Essaouira - A little slice of home in Northern Africa

So, our first day in Marrakech was interesting to say the least.  We walked down to Djemaa El-Fna or the market and watched the street performers.  Not even 10 minutes from our hotel, we got approached by a guy carrying a cobra offering to put in on our necks for a picture.  We didn’t partake I’m sorry to say.  But there were monkeys and snakes and henna tattoo ladies and fortune tellers and lord knows what else all lining the market.  All offering their services to anyone that walked by.  We got lost in the souks and made it back to the hotel alive.  

So for the second day, we weren’t exactly sure what we were going to do.  But we saw some things in the book and we thought we should head out to see what we could find.  We walked out the door after breakfast and made our way down the street.  It’s quite amazing of how much of a bustling city it is with people going every which way. 

In the lobby they served us breakfast, two different croissants, a piece of something similar to a pound cake and some Moroccan version of a crepe.  It’s really tasty.  They have great coffee, and of course tea.  We were looking at our map trying to figure out what to do and see, when the guy at the table next to us asked to see the map.  Sure I said, and handed it to him.  His eyes instantly lit up and he said with a very strong accent, “You speak English?  Can I join you?”  We kind of looked at each other and said, “Sure go ahead.”  Turns out he is from Algeria, and is an English teacher there.  He has never been to the US, but loves everything about it, and hopes that one day he will get to make it.  He was so excited to sit and talk with native English speakers that he could hardly contain himself.  He also probably knew more about Obama and American Policy than either of us. He was asking us all about living in the US, while we were asking him about Algeria and different words to speak in Arabic.  So a little lesson (mind you this isn’t the way they are spelled, just the way it sounds to us): Shukran means thank you.  Min Fudlik means Please.  Wahead – one Zooj – two, Theleta – Three, arlbaa – four, hamsa – five, sitta- six, sabaa- seven, themenyah – eight, szurge – nine, asha – ten.  We never really thought to figure out how to say hello and good bye since everywhere we went we were greeted with Bonjour and Arivour. We exchanged contact info, and Mustafa (our new friend) made it abundantly clear that if we ever wanted to travel to Algeria, we have a place to stay.  And he asked if I had a dollar, so I gave one to him, and you would think that I had given him $1,000.  He was thrilled to have a US dollar.  He gave us an Algerian 50 cent piece and he left since he was about to leave on his flight to Casa Blanca for an English teachers summit.

We walked about a half a mile down the road stepping over street vendors and grabbing a bottle of water on the way.  Then we get closer to where we need to be and end up in a huge intersection and we just look for someone that looks like a tourist and follow them.  Soon we pop out the back of another market and see a sign for the Badii Palace.  We walked up got our tickets and walked in.  It’s a palace for the Sultan from a long time ago.  They had pools everywhere and there was some sort of scaffolding that was in the middle for concerts or what not.  So we wandered about the palace for a while.  Exploring the various caverns and things.  There were hallways that lead down below were servant lived and courtyards all over the place.  They all had sky lights that allowed light in so that you could see where you were going.

Then we walked up the stairs to the top of the palace and you could see over the top of all the city.  Funny that everywhere you look there are satellite dishes on the roofs for TV. 

We then left the palace and headed back to the main intersection we ended up in earlier.  There was a big red bus, and those of you that live in tourist areas know.  The big red tourist bus you can hop on and off all day.  So we decided to get on just so we could get our bearings.  As we’re on the bus we are listening to the tour and learning various things about the city and its origins.  It’s a very old city, from about 1000 AD, with people in the area long before that.  But it has now become a very vibrant and modern city. 

We took the bus out to the newer area of Marrakech and decided to transfer onto the other bus that took you around the modern part.  As we rode we saw shopping malls and large apartment complexes.  It has a completely different feel from the medina where we are staying.

We even drove way out of the city and by a bunch of guys offering camel rides right on the out skirts of the city. 

On our way back to the transfer station, we  decided to visit Jardin Majorelle.  We stopped in for lunch and a very trendy boutique juice and wrap shop on the street, which was very tasty.  We walked into the garden and it was beautiful and peaceful.  Quite a contrast to the hustle of the streets right outside the gate.

It even gave Sarah ideas for her own garden.  She is going to paint her flower pots bright multi-colors because she likes the look so much.

We jump back on the bus and return back to the medina.  On our way back up to the room, we asked Moona, the girl working the front desk of our hotel, where we should go to dinner and she steered us towards a place on the main square of Djemaa El-Fna.  We wandered our way over to the restaurant and walked up stairs for a table over-looking the plaza.  Another tajine, this one had chicken onions and lemon in it.  Rather tasty I must say.  This was also the first time we heard the Islamic prayers that happen 5 times each day.  They are broadcast over the loud speakers over the entire city, and some people stop what they are doing to pray for a couple minutes, while the rest of the city continues on around them.  It’s a little scary to hear the first time.  Not understanding Arabic, it sounds a little like an air raid siren, and it’s just kind of blaring everywhere you go.  It doesn’t last too long, but it’s definitely enough to remind you that we aren’t in LA. 

Everywhere we go, they serve you mint tea.  It’s really really good.  And it’s funny because Sarah doesn’t like tea at all, but she started to love this mint tea. And she’s officially decided to start growing mint and making mint tea at home.  But of course you can’t make mint tea in just any tea pot, so into the maze of a market we go.  We found some vendors that had the pots, walk in and start the bargaining process.  This is another thing that we’re really not that good at or super comfortable with, but make do, and feel reasonable about the prices we got on our stuff.  I’m sure we could have done better, but I guess if we’re comfortable, then that’s all you can really ask. 

