Image via WikipediaMorocco is not a place that is often heard when travel destination or a vacation place is being discussed. perhaps, it is time for that to change.
Hopefully, this short article on Essouira, Morocco helps.
Read on...
Natural beauty
Hopefully, this short article on Essouira, Morocco helps.
Read on...
Natural beauty
Rustic and whitewashed, Essaouira is a breath of fresh air from the resort towns of Morocco
by Carol Pucci
traveller@mediacorp.com.sg
Maybe it was the kebabs smoking on sidewalk grills, or the layer of fog that coloured the afternoon sky a pale gray, but when I walked through a stone archway into the walled city of Essaouira, being in Morocco began to feel as mysterious and unfamiliar as I had hoped.
It was a feeling that had eluded me in better known Marrakech, where boutiques and luxury guesthouses are transforming the ancient medina into a chic resort town popular with European tourists.
Rougher around the edges but more authentic is Essaouira, a weathered and windy port city on the Atlantic coast, three hours by bus through the desert from Marrakech.
With its whitewashed ramparts and buildings set off by blue doors and shutters, Essaouira could be a seaside town in Greece or Brittany. Brittany probably makes more sense since it was a French architect who was hired by the sultan to lay out the town's 18th-century medina.
Beaches and cheap hotels lured hippies travelling the North African bohemian trail in the '60s. Now, stalls stocked with leather bags and carpets open early for day-trippers arriving on the morning buses from Marrakech. The rewards come to those who linger. Check into a guesthouse and wander the streets in the late afternoon, and Essaouira begins to feel less like a shopping mall and more like the small-town fishing village it once was.
At Cafe de France on the Place Moulay Hassan, European expatriates in shorts and Muslim men wearing knitted skull caps share tables on the terrace and talk over glasses of mint tea. Women in flowing robes walk arm in arm. The air smells of sea salt, spices and grilled fish.
Nearly every guidebook recommends a meal at one of the outdoor seafood restaurants near the docks. Icy displays of fresh crabs, oysters and sardines were tempting, but prices seemed steep, and the sales pitches too hard-sell. We wandered instead to the "fish souk", the fresh fish market that takes place each day inside the medina. Sardines are the speciality, grilled on the spot and served with olives, bread and salad for about US$4 ($5.60).
Dinner was at a little white-tablecloth restaurant called La Decouverte, where we found couscous with camel on the menu and a lentil salad sprinkled with oil from the argan nut trees that thrive in this part of Morocco.
The restaurant's owners, Frederique Thevenet and Edouard Pottier, also run Ecotourisme et Randonnee, an ecotourism company that specialises in walking tours in the desert countryside.
Olive trees grow here, but it's the hearty and heat-resistant argan tree that's most treasured. Unique to south-western Morocco, the trees produce a hard wood, called ironwood, used for fuel. The leaves provide food for goats that climb into the spiny branches. But the argan tree is most valued for its nuts, the oil of which is extracted by hand by women working in cooperatives.
Our tour began at a country market where villagers arrived by donkey. A snack of tea and bread dipped in oil fortified us for several kilometres of walking along flat, desert donkey paths. Eventually, we reached the Marijana Cooperative. There, we talked with women working assembly-line style, cracking argan nuts between two stones, removing the seeds, roasting and grinding them into a paste which they then squeeze to extract the oil.
Marketing the oil as a healthy source of vitamins, and antioxidants has been an economic boost for desert dwellers like Fadna Bella and her family, who hosted our group for lunch in their house surrounded by argan groves.
Fadna met us in her courtyard, and led us into a windowless room decorated with pillows and carpets. We sat cross-legged on the floor, sharing a tomato salad, chunks of bread and her homemade tagine, a traditional Moroccan stew made with potatoes, carrots and lamb.
When we finished, she passed around a bowl of pomegranates and glasses of mint tea. She smiled. We smiled. Our appetites make up for our lack of Arabic words to express what a treat it had been to experience authentic Moroccan hospitality. She knew no English or French, but it mattered little. When we left, she blew us a kiss goodbye. MCT
Trip notes
Essaouira is 117km west of Marrakech on Morocco's Atlantic coast.
Getting there: Supratours (www.supratours.ma) runs comfortable, air-conditioned buses between Marrakech and Essaouira several times a day. The trip takes about three hours, including a stop for tea. Tickets are 65 dirham ($11). Buses leave from Supratours' offices near Marrakech's new train station.
Lodging/tours:
Essaouira has many nice hotels and guesthouses in restored riads, traditional Moroccan homes built around an interior courtyard. Prices are less than in Marrakech and usually include breakfast. See www.tripadvisor.com for riads that rate highly with guests who have stayed there. Many riads are owned by French, Spanish or Italian expatriates.
Ecotourisme et Randonnee (www.essaouira-randonnees.com) offers half- and full-day walks through the argan woods, nearby dunes and villages. Prices range from 200 to 400 dirham per person, including transport and a snack or lunch.
More information: visit www.visitmorocco.com
Taken from TODAY, Travel - Thursday, 15-April-2010;
Source article is here: TODAYonline | Travel | Natural beauty
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