Essaouira, Morocco - riads, fish and goats

Definitely a place well worth visiting in Morocco in the ancient port town of Essaouira.  Ignore the modern hotels springing up along the sea front further out of town where the beaches are and instead head down to the port itself.  Bright colourful fishing boats with vivid blues, yellows and reds are lined up unloading today's catch.  This is where all the action is in this town, as people hustle to the sea front to watch the boats off load.  Fish is rapidly sent off to market and no one really seemed to mind me standing around taking pictures.  There is a real atmosphere about the place as a whole.  Much smaller than Marrakesh but with a similar level of energy at certain times of day.

Fishing Boats in port

Leaving the port area we wondered around the back streets of this town.  Cobbled alleyways leading to dead ends and other dark passage ways before opening up into large streets.  Merchants peddled their wares from shop fronts and stalls that had sprung up along the sides of the roads.  Some sold every day hardware and food stuffs and many beautifully dressed Berber ladies were going about their daily shop, choosing fresh fruit and vegetables with deep consideration.  Others sold leather goods and fine silk scarves, bright colours and patterns inviting you to buy more than you need.  In the medina crowds bustled particularly in the evening and late afternoon, when temperatures fell to a more manageable and less uncomfortable level, and seemed to bring out whole families to enjoy just wandering around. 

 

The front of the town is protected by sea walls and ancient defences, where canons still line the barricade.  A good walk was had along these taking in the sweeping views out to sea.  Even if the wind was a bit wild it made great waves crashing onto the rocks that lined the base of the defences.

The historic riad we were staying in was larger than others we had seen, and had, so the story told been a destination of Jimi Hendrix at one point.  A courtyard in the centre was complete with intricately carved designs and colourful tiles, as well as a fountain that continuously trickled.  The rooms themselves more unusual, with solid stone bath and terracotta colouring.  Views from the roof terrace were of the other rooftops of the town, all whitewashed to reflect the heat.  And if we strained we could see more of the hustle on the streets below, where the smells of meat on a stick floated up to tempt us, and made it easy to choose our destination for dinner.

Goats and Argan trees

 

Worth mentioning on the journey here by, who can be only described as slowest driver in the world, was the strange sight of goats up trees.  These goats had a taste for the fruit of the Argan tree, helpfully giving the local Berber people a hand by climbing the tree, eating the fruit and dropping the Argan seeds to the ground, where they can be collected to make all sorts of oil based products. 

 

Essaouira is definitely a place where it is easy to stay.