This man sat next to me on the bus to Essaouira, gave me oranges and helped me to protect my share of the sun-blocking curtain. Nice man.
So many seagulls in Essaouira!
I am not sure if the red on its bill is natural or if its a bit of fish.
Cats are abundant and important in Morocoo - they are the clean-up crew.
Essaouira is famous for its blue boats
Essaouira is a port. These boats are in dry dock. Note all the people in this and in pics to come.
Some of the action a few feet from the last pic. Always lots of activity to watch.
Essaouira is a walled city
In the distance is the part inside the walls, called the medina.
A small fort just outside the walls.
I expect this man is picking up sea critter from the salt water pools left on this rocky beach.
I wonder what he is transporting
People watching is a wonderful pastime in Maroc.
A fishing boat in the port
People at work, repairing traps perhaps...
An interesting area to observe. The seagulls are constantly trying to get at the fish and fish guts and the men are always shoo-ing them away.
Such beautiful nets
Even the floats are colourful
There must be a lot of fish in the sea here, beause people are always fishing.
This appears to be a favourite resting area for the seagulls.
The seagulls follow the blue and white theme.
The rocky area to the north of the town. There is a sandy beach to the south, but rocks are more interesting.
The doors and windows are picture-worthy on their own. So I spent some time capturing them.
Can you see the shawerma on the left? Its the vertical chicken kabob. Love the green bike on the right.
This door was definitely out of place in Essaouira.
The middle door looks like it is the entrance to a restaurant.
This is a poor pic of my favourite items for sale in Maroc. But if I took a pic of a good display, they would think I wanted to buy from them, and that would be annoying. The tall curving lamps, when in red or orange, are simple gorgeous!
There are olives under the parsley in the middle bowl.
These are olives too. I believe they are naturally coloured, but I am not sure. Liana was a real fan of the olives in Morocco, but alas, I cannot say the same for myself, an olive hater.
A typical store on the street in the medina.
Many different types of dates, as well as garlic, raisins, dried apricots, almonds.
Inside the walled part of the city (medina) all commerce is conducted in stores open to the street.
These hanging carcasses turn a lot of visitors into vegetarians while they are here.
There is not much left to be chopped off these animal bits. The chicken is recognizeable, but I am not sure about the thing next to it, nor the stuff on the right.
More animal bits. Right next to a clothing store.
There were 3 reasons to take this picture. Can you spot all 3? Okay, the chickens are obvious, but what are the other two?
A vegie stall owner striking a pose for the camera
Live chickens...for the time being
Spice pyramids - tagine spice for fish, for meat and for chicken
Father and son
Sometimes it was fine to take a pic, and they even struck a nice pose, but other people did not like having their pic taken (religious reasons) or wanted money for it.
Eels?
He said he wanted to marry me...
He put on quite a show for me!
Another father and son
They loved that set of shark's teeth! That seems to be the shark underneath.
The son modeling the teeth
The Brits that I hung out with a bit. They showed me this lovely riad (hotel), which I moved to the day they moved out.
The Dutch speak English, amongst other languages, so well! Douwe and Nienke were no exception.
We ate dinner here. We could barely find our food amongst the paint!
A Berber pharmacy
Some more ingredients in the pharmacy
The owner of the aforementioned pharmacy
Few women would allow their pic to be taken, but she was perfectly fine with it.
My 65 cent orange juice awaits me
These next few pics are from an interesting auction area. This happens every day at 4 pm. The things sold tend to be flea market items.
The men that I focused the camera on walk around in a small circle.
trying to sell the things that have been left in the middle to be sold
What I found to be most interesting is that the men doing the selling looked quite sophisticated, and take the job seriously. Their hats were also interesting.
I found 3 cats sleeping like this. But this is the only pic that is any good.
The inlaid work is incredible and this man's may have been the best that I saw.
Women merchants are not common. She told me she buys from woodworkers and sells their products. She wrote her name on a card for me: Biz Amouine Souad, Skala #5. I salute her!
A lovely mother and children that I met. She runs a small hotel and her husband is a teacher. Her hotel is by the beach, in the new part: latissement-AL-AMAL.Bloc G12. Maison de chaabi.
Essaouria has some wonderful art. If I hadn't been there at the beginning of my trip I would have bought some.
I wish I could have caught this rooftop scene about 1 minute earlier. Can you see the chicken? Its the last one that needs to go in. Yes, this is on a rooftop.
View from my terrace.
A family taking care of their laundry, on their rooftop.
The riad's terrace had two levels. This is the lower one. Great tables there. Also some shade for hot days.
Interior of this lovely riad. That's my door open in the middle. Looking up is open to the sky. The name is Riad Jemalhi Mogador. I highly recommend it!! Cost me $42 a night, including breakfast.
Dates in a palm tree
A particularly beautiful bus. Believe me, they aren't all like this!
Can you see two people on a toboggan?
Moroccan fashion
A quiet side street
This pic was taken when I hung my camera around my neck and simply clicked the shutter as I walked along. I sure wonder about the lady with her garment hiked up at the back. LOL
Windows in a new building, outside the old medina.
A succulent with incredible flowers.
Ah yes, the camel ride just south of Essaouira. Can you pick out some poles sticking out from the saddle in the lower left? You can also see a stub at the back of my saddle. Those things made for the most uncomfortable ride!!!
My guess is that the animal is muzzled cause it wants to bite its owner. I wish the muzzle wasn't there and the owner got a good nip.
He kept trying to talk me into going home with him. Fat chance!
Essaouira is known for being a windy area, so wind turbines have been erected.
A nice meal I had, just outside the walled part of the city (medina).
This is at the previously mentioned restaurant. The waitress/owner played this game with the egg man. Neat game. They invited me to watch and play.
Typical street scene where the locals shop.
Typical street scene on a side street in the medina.
