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Published: March 7th 2011
Saturday 5th March: we checked out of the Riad Balthazar at 11.30am, walked to the nearby taxi stand and asked a taxi driver waiting there for his fare to the bus terminal. His first quote was 100 Dirhams, and I offered Dhs40; as instructed by our hotel manageress. The second quote was Dhs60 and I again offered Dhs40. The third quote was Dhs50 and I again offered Dhs40; with Jane now starting to move away to look for another cab. Noticing this the cab driver agreed to Dhs40, and seemed quite happy to accept that amount without further haggling when we arrived at the bus station. Such is life in Marrakech.
We had no trouble confirming our reservation with the bus company but had to order some food from the adjoining cafe in order to get the small change required for the cost of the bags as the counter staff didn't have change for a Dhs100 note.
The bus journey took three hours including a twenty minute break at the halfway point. It was very comfortable bus and interesting to watch the scenery change. To begin with we went through a rather down-at-heel part of Marrakech, then we passed through some
evidently prosperous suburbs with large villas that were reminiscent of the residential suburbs of Dubai (Jumeirah, to those of you who know Dubai), except that here the villas were all painted in the reddish terracotta colour that is common to virtually all the buildings in Marrakech. Then we headed out on to the arid plain that extends eastwards from Marrakech towards the coast. The countryside desert like until we got near to the halfway point, about 100 miles from Essaouira, where the countryside became progressively greener, more fertile and with low rolling hills. About 5 miles from the coast the countryside changed to sand dunes thickly covered with shrubs. When we arrived at the bus station in Essaouira we had a refreshing drink then caught a taxi to our hotel, about 5 minutes away. When asked for the cost the driver asked for Dhs10 (about 65 pence). It transpires that the taxis here not only don't try to scam their tourist passengers, they charge them the same rate that they would charge their local customers. What a change from Marrakech.
At the Atlas Hotel the nice girl at reception told us that not only had they given us the sea
view that we had requested but they had also upgraded us: to a top floor corner suite. What a great welcome.
Having established ourselves in our lovely room we strolled the half mile into the medina (old town) area of Essaouira (pronounced Essa...weer...rah) for a look around and to find somewhere for dinner. We started off in the harbour where some of the little blue fishing boats were landing their catches. Then we headed into the medina with its narrow alleys. At one of the restaurants there we saw a French couple that we had met at our hotel in Marrakech. They recommended a restaurant overlooking the large square near the harbour which turned out to be an excellent choice. I had a pastilla, a Moroccan speciality, which is mashed meat mixed with spices inside a pie made of light pastry. Jane had calamari; another local favourite. Then we took a taxi back to our hotel as it was becoming too cold to walk back along the seafront.
A very satisfying start to our stay in Essaouira.
Sunday 6th March: up quite early to sample the complimentary buffet breakfast which turned out to be pretty good. Then it was
Essaouira Ramparts 1
View along the ramparts towards the fort in the old portoff to the old town for a look around. Essaouira is basically three towns that adjoin each other. The old town, the medina, is similar to the medina in Marrakech: made up of lots of little alleyways and houses crowded together all surrounded by the town walls. Outside the walls and extending along the very long, wide beach to the south of the old town is the Dunes district, a modern suburb with hotels lining the esplanade, which is where we're staying, and villas behind. Adjoining the walls to the north and east of the old town are the main residential neighbourhoods which are rather scruffy and uninteresting. For a good idea of what Essaouira looks like go the map at the begining of this blog and click on the "satellite" button. This gives a great overhead view.
Our exploration of the old town (medina) took us through the alleyways, to the Museum: small and with little of particular interest except a few 7th century BC Phoenician amphorae excavated on the offshore islands, as this place had been quite an important trading centre in ancient times. Then we toured the very impressive ramparts that border the seaward side of the
Essaouira Ramparts 2
Shades of blue on the ramparts: blue skies, blue sea and blue jacket. medina. Then down to the main square behind the harbour for coffee followed by lunch. The cafe where we were opened on to the square there was a constant procession of “entertainers”: musicians and acrobats, shoeshine boys and beggars passing amongst the tables soliciting donations. After lunch the plan then was to walk to a supermarket that we had heard about in the northern part of town, but after walking the length of the medina and out of one of the city gates we took a taxi the rest of the way. After stocking up on bottled water and some fruit we took a taxi back to the hotel. Again, it was nice to be asked for very small fare. In the evening we went to a tiny restaurant recommended in the guide book, run by a French couple who served us delicious pastilla; and also arranged for us to go on a guided eco-walk on Wednesday; and told us where we could buy wine near to our hotel. Great service. and very pleasant way to end the evening.
Monday 7th March: a lateish breakfast as we had no plans to do anything except walk along the very long and
Fishing from the rocks
An agile fisherman as whenever a largeish wave came along he would skip to higher ground then return to his original spot wide beach to a ruined fort on the seashore that now looks more like a rock outcrop than a building. A very pleasant walk in the warm sun with a warm wind to go with it. On the way back the wind picked up a this brought out the windsurfers and kite surfers. Essaouira is a favourite destination for devotees of these sports as it has a wide, shallow bay sheltered from the ocean swells by some offshore islands but with strong constant winds. We had lunch in a cafe not far from the hotel, then bought some wine from the local drinks store in a sidestreet behind the cafe and returned to the beach annex of our hotel for coffee and to sit down to watch the surfer types going through their paces. Very relaxing. No particular plan for the evening other than to stroll into the medina for dinner.
Lastly a reminder that double clicking on any of the photos will give an enlarged image. To get back to the text click on:-
blog: Jenks & Jane on the Road to Morocco Days 5,6,and 7 below the image.
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Pam Burdett
non-member comment
Great fun!
Great to read your blog, Anthony! Sounds really good fun - much more interesting than work and the cold here in the UK. Keep the blogs coming!