Day 47: Essaouira...Part 1

Have been watching the weather forecast closely for the last week or so - not that it's been very encouraging - in fact we've had really bad weather - rain, high winds, storms - but today, it promises, is the day it all changes! On the basis of that we have booked two nights B&B in the coastal town of Essaouira.

It's about 10.30am by the time we leave and after a few hours of travelling we reach the sea. I love the sea. Somehow it invigorates me and gives me a deep sense of calm and joy. As we approach Essaouira we stop at a viewpoint and are immediately accosted by a young man who dangles keys in front of our eyes. I forgot that this is often how people book apartments here - they just turn up and somebody is always at this stop-off point offering keys to apartments for rent. We have already booked a room in a riad (traditional moroccan house with an inner courtyard), so we head off.

Within 15 minutes we arrive at the riad and are greeted with a traditional glass of mint tea, closely followed by being clambered all over by a tiny white kitten and slobbered upon by a huge dog, not dissimilar to a Boxer; Snoop is his name! We are then shown to our room. Nobody here speaks English, so I grasp the opportunity to practise my French. Our room is tiny but adequate for our needs - and we did only pay 70 euros total for 2 nights! I'm just surprised to see that we have no door to the bathroom - a French thing, I'm told.

It is 5 years since we've been to Essaouira and the changes are noticeable. No longer do old men sit outside their shops greeting visitors with a 'Bonjour' or 'Halo, Eengleesh?' Now younger men wearing jeans and T-shirts spend time on their mobiles and do not even look up as visitors approach their shops. This is the next generation of shopkeepers. Some things, however, much to our delight, are still the same. The town is still traffic-free and is not usually included in package holidays, thus it attracts mainly independent travellers or back-packers, giving it a laid-back feel, quite the opposite of the hustle and bustle of Marrakech which swarms with tourists day and night...also, its mellowness could possibly be due to it being a coastal town with the calming influence of the sea, or the copious amounts of hashish smoked here over the decades! It may of course also have something to do with the fact that in the 60s this was the place to be; Jimi Hendrix and Bob Marley used to hang out here, and ever since fans and followers have come to see the town and have prolonged the Hippie vibe. Whatever has helped to form the town's laid-back reputation, it is certainly still a 'must-see' for those who like to explore Morocco.

The medina

The present city of Essaouira was only built during the 18th century, though it existed long before with the name of Mogador. Now it  is a UNESCO protected site. It is a fortified city built by the Portugese and surrounded by strong walls with ramparts. These ramparts are our first stop as we begin to explore the town.

All along the walls well-preserved cannons point out to sea, and it is easy to imagine enemies attempting to invade being warned off by the sight and sounds of these giant weapons of destruction. It is also easy to see why Orson Welles used this area as a backdrop for his film Othello.

Ramparts with cannons

In the line of fire

From this elevated position the views out over the Atlantic ocean are stunning. We watch the waves as they crash against the rocks close to the shoreline, and look out to the islands beyond. There are two sets of uninhabited islands that form Les Iles Purpuraires. The smaller set of islands are home to a bird sanctuary filled with gulls and Eleonora's falcons, the larger Mogador Island houses the ruins of an ancient prison and looks very atmospheric, almost as if it could be the setting for a horror film or thriller...

Waves crashing against the rocks

Bird sanctuary

On our way down from the ramparts there are little shops set in the walls selling all sorts of items made from local materials such as thuya wood and soaps.

Shops built into the walls

As we make our way along the edge of the main square and look out to sea we can see men sitting on rocks, their clothes laid out to dry - these are the cockle pickers who have spent hours wading in the sea looking for these shellfish so as to sell them on for a few dirhams - a lot of work for so little money.

Cockle pickers at work

One of our missions this weekend in Essaouira is to find strings for Sadik’s Guembri  (musical instrument) so he can once again play in the market square. He said previously he was going to make some, but that didn’t happen, so we said we would look out for them in Essaouira for him as music plays a large part of the scene here.  We have now found just the shop where these strings are likely to be found – it is called Bob Music and has a large picture of Bob Marley in the doorway. As we enter the tiny shop, a friendly man appears from out of the midst of the many instruments lining the walls and floors of this space. He begins to tell us about all the different types of instruments he has in his shop from traditional drums to Moroccan castanets (Qarkabeb) and a variety of stringed instruments – including guembri – and he insists we listen to some Gnaoua music, pointing out the use of the various instruments. He has such a passion for this music and is keen to tell us about how traditional instruments are in recent times often mixed with more modern instruments like guitars to form what they call ‘Fusion’. He also invites us to come back to Essaouira for the world-famous Gnaoua music festival in June 2012. After listening to some of this ‘fusion’ music, we leave his shop armed with CDs and Sadik’s strings, and a little more knowledge about traditional music in Morocco and how it has progressed.

Bob Music

After a walk along the lovely crescent-shaped beach it is time for an evening meal, so we head off to Riad Al Madina, the famous haunt of Bob Marley and Jimi Hendrix, which also has a good reputation for its food. This is a beautiful riad with a central courtyard filled with plants and we are welcomed in by a friendly and courteous waiter who cannot do enough for us. Mart goes for the Goat’s cheese starter (which he regrets the next morning) whilst I have the vegetable soup – both delicious – then we have chicken and raisin tagine followed by ‘White Lady’ which is vanilla ice cream with a chocolate sauce. All in all, a lovely meal in a beautiful setting – what more could we ask? 

Riad Al Madina

Mart on the beach

We head back to our riad along the tiny narrow alleyways of the medina, torch in hand to light up the paths – we don’t want to trip over the very uneven pathways or fall down the pot holes (of which there are many!) Soon we are tucked up in bed, hoping for a good night's sleep and ready to explore further tomorrow.....