale

From Le Seven, we were shuttled just a bit farther into the city to the edge of the medina.  Before we weaved through the souks of the medina, we visited a jewelry store, Centre de la Bijouterie Artisanale.  I’ve never seen so much silver jewelry in one place!  The cases were loaded with charms, bracelets, rings and more.  The sales people swept in from nowhere as soon as a piece was touched, but otherwise quietly left us alone as we browsed.  Moroccans interpret a pointing gesture as a sign of want, so I’m sure touching demonstrated the same meeting.

• 

• 

Fishing port

From the silver store, we passed by the square and park named for Orson Welles who stayed in Essaouira while filming Othello and headed toward the fishing port which I just loved.  I loved the old wooden boats lined up on the pier with one currently being restored.  I loved the piles of fishing nets and buoys that lined the harbor.  I loved the seagulls feasting on fish guts.  I loved seeing the fishermen prepare for their next day out at sea as they sliced up fish and baited hooks at wooden stands around the port. I loved everything about it. I probably could have spent hours here searching out different photos to take, but we had more places to explore.

Medina

We moved on to the medina located against the coast where we stumbled upon an alley way of artists. We wandered through the wending derbs lined with blue and white buildings and stores featuring a variety of local artists’ paintings.  Soon we reached a street of antiques and wood carvings.  We avoided making eye contact or pointing so we could walk in peace. Then we realized how calm the market in Essaouira was as compared to that of Marrakesh.  We could meander and talk to the friendly store vendors without having to tersely answer “no”.  If I were shopping, I’d shop here.

We had to be back to the bus by 4.  As such, Jimmi and Margit went back to the silver shop to pick up a bracelet she brought with her to be fixed.  I was so impressed by that.  I would have never thought to bring broken jewelry with me to a foreign country, but Margit knew Essaouira was known for its silverwork and that it would be cheaper to get fixed in Morocco!

Back to Marrakesh

Suman and I continued to stroll through the market.  Suman opted on some street food.  It looked much more savory and filling than the frozen fish we had for lunch.  Eventually, we found our way out of the medina, though the exit wasn’t that close to the bus.  We hurried around the city wall and rejoined the group just in time for our two-hour drive back to Marrakesh.

Nina and Brien liked Essaouira so much that they suggested, “We should have stayed here and just taken a day trip to Marrakesh.”

Don’t miss this small port town while traveling to Morocco!

Chez Ali

We didn’t leave for dinner until around 8:15 as it is common to eat late in Morocco.  We drove outside of town to Chez Ali which felt like a Moroccan Vegas.  Upon our arrival, men mounted on horses greeted us.  Then we entered into a courtyard of fountains decorated with a giant cobra as a musician played his flute.

Dancers

Next, our hosts escorted us beneath a walkway of tents set up alongside a horse arena.  Moroccan dancers and musicians of all types lined the walkway.  Soon we sat for dinner indoors on the other side of the arena.   Each group of dancers and musicians circled through the restaurant by our tables as we ate our meal.  As usual, it was very hard to order a drink. The food came first!  Though now seasoned at ordering, we rounded up the drink orders and asked for them all at once.

• 

• 

• 

• 

Dinner

Our first course was soup.  The second course, which we thought was the entrée were lamb kabobs, and they were fantastic.  That might have been our favorite dish thus far.  Who knew we’d be served another dish for dinner…a tajine of chicken.  Of course, dessert consisted of fruit.  After dinner, we went outside to watch the horse show.

• 

• 

Horse Show

Late in finding our seats on the cement stairs, we sat very close to the railing.  We soon found out, while we had a good view, this was not an ideal location for staying clean. Dirt and horse slobber flew in our faces as they galloped past us!  Several unseasoned horse visitors enjoyed the twirling tricks the horsemen performed. As a one-time equestrian competitor and horse enthusiast, however, I struggled to completely appreciate the horses being spurred into action as they cross-cantered around the corners.

We had a debate about the gentleman who fell off while trying to grab an item off the ground.  We felt it was staged so when the next rider galloped by and snagged the item off the sandy surface, he received a handsome applause!  In addition to the “circus” acts, horses were ridden to the end of the arena where the horsemen would fire a gun all at once.  If they didn’t fire simultaneously, we weren’t supposed to clap, but the audience did anyway.  Overall, it was a fun night of entertainment. Despite it being the #1 show out of 5 on TripAdvisor, once was enough.  Another good day on this Deamtrips Tour!  ETB

Want to Take This Article with You?

Click HERE to download it with the GPSMyCity Travel App for an offline GPS guided article.

Other Articles About Morocco You Might Like

The Amazing Medina in Marrakesh
Hiking the High Atlas Mountains
Summiting Tizi Mzik in the High Atlas Mountains
Another Day, Another Summit…Tizi Oudite
Maneuvering Marrakesh
Excellent Visit to Essaouira
Off Roading through the Asni Ouirgane Valley 
Casablanca…The White House
Rambling Around Rabat
El Jadida, a Coastal Town in Morocco

Shop

Check out the photographic note cards and key chains at my shop.  Each card has a travel story associated with it.  20% of proceeds are donated to charity.

If you like this article, please share. Thanks!