Morocco- Sidi Kaouki and Essaouira

On our final morning in Taghazout we had a lovely breakfast (crepes, baguettes, hot chocolate and freshly squeezed orange juice) overlooking the sea before saying our goodbyes to the group.  Many of them are also going there own ways- inland to Taroudant and south to Agadir.  We headed north 150km to Sidi Kaouki.  We had been to the small beach settlement in early December on our way south.  We chose the other campsite there this time as it has more facilities.  We were in desperate need of a washing machine to get our half a dozen towels and clothes clean, as so far in Morocco I have been hand washing.  The machine at the camp is a modern front loader and does a fantastic 60 degree wash, however this takes about 3.5 hours!  Needless to say we had to join the queue and got our first of two loads in at 10pm after waiting since 4pm.

 Our lunch stop at Tamri, on the way to Sidi Kaouki

We walked around the hotels and restaurants one afternoon and Dale spotted some men on horseback in a side street.  We presumed they were dressed for a traditional gunpowder race (thanks guidebook).  We hung around to see if they would go down to the beach but instead they went inside a hotel courtyard, to we presume perform for some tourists.  There was also a tent pitched on the beach so we wondered if the hotel guests would come down later for a meal and entertainment.  4 or 5 members of the local Police force had crowded into their Volkswagen caddy and were stationed up near the horses.  We think they were interested in what was going on too.  When they came to leave they got a wheel stuck behind a rock on the road and required some help from Dale and the locals to dislodge the rock and push them to get going again.

After two nights at Sidi Kaouki we drove half an hour north to the fortified sea side town of Essaouira.  It came highly recommended from fellow travellers and it didn't disappoint.  It is obviously a tourist magnet as there are so many shops selling souvenirs.  The specialty here is thuya wood carving- boxes, trays, animals and the like.  We went into an 'Ensemble Artisanal', a fixed price (though one can still haggle) market with stalls from various local crafts people selling similar wares to the other shops in town.  What was so nice about Essaouira was the laid back nature of the people and the lack of 'hard sell', which made for a pleasant afternoon browsing.  There was also many items in shops for sale at a fixed price, which takes the work out of purchasing somewhat.  There is also an everyday souk, where we purchased bread and eggs, and had lunch in one of the eateries in the medina.

The ramparts

The watchtower

We went for a walk through the fishing port (which is very much a working port) and onto both sets of 16th century ramparts.  The bronze canons on the ramparts date from 18th and 19th century and were cast in Spain.  The wind was blowing a gale and there was showers of rain throughout the day but we didn't mind too much as generally the weather has been very good for us in Morocco.

Unfortunately due to yesterdays lunch Dale is unwell so we decided to stay another night at the guarded port carpark.  We made it out for a walk along the beach promenade, which is very nice and the following day before we left Essaouira we returned to the shops to make some purchases.  We bought 3 wooden boxes, but restrained ourselves from getting anything else as we are worried about getting through quarantine when we return to New Zealand.  I haggled for some scarfs, offering 120 dirhams instead of the 140 dirhams asked.  The seller wasn't interested at that price though and we walked away.  I will continue looking as I was pretty keen on them, but too embarassed to return and buy them after I had failed to strike a deal!  In hindsight I should have bought them as 20 dirhams is such a small amount, but I was too stubborn about it.

Our next destination was Ounara, 30 minutes inland from Essaouira on the road to Marrakech.  Here we checked into the campsite to give Dale some more R and R before hitting Marrakech as he is still unwell.  Ounara is a small market town which we will have a walk around tomorrow and we may stay another night until Dale is better.  We have heard from our friend Gabrielle that she is flying into Marrakech on Monday- perfect timing for a catch up!