Essaouira.
We have sucessfully departed Marrakech and made our way to the beaches of the coast. Yay, its lovely! Things here are much more laid back, and its a really nice atmosphere. The medina has lots of little stone streets and then opens up to the sea and nice long beach. Its also not even windy like the guidebooks warned. Theres tons of shops and lots of wooden crafts, jewelry, and art.
Upon arriving it took us a million hours and lots of wandering to find our hotel; tucked away on a side street of the medina. But once we found some one to lead us there; it worked out nicely. Our room is huge, and although slightly weathered and showing its age, we are spoiled for 4 dollars a night a piece.
Yesterday we wandered the streets and walked along the beach. We even had gelato and ate and a super cute little Italian place, Kate you would have been proud. And; they have wine here; so we finally got to try some moroccan wine; which was great.
Also yesterday; senegalese hospitality was again showcased. Emily and I wandered into a little jewelery shop along one of the streets and Emily recognized some of the jewelry to be from a people near senegal. The owner was impressed by her knowledge asked if she spoke wolof and then he was thrilled to hear that she did. The two of them took off into a conversation, and later we walked by the shop again to buy some earrings; and no sooner were we brought tea, stools to sit on; family pictures to look at; and then a bit later, as I tried to say we were hungry in an attempt to get the price bargaining going; wonderful hot sugared crepes and yogurt. We ended up talking to the man and his brother in his little tiny shop for next to 2 hours, and although we said we couldnt make it; he even offered us to come back for lunch the following day. The guy actually spoke 6 or 7 languages; and so was switching back from wolof and french with emily to spanish with me. They were really sweet people; and it was fun to talk with them for a bit.
Today we hope to enjoy the beach and then tomorrow we are moving on up the coast.
Tags: Morocco, Travel
Administrator
I love your blogs. My daughter and I are leaving for Morocco on March 19 and are having trouble finding out where to stay. We’d really appreciate your suggestions, especially where you stayed in Essaourira.