So then we fight the crowd back to our hotel for the evening, and talk to Moona about booking a trip to Essaouira, a place that Sarah has wanted to go since we started talking about going to Morocco.  Back into bed for the evening, we’ve got an early morning the next day.

Up at 7AM to get ready and grab breakfast before our trek to the coast.  Just sitting in the lobby, our guide walks in and just kind of points at us and says, “Essaouira?” we nod and follow him out the door.  Cross the intersection and there’s just a van sitting there, he opens the door and we hop in.  There wasn’t really much talking about it.  So our trip started with some more folks piling in the van, just like we did when we showed up. 

Our favorite companion, happened to be this wacky Italian guy sitting next to us.  He must have been in his 60’s, and had long grey hair that was frazzled all over the place.  He looks kind of like a Robin Williams character.  He kept trying to open the window in the van and couldn’t get it to work, so he would ask the driver to open it for him.  We drove for a little while and had to stop for gas, and Italiano Robin (we’ll call  him that from now on) proceeded to lean completely out the window and try to open the sliding door from the inside, while reaching for the outside handle, I don’t know exactly how he planned on opening the door while hanging out of the window, but sure.  Then he threw a fit about the AC.  “Air Condition” “Air Condition” (in a heavy Italian accent)  So the driver turns on the AC full blast, and all the sudden it’s freezing in the van.  So everyone started pointing the vents at him and he got cold and closed all the vents.  Oh, and I have to mention his socks were on inside out. He was quite a character, and his wife or girlfriend or whoever was pretty cool.

The country side in Morocco is vastly different from anything I have ever seen.  It’s very barren but not in a Arizona/Utah kind of way.

Oh and they have goats in their trees.

I guess the shepherd gets his goats to climb up in the tree for tourists to take pictures of on their 2.5 hour drive to the ocean. 

Finally we cross over the mountain and coming down, you can tell we are getting closer to the water, it’s been slowly getting greener and greener the entire way.  Our van driver pulls over in the middle of the city, says to meet him back there in 4 hours.  So we’re on our own to explore this new place.  It was really nice to be in a beach town, it was kind of comfortable.  There was a great marina with all the fishing boats that come in from their day to sell their fish.  And there were seagulls everywhere looking for a hand out. 

Fishermen mending their nets

The medina in Essaouira is quite a bit smaller than the one in Marrakech, and the people are about 100x less pushy.  So it’s nice to be able to walk and look at the stuff without being hassled the entire time.  Looks like someone found something she liked:

Sick of the shopping we walked out of the medina and were looking to eat at a seafood market.  We walked past the vendors and every one of them came up to us, “You eat fish here.  Good Price”.  And we could hardly pass.  We looked at each other and instantly knew where we wanted to go. 

We headed onto the path along the ocean.  It’s beautiful and peaceful and not super packed.  The water looked rather inviting so we popped off our shoes and walked into the water.  The sand was very fine and powdery but not really white.  The water was a little chilly and it was windy, but we were in the ocean in Africa, it’s kind of surreal to think about it like that.  

Further down the boardwalk we entered a little restaurant for lunch.  Sat down at a table right in the front ordered lunch and a beer and just relaxed. No one to harass you.  You would think we were in a Corona commercial, except it was Casa Blanca Beer, but still. 

Three guys strolled up in front of the tables, and started playing a song.  Two had these strange guitar type instruments and the other had a metal dish on his head.  He was clanging the dish while the other guys played and they danced around.  And then passed a hat for contributions for the show.  Sarah has pictures of this be sure to check those out.

It came time to leave, so we walked back to our meet up spot.  And back into the van on our way back to Marrakech.  We weren’t in Essaouira very long, but long enough to know that is definitely a place that we would like to return.  It was beautiful and peaceful.  It even felt a little like home, with the guys running surf lessons from the shack right next to where we had lunch.  The seafood market and fish places right on the water made me feel a little like I was home in Maryland.  But it’s a beautiful town, the white washed building with waves splashing onto them.  The bright blue boats everywhere, fishermen mending their nets.  It just had a very distinct charm.

Oh and there are crazy Italians.  Italiano Robin hopped in the bus next to us and we glanced over to see him looking at the pictures they took while they were wondering around the city.  Of course he had pictures on himself in a very skimpy bathing suit wandering around on the sand.  I wouldn’t expect anything less. 

Sarah decided to try to be part of a Coca-Cola Commercial during one of our pit stops.

Back to Marrakech, back to see Moona and talk to her about booking a trek to the desert to ride some camels into the Sahara.  We talked to her, found out that we were going to be picked up at 7AM the next morning.  And headed out to grab a bite to eat.  It’s amazing, the very first day we got to town, we went out and were so intimidated by the goings on outside our hotel.  At this point, it became just a course of everyday life.  We know not to make eye contact with beggars, and avoid everyone with their hand out.  We also know that you don’t acknowledge the guys yelling at you to come into their shops.  Even when they try to get your attention by yelling something distinctive about you.  I don’t know if “skinhead” is something that they feel is derogatory or not, I know I have a bald head, but I mean… wow.  As we progressed through the square, we made it to an alley and took it to find the restaurant that we saw we should try.  Again, walking through an alley in the dark was almost becoming second nature, where the first day, we were lost in broad day light.  We found the place and it was very different from the first places we had tried.  This one was a lot more like something you would see in Santa Monica.  Very trendy, and it even had avocado salad among other things.  I, of course, had another tajine and back for an even earlier night.