Our ninth day in Morocco was spent in Essaouira, a gorgeous port city (relatively) near Marrakech. Despite coming from a three day desert tour, we braved the bus once more and took a day trip to Essaouira. We weren't able to buy tickets the day before (the office was already closed when we went out), so we left a bit early in the morning to try our luck buying tickets for the day itself. We arrived at the bus station at 8am, and were able to buy round trip tickets for the day. We hopped on the bus at 8:30, and found ourselves in Essaouira three hours later.
 |
| At the port |
Essaouira, formerly known as Mogador, is a coastal city in Western Morocco, by the Atlantic coast that was once Morocco's main trading port. Though not used for trading anymore, its harbour is still teemed with fishing boats, and the city has become famous for its fresh seafood. When we arrived we immediately headed to the coast to check it out, and decided to walk by the beach. It was quite windy, and there were many windsurfers (I later learned the city is dubbed "Wind City of Africa"). There were also huge waves and a number of other people practicing other water sports, and for those who want a calmer activity, there were also camel rides being offered at the beach.
 |
| The beach |
We walked the length of the boardwalk all the way to the entrance of the
medina, which is another UNESCO World Heritage site. The medina was built by a Frenchman in the late 18th century under the orders of the then sultan. The sultan invited Jewish traders to settle there and the
medina and Essaouria became a stronghold for Jewish culture.
 |
| Entrance to the medina |
 |
| the medina |
 |
| the medina |
The main alleyways were wide, unlike the other medinas of Morocco. If you veer towards the sides you then reach the souks, filled with your typical ceramic plates, jewelry, spices, etc. Unlike other medinas, Essaouira's had a lot of art galleries and live music. We wandered around the souks, making a mental note of things we wanted to buy later on.
 |
| jewelry |
 |
| carpets and textiles |
 |
| nuts and spices |
 |
| more spices |
 |
| woven bags |
A popular thing to do for lunch in Essaouira is to buy fresh fish in the market, and then go to a restaurant and have them grill it for you. For some reason we had a hard time finding the fish, but we ended up finding this guy selling some sardines (a food Essaouira is famous for). We bought a handful, and in true Moroccan hospitaly fashion, our vendor insisted on pouring us a shot of mint tea.
We then walked to a restaurant nearby and had them grill the sardines for us, and we also ordered another fish (dorade) off the menu. I'm not a fish fan, but I'll admit that the grilled fish was pretty good!
 |
| our fish being grilled |
 |
| dorade and sardines |
After lunch we headed back to the
souks to buy some presents and souvenirs. We haggled with a shopkeeper and bought a couple of beautiful ceramic plates of various sizes and designs to take home.
Our last stop before taking the afternoon bus back to Marrakech was a visit to the port. We made our way to the outskirts of the
medina, and found a way out and to the port. Right by the port was a wide and modern plaza filled with hotels, cafés, and restaurants, most of which sell fresh seafood which Essaouira is famous for.
 |
| the plaza |
 |
| walking to the port |
Down by the port, the most familiar sight is that of the hundreds of seagulls soaring and screeching above.
Another familiar sight is the sqala or sea bastion, which also happens to be the filming location of Slaver's Bay in Game of Thrones. We chose not to go in the main tower, and walked inside the harbour. There were hundred of fishing boats and nets all over the port, and there were also some vendors still selling their fresh catches of the day.
 |
| Essaouira Sqala |
 |
| deep blue fishing boats |
|
| with the fishing nets and boats |
We hung around a bit, and when we couldn't take the fishy smell anymore, headed back to the bus station. On the bus back home I ended up beside an old Canadian who had married a Moroccan woman, and was on his way back to Marrakech after checking out his house in Essaouira. We had some interesting conversations about teaching (he was a retired teacher) and the Moroccan culture. Back in Marrakech we wandered along the market which, like the night before, was in full swing.
 |
| Relatively peaceful scene as it's usually full of people and bustle |
We walked about aimlessly looking for a place to eat, and settled on this stall below which didn't have annoying people calling out to us.
 |
| New favorite stall in Marrakech |
As we were ordering, we spotted a couple in the table next to us eating a dish that we hadn't tried nor seen yet. We gestured the dish to the waiter and asked what it was. He smiled, nodded knowingly, and told us it was tanjia. We quickly ordered ourselves some, and it turned out to be the best dish we had in Morocco.
 |
| Delicious tanjia |
Named after the urn-shaped clay pot it's cooked in (see the urn in the picture below), tanjia is a meat stew that is native to Marrakech. Like tajines, it's a slow cooked dish, but unlike tajines, it's relatively simple with fewer ingredients and spices. It was extremely tasty, and we loved it so much, we ended up ordering a second plate.
 |
| Our waiter and our cook |
We capped off the night with some orange juice, another thing Morocco and Marrakech is famous for. There were dozens of orange juice stands all over the market. You would think that the juice would be all the same, but they actually taste slightly different. This one we had from this stall for example was much yummier than another one we had the next day.
 |
| Fresh orange juice |
Comments