Morocco – Essaouira
Jan 16th, 2014 by willmarks
Essaouira is 175 kilometers, all solid highway, from Marrakech but about a 3 hour drive with a law abiding and overly conservative driver, not a bad thing with our two families travelling together in a large van.
Close to our destination, we stopped at a women’s argan collective, one of many in this region of Morocco, and one where our driver and guide were likely paid by the establishment for the visit. Here we observed the process of turning argan fruit into soaps, creams, butter, and oils, including moisturizing oil/cream, increasingly popular globally we are told, and salad and other cooking oil. The argan tree is apparently unique to Morocco (southwest Morocco specifically), endangered, and under UNESCO protection. To create the future product, after the fruit is picked from the tree, it is peeled to reveal a nut, and inside are the kernels, which are rich in argan oil. We spent a few minutes watching and participating in the process of cracking the nuts and pressing the kernels to create the oil. Then, after a few purchases of actually impressive smelling/tasting products, we made our way to Essaouira.
On the Atlantic, we quickly took in a fish lunch at Bab Sbaa, far from a recommendation we will offer, not bad, not great, but once again a likely guide/payoff post, yet included in our package.
A local guide arranged by Atlas & Sahara then met us at the restaurant and walked us through the colorful fishing port.
“Modern” Essaouira was built in the 18th century, including the ramparts, which sit just above the ocean and the medina. In this photo, on the ramparts, I asked for “silliness”…really.
Are you over the ubiquitous puffy jackets?
Essaouira’s medina is certainly smaller than that of Marrakech, yet with many wider and less chaotic streets and arguably more beauty, given the striking blue color on a lot of the buildings. The souks carry much of the same merchandise, but Essaouira is known for its wood products, made from the endangered thuya tree. I don’t have a good understanding of whether the thuya wood used by the local craftsmen is from plantation-grown trees and thus accepted sources, or if the practice of using thuya is frowned upon completely.
Given the seaside locale, there is a greater focus on fish here than in other medinas throughout Morocco.
The Franks purchased a Moroccan futbol jersey for Max (#7, Berrada), and to keep it fair (story of my life), the girls were rewarded with silver necklaces from a jewerly cooperative called Mogador Dag Souiri; Mogador was actually the Portuguese name for this town, maintained by the French but renamed Essaouira after independence in 1956. Maggie’s pendant is the “Z” in the Berber alphabet; more on the Berbers during the Atlas Mountain blog. Ella’s pendant (Evelyn next to larger version by the beach) is Essaouira’s symbol, which reads in Arabic, “Barakat Mohammed”, meaning in English, “blessing of Mohammed, prophet of Islam.”
We returned to our hotel, the lovely, but as Evelyn said, “kind of bare bones,” Riad Zahra, about a 10 minute walk from the medina, yet nicely situated 2 blocks from the beach. Still, any issues with accomodations were offset by the staff, with the hotel run by a couple and their approximately college-age son, whom they raised in neutral Andorra. I say this as the husband is Spanish (Barcelona) and the wife is French. Not surprisingly perhaps, after years in Andorra, the family speaks Spanish, French, Catalan, English, and now a decent amount of Arabic. I continue to feel guilty for my limited language skills, and this type of circumstance never helps; I know, get over it Will…but keep practicing your Spanish. The couple purchased the hotel for a lifestyle change and they were wonderful hosts, in particular providing us with solid meal recommendations. Of course, their first suggestion was the hotel’s restaurant, and we obliged, thankfully, as this is worth a taste, in our view.
If you make it all the way to Morocco, you have to take a camel ride, right? The desert is a long drive so another option is the beach, and there are plenty of outfitters ready to profit from tourists. Atlas and Sahara, our trip planner, must have had a deal with a camel chief 25 kilometers south of Essaouira in Sidi Kaouki. Here we are…
And for full disclosure, the ocean setting was beautiful, but if you observe where we started the ride next to the parking lot… Note the turbines in the background; Essaouira is known for its wind.
The owner of the camel business and our crew…
I mentioned the dining advice from our hotel owners. Play time in the sand was required after the 30 minute camel excursion (that’s all you need), and we were told “Beach & Friends” was a good spot for lunch, less than a 5 minute walk from our riad. The swordfish kabobs were outstanding as was the pizza, with the beachfront setting allowing for the kids to wander the sand as we finished the meal. Nowhere near the top of the Trip Advisor list, but trust me on this one, excellent fare.
Max and I enjoyed a jog on the boardwalk, up to the ramparts and medina, and then we topped off our stay in Essaouira with a consensus—thumbs up traditional Moroccan dinner, once again, thanks to our Riad hosts, at Laayoune, specializing in tajines and couscous.
Stay tuned for Morocco Part 3; it gets interesting.
I use Argan oil in my hair products. Years ago it was really hard to find, but now it seems to be everywhere, but you do have to be sure to get the one from Morocco, otherwise you will have dried out hair. For real.
Completely jealous that y’all got to ride a camel – dying to do this!