Long Road to Essaouira

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We made the decision to take the bus from Agadir to Essaouira. We showed up at 8:30am. At 9:00am, everyone started to board. We were informed our tickets were to Marrakech, not Essaouira. Ahhhhh. Deep breaths. I ran up to the ticket guy and he remembered us from 2 days before when we purchased our tickets. He rushed downstairs and got us on the bus. Ten minutes later, he asked us to get off the bus as it was fully booked. He asked that we wait for the 10:30am bus (different bus company), but if it doesn’t show up, he will pay for a car (as he was fully aware he made a mistake and printed us the wrong tickets - my bad for not checking). At 10:40 I find the ticket agent. He claims to have called a car. After waiting until 11:30, the 10:30 bus shows up. It is crowded and smelly. Ahhhhh.

The bus was a local bus. Each stop was between 3 and 20 minutes. The ride wasn’t pleasant. Think of the drive down Highway 1 in California, but on a huge smelly bus (windy, hilly and the visions of driving off a cliff). Betsy and I both turned shades of green. We were praying that there would be no vomit on the bus to Essaouira (mind you we were given barf bags at the beginning of the bus ride). No guide books warned us of this ridiculous drive!

We arrived around 4pm to our Riad in the Medina. This Riad is much different from our one in Marrakech. It has 20+ rooms and is well…old. It seems somewhat clean except for the cats roaming around. We decided it was best to go straight into town. We walked directly to the pier where we passed the fish markets and all the old school fishing boats. To say the least, it was marvelous! I was told not to take pictures of the dead sharks, so I stopped. We walked up a path that overlooked Essaouira. It was picturesque. The waves, the rocks, the water, the seagulls and the smell of the fresh sea were remarkable.

Afterwards, we walked over to the beach. Thousands of people are relaxing, playing ball, swimming, and having fun. We were told numerous times that it is too windy here to sunbathe. Whoever said that is NUTS or today was an exception. When hunger hit, we went back to the fish markets. We literally picked the fish we wanted to eat and it got grilled right in front of us. For filet of sole, sea bass, prawns, and shrimp - super fresh and delicious… the cost was about $24 for the both of us. We are feeling pretty spoiled as no where in NYC would give you that much fish for less than an arm and maybe a leg.

Tonight is an early night as it was a long ass day. No more buses for us while we are in Morocco. The only bus is my tour bus of the Imperial cities (after Betsy’s departure) which will be private and sanitary. For anyone thinking of traveling to Morocco - I urge you to splurge on the private transfers from city to city if trains are not available. Supratours was supposed to be the best bus line in Morocco… I am scared to learn what the second best bus line would deliver.

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