Slow Travel in Essaouira

Two weeks in a Moroccan port city filled with history, charm, and delightful experiences

Dear Readers: Due to the photographs, this post is too long for email. If you click on the title, you will be taken to my site on Substack, where you can easily read the post.

I have long wanted to visit northern Africa. I find the region fascinating, with its mixture of Arabic and French culture and the amazing learning, architecture, art, music and gardens that flourished there and in Spain under Muslim rule from around 1000 to 1492.

In 1976, when I decided to join Peace Corps, I applied for a position teaching English as a second language at Tunis University in Tunisia and was accepted. I was really looking forward to using the French and Spanish I had spent years studying (Spain is a short hop across the Mediterranean) and learning Arabic, too. Fate, however, had other ideas and I ended up in Kabul, Afghanistan instead. (You can read my memoir about Afghanistan here.)

It wasn’t until 2023 that my dream of visiting northern Africa finally came true. It was late March, the winter in Ireland had been long, dark and wet, and Gerhard and I were ready for some sun! After a bit of research, I suggested we go to Essaouira, Morocco because it is on the Atlantic Coast and is famous for kitesurfing, which is one of Gerhard’s favorite sports.

The walled city

While researching Essaouira in preparation for our trip, I discovered that it is a small port city (population 78,400) about halfway down Morocco’s Atlantic coastline, directly west of Marrakesh. It was founded in the mid-1700s by Sultan Mohammed III, who chose the location for its strategic position on the Atlantic coast. The city was meticulously designed using a grid layout, along with European-style fortifications. This included a high wall that completely surrounded it.

Because it was the endpoint of the caravan routes that led across sub-Saharan Africa through Marrakesh, Essaouira quickly became Morocco’s principal port. This, in turn, drew Berbers (the original inhabitants of the area), Europeans, Sub-Saharan Africans and Arabs. Such a multicultural, international atmosphere meant that people from many different religions—including Muslims, Jews and Christians—found homes here.

The city’s prominence as a port declined in the twentieth century. But then the counterculture discovered Essaouira in the 1960s and 1970s. As young people from around the world began to arrive, the city began to flourish once again. In the 1990s, windsurfers and later kitesurfers discovered the city thanks to its beautiful sandy beaches and consistent winds.

Today you can meet people from all over the world in Essaouira, and there are numerous delicious restaurants and beautiful hotels and riads in which to stay.

The port

The fishing and boat building industries in Essaouira continue to thrive. The most important catch by far is sardines. Even the iconic blue boats stem from the fact that sardines are apparently attracted to the color. In addition to sardines, fishermen also bring in a wide variety of other types of fish, such as sole, sea bream, shrimp, crab, octopus, clams and lobster.

The fishermen set up tables and food stalls right at the port from which to sell their freshly caught fish. Parts of discarded fish are thrown to the sea gulls, which gather by the hundreds.

The port is located at the foot of a fortified sea bastion called the Sqala du Port. It was built in the 18th century to defend the harbor and city from naval invasions.

The medina

I loved Essaouira’s medina, which is located inside the protective walls. While Gerhard was kitesurfing and walking for miles along the beach, I returned to it several times in the two weeks we were there.

In 2001, UNESCO recognized the medina as a World Heritage Site in acknowledgement of its unique fusion of European‑North African architecture. Not only do locals sell an amazing variety of beautiful hand-made objects there, but they also work hard to keep the streets and passageways clean.

The first time I entered the medina, I came across some traditional musicians attempting to entertain people sitting in an open air cafe. I’m afraid that most of the diners were not interested, but it was fun for me to listen to the music!

Everywhere I wandered, I came across beautiful handmade items. For example, I loved the intricate decorations on the slippers hanging to the right of the picture below.

Numerous artisans sell baskets and products made from leather.

I really liked the lovely pottery in this shop, as well as the herbs and spices. I bought a good amount of saffron and several tea mixtures here, and I would have bought one of the tagine pots if I had had room in my suitcase for it.

