Essaouira

We managed to prise ourselves out of Camping Atlantica, well, we had to leave sometime, and headed for Essaouira, along the West coast. Described as 'Everyone's favourite seaside resort' we had decided that we would just go there and have a 'holiday'

Being popular meant that it was hard to get at for motor homes, and I didn't fancy winging it, and driving into the town, only to be met with narrow streets and one way only roads. I have to say though that, wherever we've been, there always seems to be at least one motorhome on a side street, right in the thick of it. I take my hat off to them, they're braver than we are!

We headed for Camping Le Calme on the outskirts of Essaouira, which was only a bus ride away from the town. Le Calme is primarily a Chambre d'hote, and very nice too, with a lovely swimming pool, and well kept grounds that are nicely lit at night.

The camping side of things could have been better, but it served it's purpose and met with our needs.

We took the bus in to Essaouira and got off right outside the Medina. Sure enough, there was a motorhome on the car park, right opposite. We had a wander over and chatted to him. He told us that it was a couple of euros to park and in the two nights he'd been there, he had not had any bother at all.

I looked around at the collection of wagons on the car park and decided that we had made the right decision. It certainly wasn't quiet!

Sue then dragged me off so that we could get in to the Medina. In fact she charged off as though there was a Gucci handbag, half price sale on!

The Medina was good fun, we even had lunch while we were in there. The goods on sale seem to be evenly split between the usual tatt aimed at tourists, and fresh produce, primarily aimed at the local market. 

Mind you, that didn't stop us buying a jewellery box, with a hidden compartment in which the key could be found. I love things like that and, after some painful haggling in which Sue has a Masters Degree, the box was ours.

'Leave this to me..'

Lunch, maybe a little predictably, was chicken tagine with rice at the '3 doors' restaurant in the Medina. Once we had placed our order, I noticed that the chef had left the restaurant. Five minutes or so and he was back, with what appeared to be chicken in a bag. I guess they were taken by surprise with actual diners showing up then!

We had to wait a while for our meal but, at least we knew that it was going to be cooked fresh, fresh from one of the stalls in the Medina! It was very tasty and it was nice to have saffron rice with a tagine for a change, instead of the usual chunky vegetables. It later proved to have the same effect on me as the rest of the meat I'd consumed in Morocco. It was nice while it lasted though!

After a couple of hours of being promised 'best price' on everything from local art work, to Morocco's herbal answer to Viagra, we headed off to get the bus.

The bus took an age to get us back, and must have had 50 more people on board, than it was permitted to carry. The novelty was starting to wear off.

The next day we packed up and moved to the very edge of Essaouira. This was to be our first 'guardian' parking experience, on a car park with no facilities. It was pretty full and the vans were barely six feet apart but, no one seemed to mind.

We cycled along the front at Essaouira which was nice enough, nothing special but pleasant. It brought us to the fishing port on one side, and the top end of the Medina on the other.

If you go there, visit the fishing port above all else. It really is like stepping back in time. I loved the atmosphere of the place.

After 2 nights, it was time to move on again, we needed to empty the tanks and get some fresh water on board plus, being confined to the van, with no real access to outside space, tends to make you a bit stir crazy after a while.

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