Essaouira, Kingdom of Heaven

The whole city looks so romantic and historic that is is a great experience to stroll up and down the streets, watching fisherman at the port with the artists, sharing fresh fish with seagulls. When we were there, the film 'Kingdom of Heaven' was being made and all city was film set. There is also a considerable artist community living here, you can see them making drawings of fisherman at the port. If there was one place in Morocco that I could live that would be Essaouria.

Quick Tips:

A trip to the south of Essaouria, to Tamanar would be a great day out to see Argan trees on the way which can only be found in Morocco. There are always goats on them. Unfortunately goats eat up and dry the trees and shepherds encourage that because the tourist would stop to make a picture. Of course the tourist will be charged heavily for this foto. Many visitors do not know the consequence of this behavior and watch goats destroy beautiful argan trees.

Best Way To Get Around:

The road from Agadir to Essaouria along the coast is really beautiful. You can reach here by rental car or by grand taxi. Essaouria is linked to big cities (eg Marrakesh) with ATM busses.

This is just one of the treasures hidden in the dusty streets of Essaouira. You have to know that it is there to find it otherwise you will never find the tiny gate in one of the side streets.

This is a renovated house used as a hotel and restaurant. We have had lunch here. It has never happened to me that the waiter first tells 'The catch of the day did not arrive yet' and while I am searching the menu further the waiter comes back and says 'The catch of the day has arrived'. Ok, than I did go for fished cooked in argan oil, oil from the nut of a tree only found in Morocco, which you recognize with the goats on it. Oil gives a full taste to the fish it is absolutely not heavy and you can still feel the fresh fish melting in your month with the unique aroma of sea. It is a great combination though, as good as fish in olive oil and even better in own category. Unfortunately there is no wine served here so we ended the meal with sweet mint tea and patisserie Moroccan as usual. Menu's start from 8 Euros, of course more affordable for lunch.

If you want to have more info look at: www.essaouiranet.com/legrandlarge

Start the walk at the beautiful castle, once built by the Portuguese. Walk along the walls alongside sea. You will see a building on a small island, built as a prison. Sea on this part of the coast is windy therefore you get wet by the wildy waves of the sea as it hits the walls. Notice the towers at the end of the seawalls and go down to the streets of Essaouria to discover its medieval architecture. There will be Turkish baths, synagogues shops selling spices and riads on hidden streets. You will notice the European character of this cute town as well. There is a little possibility that you see hustlers here. The atmosphere is more relaxed that the rest of Morocco. There are coffee houses around as well as European style patisseries.

For lunch go back to the harbour and sit a while watching seagulls following the boats and you can have fish at one of the places at the harbour. Once more you will notice that the shops here are much different than in Agadir and you will be treated more as a person than cash-machine and that is a good feeling while traveling.

This little village called Tamaner lays in the south of Essaouira and famous for its cooperative for processing Argan-nut for cooking and cosmetic oils. Argan tree is only to be found in Morocco and most of the production is purchased by the French. It is proven that Argan oil helps aging-wrinkles, rheumatic complaints and skin irritations. Cooking with Argan oil is not only healthy but also very tasty too. In this cooperative in Tamanar village, 50 ladies work full time and many more part-time. Their children go to the school in the cooperative complex and they have library too. This is one of the places in Morocco where I saw hope and happiness in people's eyes. They were really proud of being there, posing for my pictures, teaching how to process the nut.

You can walk around freely, talk to ladies, help them with work if you want and of course buy a couple of bottles to take with you home. Oil for cosmetic purposes costs 50 dirhams and for cooking costs 100 dirhams. After I came back I regretted not buying more of this stuff because it is really great value for money a present for your body and soul.