A PERFECT DAY

A perfect day spent in Essaouira with our friend Jonathan. We have been enjoying the wonderful hospitality of Bruno and his staff at the Villa Gonatouki. After breakfast we drove into town and picked up Jonathan and headed for the fish market, the location of which had managed to elude us on the previous day.  Next to the fish market is the spice market; it was there that we were shown some of the delights of Moroccan spices, essences, and scents. Ambre, sandalwood, jasmine, and citrus effused the air. Ismail prepared us a Royal Tea consisting of several specific herbs including saffron, star anise, rose petals, cinnamon bark, and cardamon pods.

Later we made our way toward the city ramparts. On the way we passed some unique artisanal shops many of which had workshops in the back where some of the goods were manufactured. We visited shops of wooden boxes, antiques, the local swirly art style of Essaouira, rock shops, Berber artifacts. There was even a man who knitted hats right there on the street; couldn’t help ourselves – Cindy and I had to get one each.

From the turreted heights there was a longitudinal view of the ocean walls fortified by cannons. At  the top of the wall the full force of the wind was overwhelming sweeping unhindered off the Atlantic ocean heaving waves crashing high onto the rocks. We could barely brace ourselves against the gusts. It was at that moment that a local woman in burka and sunglasses approached us and in perfect English remarked, “This is just a pleasant breeze in Essaouira."

View along the ramparts

In the Mellah

Bruno, Host at Villa Gonatouki, Essaouira

We also wanted to explore the Mellah or Jewish district, which has spent a long time in disuse since

the emigration of Jews to newly independent Israel in mid- 20^th century.

We returned to Villa Gonatouki for a magnificent meal and wonderful conversation. We were joined by our host Bruno who spent time with us talking about his life and filling us with a sense of optimism and appreciation.

ESSAOUIRA

Essaouira is built along the Atlantic coast some five hours drive south of Rabat. This seaside town is famous for its rows of blue fishing boats and the fruits of the sea that are harvested each day. It was here that Jimi Hendrix was rumored to have spent time in the sixties. 

In the 15th century the Portuguese established a trading and military hub here and named it Mogador. The sea facing ramparts built to defend the city are of European design contrasting the Islamic style architecture of the inner walls.

We met our friend Jonathan at the Suprabus stop in Essaouira and spent most of the afternoon wandering around this fascinating town. Once again, we were struck by the kindness and warmth of the people that we met along the way.















We started out in the medina which was colorful, relaxed, and as usual, impossible to navigate. We had a long lunch of local fresh seafood before setting off for the wide and windy beach. High winds in the area make the fishermen’s travails a daunting task but offer some of the best windsurfing and kitesurfing for more adventurous tourists. Horse and camel rides are eagerly peddled along the beach.

We were joined on the beach by a group of musicians who gave us a private concert of folk-inspired gnawa music.

We then drove in to the port of Essaouira where fishermen untied and mended their nets, repaired older boats, unloaded and prepared the wide varieties of fish, and sent them on their way to feed many a hungry soul. All this taking place in the shadow of the medieval fortress ramparts. Seagulls oversaw the proceedings and swooped down to feed on the leftover remnants of fish guts. 

We had a cup of mint tea together before dropping Jonathan off near his riad and returning home via a vegetable tagine at a local restaurant.

HOME ESSAOUIRA HANG MY HAT

Gateway at Chellah

Storks on the minaret at Chellah

The temperature started to rise a little in Rabat on Sunday. We partook in another sterling breakfast at the riad. This time we were joined by a well traveled French couple that has been living most recently in Casablanca. We ventured out at about noon and took a petit taxi to the Roman necropolis and medieval ruins at Chellah. Entering through a magnificent bab or gateway, we were able to view an expanse of ruins and archeological discoveries made up primarily of the red-walled remains of the site.

In addition to the Roman ruins there were partial walls marking the hamam (baths), Islamic burial grounds, a stone-and-zellij (tile work) minaret, and a medersa or theological school. 

The crowded Medina in Rabat

At night we ventured out into the medina again. I was in a state of lucid amazement as I watched the parade of characterful faces. I wanted to photograph them all, but at some point I realized that I might have to retain this multiplicity of colorful images, and other sensory jewels in the mosaic of my fallible memory as part of the evolution of perpetual perception.

We ate at the lively Restaurant Liberation in the Medina. We enjoyed the cross-cultural pollination of French, Arabic and English 

We set off early on Monday and drove five hours of mostly well-kept highway down to Essaouira. Of course, nothing quite goes to plan and we had some difficulty with the lack of signposts in the later stages of our journey. We are happy to have arrived at our destination at the monumental Villa Gonatouki. We eagerly await the arrival of our friend Jonathan tomorrow.

