Essaouira: Castles Made of Sand (July 2-July 5, 2011)

Essaouira, on the Atlantic Coast, was recommended by every traveler that we met. It has the reputation of being the most laid back town on the coast, and also the windiest. Our introduction to Essaouira began on the bus when throngs of touts, offering hotels and riads, rushed onto the bus as soon as it arrived preventing the passengers from disembarking. The bus driver barked at them to get off, but eventually threw his hands up in defeat when they began blocking passengers' access to luggage.

Essaouira's medina was quite picturesque: whitewashed buildings surrounded by 18th century French ramparts. Despite our experience at the bus station, in town there was very little hassle and shopkeepers were much less aggressive than they had been in Marrakesh. We spent one day exploring the town – the ramparts, the fish market, the souks – and another walking along the beach. On this second day, we braved 25 mph winds (and the ensuing sand storms) to reach the ruins of an old fort, Bordj el Berod, crumbling just at the ocean's edge. According to our guidebook, locals claim this fort was the inspiration for Jimi Hendrix's "Castles Made of Sand" who, they say, played shows in town in the late 1960s. In reality, our book points out, Jimi Hendrix visited Morocco for a total of a week in 1969, more than a year after "Castles Made of Sand" was released. (Still, it's a nice story, playing into the town's laid back hippie vibe).

For the remainder of the day, we planned to stay at the beach, relaxing, swimming and sunbathing (a nice way, we thought, to celebrate the 4th of July), however, this quickly came to an end when the sandstorms proved too strong. Instead, we headed back into town to celebrate the 4th with a hamburger (a little small, a little squished), fries, and a Coca-Cola; and then with a couple of beers (the only alcohol we had during our three weeks in Morocco).

Click the photo below for our Essaouira photo album.