From the City to to Sahara and now the coast

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Haley and I have covered a lot of ground since we arrived last Friday. We have spent time in Marrakesh, in the High Atlas mountains, a camel trek through the Sahara, and now some time on the Moroccan Coast in a really relaxing town called Essaouira (or something like that). This place seems to be loaded with tourists (maybe even more so then Marrakesh) but regardless, it has really nice vibe.

We lucked out and met a really nice guy named Taz who runs a hotel right along the ocean, so after some convincing we decided to check out his place and instantly knew it was for us. He runs the hotel with his father, they are both Australian (and thus speak English) but have been living in morocco for years. It was really nice to be able to converse with some "locals" apposed to just speaking in broken English/french/Arabic.

Today I mostly just wondered the streets and took pics of random things around town. The weather here is a lot cooler then it has been (which is a really nice relief). Essaouira apparently is always windy so it is a wind surfers paradise (Mark S., have you heard of this place?). The beaches are huge and look really inviting but the cool breeze and strong currents are a huge put off.

I have been touting a bottle of wine around for the past few days (one that i got in the Sahara but forgot to drink) and finally had a chance to share it tonight with Haley and the sunset. Travelling to these exotic places truly is amazing. Two nights ago while i was camping out in the desert listening to the Berbers play the drums i had a moment...one of those times that you kind of step out of your body and look back at yourself and say....god damn, I'm in the Sahara desert with a camel and a bongo drum. I had another one of those tonight, sitting on the Medina (castle) walls watching the sunset. In some ways, the more and more you travel the easier it is to just kind of wonder around, it is nice to be able to step back once in a while and realize what you are really doing and where you are. Morocco is truly magical, this place has so much to offer, such diversity, I am really looking forward to the rest of this trip.

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Photos

Sunset Silloette
creative picture of haley

Fish Eye
From the fish market

Boats
A row of blue boats in the harbor

background pic
pic around the edge of town

the coast
where the city meets the water

Fatima and Mohammad
The Moroccan couple

Me
me

City shot
City with the moon

karate
more fun photo action

Comments

[Jason]

Fish Eye
I think i may have seen that fish eye before and shortly after someone got a fish hook.. Oh yeah it was a dirty bird!!!!! Layman---

[Lauren]

Jealousy
Im so jealous that you guys are off in a beautiful country and that I'm back here in DC studying for exams... Your blogs make me realize how much I want to travel once Im done with school. Im glad that you two are having so much fun and Im excited to see all the pic and hear all the stories once your back...