Below is a shop that sells only objects made from silver. Notice the flat hands along the left side of the doorway. These are called “hamsas,” and they are meant to bring good luck to their owners and protect them from evil.

Artisans also make numerous objects out of thuya wood, which is a type of cypress that is native to Morocco’s Atlas Mountains. The wood is reddish-brown in color and has a beautiful, swirling grain pattern.

One of the days I visited the medina, a vendor was selling delicious ripe strawberries in the street.

The Berbers are famous for their lovely handwoven rugs. The tradition dates back thousands of years to a time when nomadic tribes made the rugs as a way to protect themselves against the harsh climates of the Atlas Mountains and Sahara Desert.

Traditionally woven by women, the images in Berber carpets eventually began to express the stories, beliefs and life events of the people. The women also began weaving in symbols for such themes as fertility, nature and spirituality. The carpets are traditionally crafted from wool dyed with plant-based substances, and the techniques have been passed down for generations.

Argan Oil

Several shops in the medina sell bottles of argan oil. This precious substance is rich in essential nutrients, antioxidants, and anti-inflammatory compounds. As a result, it has numerous healing benefits for the skin (when used externally) as well as for the heart (when used internally).

I went back to one shop three different times to buy more oil from the same Berber woman because I liked her—and the oil—so much. Unfortunately, I failed to take pictures of the shop! I’m not sure why now, but I think I was too busy buying the oil and talking with the woman.

Argan oil comes from the argan tree, which only grows in the Essaouira region of Morocco. Berber women have produced the oil by hand for centuries, where they have used it for cooking, skincare and medicine.

First they harvest the fruit by hand and dry it. Then they use stones to crack the hard nut open so they can extract the kernel inside. Next they press the kernels to extract their oil. Finally, they filter and bottle the oil. In other words, the whole process is physically difficult and time-consuming.

Today machines may be used to cold-press the oil, but the process is still labor-intensive. To ease this a bit, the women have created cooperatives throughout the Essaouira region where they work together to make and sell the oil.

The beach

The major reason I was able to convince Gerhard to visit Essaouira was because he could kitesurf there. Our hotel was just a block away from the center of the kitesurfing action, so it was really handy in that regard. (The hotel was so special that it deserves its own separate blog post. So I will write about it next week.)

We arrived at the airport in Essaouira toward evening and went directly to the hotel. After breakfast the next morning, we headed to the beach. The moment we stepped foot on the sand, we were met by a man with two camels who urged us to go for a ride.

At first we said “no,” but then he had the camels kneel down and invited us to simply sit on them. So we did. Then the camels stood up and the owner began to lead them down the beach.

We asked him how much the ride would cost, but he just waved his hand and didn’t reply. I knew I wanted to ride a camel at some time during our trip, so we decided to just go for it and act like the tourists we were.

The ride was really fun, but in the end the owner charged us at least double what the true going rate was. We learned then that we should have bargained about the price before we ever climbed on the camels. We didn’t make such a mistake again!

The kitesurfers were out in full force all along the beach.

The beach seemed to extend for miles, and the sand was firm and rock-free. It was hard to imagine that we were walking in the waves of the same ocean that we walk in at home in Ireland!

There were three cafes right next to each other at the place where the kitesurfers and tourists congregated, so the camel drivers hung around there in particular. In addition, many men with horses also waited near the cafes in case tourists wanted to go for a ride.

It was fun to sit at our favorite cafe and watch all of the activity going on around us while eating a delicious lunch in the cool shade of a tree.

The man in the picture below had one of the most beautiful horses I have ever seen. I grew up on a Quarter Horse and cattle ranch in Montana, so I am familiar with all of the usual horse colors: sorrels, bays, buckskins, whites, blacks, palominos, appaloosas, etc. But I have no idea what you would call this color. Other than magnificent.