RABAT

The first stop on our tour of Morocco is the capital city of Rabat. Along with its neighboring communities of Sale and Temara the population exceeds 2.5 million. Rabat is located on the Atlantic coast of Morocco at the mouth of the River Bou Regreg.

What a difference some rest will make! We arose for breakfast at the wonderful Riad Zyo where we were served chocolate cakes in the shape of a rose, savory mustard pastries, Moroccan crepes, French toast niblets, omelets, toast, three jellies, fresh squeezed orange juice, and coffee. After such a meal we decided that another nap was in order. Then we ventured out into the streets of Rabat. We walked all afternoon and evening starting at the Oudaia Kasbah. The fortress of Oudaia Kasbah dates back in part to the twelfth century and is found on a hill at the Northernmost point of the old city overlooking both the ocean and the walled medina of Rabat. We stopped for mint tea and pastries at the Café Maure where Cindy got her hand hennaed and then on to the Andalusian Gardens.

Henna, pastries and mint tea

Doorway in the Andalusian Gardens

We proceeded back to the medina and onto the Rue des Consuls, where most of the foreign consulates were previously located, and which is now lined with shops filled with brightly colored artifacts.

Not-Morgan Freeman in a shop full of wonderful wooden boxes.

Next, we walked to the Hassan Tower and Mausoleum of Mohammed V.

Hassan Tower

The Hassan Tower dominated the landscape on the drive in from the airport. This tower has stood in this site for more than 800 years and is surrounded by the austere remains of the unfinished Hassan Mosque prayer hall. Nearby stands the Royal Mausoleum of Mohammed V, the father of Moroccan independence; this magnificent building was designed by Vietnamese architect Vo Toan.

Mausoleum of Mohammed V

Guard at the Mausoleum

Our feet were aching by the time we returned through the bustling medina crowded with people searching for bargains and perhaps grabbing a repast of the sweet smelling street food available all along our route home.

The Medina post-twilight

Once again, our memories are filled with the faces of the amazing people that we saw along the way:

JET LAG

Jet Lag is a no-doze haze/a misty no-man’s land between waking states/a dizzying misconbobulation of thoughts and images that get muddied into a melee of fear and loathing.  It’s a path that the weary international traveler must go down and one that no degree of preparation will allay. We are finally frighteningly tired and unable to sleep at our Riad in Rabat; it is one a.m. but it could be the Mars time zone for all I know. 

Flights all went smoothly and we arrived in Rabat at the scheduled hour and were at the car rental desk by about 12:30 p.m. Confusion ensued with rejected credit cards, extra costs, and language difficulties. Once at our car our rental agent offered to drive us into town and proceeded to weave through outrageous, erratic traffic patterns, through winding unmarked knots of boulevards and alleyways getting serially lost before abandoning us on a busy street with further directions that bore no resemblance to reality. Through all that our agent was kind and optimistic and deserved a nice tip for all of his extended efforts to assist us. I was initially nervous about taking up the driving responsibilities but found myself actually enjoying the bizarre randomness of the driving lanes; other than that, we were totally lost and had no working maps and no point of context to get us anywhere other than within the framework of the endless circuit that we were wandering in.  Eventually we were able to find a parking spot near a tea salon. Fortunately the waiter was kind, present, and helpful. I found my French language skills returning as if my fading memory had been inhabited by my alien, savant state of over stimulation. We drank a refreshing mint tea and were on our way. After a couple more miscues in our belief, the waiter’s directions proved accurate and we found ourselves being assisted into a parking space by a sweet, toothless parking guard who then accompanied us (five hours after our arrival) to our hotel. Amidst all of this craziness what remains is the proverbial "kindness of strangers," and the comfort of a place to finally call home.

FRIENDS REUNITED

Just heard the news that my great friend Jonathan is going to fly to Morocco from England to meet up with us for a few days in Essaouira and Marrakech. It will be great to see him again. This will be the fourth continent that we will have been on together.

OTHERS' VIEWS OF MOROCCO,  AND LINKS TO MY OWN BLOGS AND PHOTOGRAPHS

If you would like a nice preview of photographs of Morocco, you can take a look at my ongoing Morocco Pinterest site. Remember that none of these photographs, as of this date, were taken by me. They were collected on Pinterest as a set of interesting pictures taken by a variety of other people.


If you would prefer, you can take a look at my own travel photographs collected on Pinterest.

Travel blogs from some of our past trips can be explored here:
India 2007: Vishnu Were Here
Spain - Barcelona and Andalucia 2009: I Love 'Lucia
Paris 2013: Eiffel For Paris

You can view my every day photos on my Flickr site


Visit my Photography website at FotoMadison.com