I believe it is a Barb horse, which is a breed developed centuries ago by the Berbers for endurance and agility. In any case, he was absolutely beautiful and shone like gold in the sun.

The restaurants

Essaouira has many lovely restaurants from which to choose. My favorite was Le Patio. I loved the red walls, the stone archways, the candles on the tables, the musicians and the delicious Moroccan food.

The first evening we visited, I chose a traditional vegetarian tagine with couscous.

Gerhard, in turn, went for fish. It turned out to be one of the most delicious fish dishes either of us has ever tasted! We ended up going back two more times just so we could eat more of it.

The streets of Essaouira are filled with cats. In general, they look healthy and well-fed, but they are everywhere. One evening while we were eating in Le Patio, this cat wandered in off the street and curled up next to me. She didn’t beg—she just made herself comfortable and fell asleep.

Gerhard’s favorite restaurant was Restaurant Gusto Italia. For some unknown reason, we failed to take pictures of it, too. I think we were too busy eating to even think of taking a photograph! In any case, we highly recommend the food and wine there.

The hammam

Since Gerhard and I were in Essaouira for two weeks, I really wanted to have some experiences that went beyond the usual tourist activities. The first of these was visiting a real hammam, which is the traditional bathhouse both men and women go to to cleanse themselves.

Before leaving for our trip, I conducted some research, found a website called Hammam with Fatima, and made an appointment with her. I thought it would be a wonderful way to experience a bit of what life is like for real Moroccan women. (Men and women have completely separate hammams.)

The idea is that Fatima takes you to the hammam and performs the traditional cleansing process on you. Her website explains that “You'll receive a traditional scrub with natural soap, mask with henna and rhassoul and a gentle massage with love.”

At the agreed time, I met Fatima and her granddaughter at one of the gates to the medina. The granddaughter spoke English, but Fatima only spoke Arabic. They led me to a narrow street (see the picture below), where we stopped at an unmarked door just on the other side of the ladder.

After entering, we went to a changing room where we removed all of our clothes except for our panties. The granddaughter left, and Fatima guided me to a fairly large tiled room with no furniture. She motioned to me that I should sit down on a rubber mat she had placed on the floor.

First she dragged a large tub of hot water from another room, dipped a bucket into it, and poured the water all over me. Then she cleansed every inch of my body with black soap and poured more buckets of hot water over me after she had finished. Next, she scrubbed my body hard with a textured mitt to exfoliate the skin. (I can’t say this process was comfortable, but it was effective!)

After more rinsing, she applied rhassoul all over. This is a natural clay from Morocco’s Atlas Mountains that has been used for centuries to detoxify and nourish the skin. Finally Fatima washed my hair and rinsed everything off with more buckets of water. The entire process lasted about two hours. And I don’t think my body has ever been cleaner in my life!

The cooking class

I also wanted to have an experience in a real Moroccan home with someone who could teach me how to make some traditional dishes. This turned out to be the most wonderful event that I participated in during our trip to Essaouira. I wrote about it in a Substack post titled Cooking Class in Essaouira.

The Anima Garden of Marrakesh

After about 10 days in Essaouira, Gerhard and I decided to take a quick overnight trip to Marrakesh so we could see a bit of Marrakesh and visit a garden that was designed by an Austrian artist and showman named André Heller.

We hired a taxi to drive us the three-hour distance for a very reasonable price. We also found a lovely riad to stay in and explored Marrakesh’s medina as well as the Bahia Palace. I must admit, however, that the city was hot, dusty, and swarming with tourists everywhere we went, so we were very happy to return to the cool, peaceful Essaouira the next day.

The garden, however, was an absolute delight. It consisted of acres of trees, cacti and flowers and was filled with whimsical art created by a variety of artists. I enjoyed exploring it very much and wrote about it in a Substack post titled The Anima Garden of Marrakesh.

Our time in Essaouira soon came to an end. Gerhard and I had some wonderful experiences there, and I would love to visit the city again some day.