The next morning we left early for the CTM bus from Marrakech to Essaouira (a beachside town). Another mode of transportation, and again nobody hassling Nancy! (I should have offered someone a tip to bother her. I would have paid 100 dirham for that no problem.) The CTM and Supratours busses are like night and day compared to the local bus I took to Chefchaouen. I guess in hindsight….the first experience made for a good story.

While we were waiting for the bus to leave we looked out the window – and there was Allan from Riad El Zohar!! He had told us before that he and Malika were catching the bus to Essaouira for a couple of days as well, but we weren’t expecting to see his smiling face that early. We said hello, and exchanged Riad information so we could meet up.

The bus trip was uneventful – other than the goats in the tree branches on the roadside which I woke Nancy up for. Apparently the goats love the fruit of the Argan trees, but can’t always reach them from the ground, so they climb up the trees to get it. I’m sure the goats we saw on the side of the road were coaxed up the trees for the benefit of tourists, but it didn’t make it any less strange to see. By the way – you know that Argan oil that’s in all of our cosmetics and hair products now? The traditional way it was produced – step 1) goat eats Argan nut from tree. step 2) goat digests all but the kernel from the nut, and then poops it out. step 3) person collects the kernel, brings it home and makes Argan oil. It was so quick I didn’t get any pics, but this gives you the idea.

Once we got to Essaouira we quickly checked into our Riad, dropped our bags off, and then wandered around town. We were staying within the medina (another UNESCO world heritage site), at a chilled out beachy feeling Riad. As soon as we could pull ourselves together we went off to explore the Medina. It was a much less hectic town, still plenty people trying to get you to stop and visit their stores – but in a less aggressive way. Everyone was more relaxed, you could smell the ocean….I could just feel the tension in my muscles (what I had left of them) release. We stopped in a couple of shops, walked along the top of wall of the medina, looked out at the ocean.

Finally we realized we were starved and desperate for lunch! Thankfully at least one of us did our research (not me), and had read about a seafood market with fresh fish that you could have cooked for you right there. We found the market, checked out a few of the stalls, and then picked a sampling of squid, shrimp and fish. Just behind the stalls is an area with a couple of kitchens where you go to have it prepared and eat. It was packed!! Eventually we handed off our bag, and sat down to a shared table. They sell drinks and sides, so we ordered some Fanta, fries, bread, and dug in. Delicious!!!

After lunch we wandered the spice area a bit, and were stopped by an enthusiastic young guy remarking on the Fanta bottle I was still carrying around with me. Apparently it used to be his favorite, but they changed the formula so now it didn’t taste as good. He convinced us to follow him to his shop to try a tea concoction that was even better. I know…. I know – haven’t I learned my lesson yet about friendly strangers? We were having such a good time, and were so relaxed we followed anyway. We sat down in the little shop he worked at, had some tea, he played on the guitar a bit, we chatted, some other French and Spanish tourists he had befriended stopped by to visit – we were having a good time. He invited us all over to his place for some wine and tagine that night. The tagine was amazing! A friend of his stopped by who is a professional performer of traditional music, and was awesome! And low and behold, one of the French friends was also a professional guitarist, and treated us to a couple of songs. We stayed late, sang songs (or hummed when we forgot the lyrics), and laughed. It was an incredible night!!

The next morning with too little sleep we woke up to go ride quad bikes. We got a little tutorial on how to ride the bikes, and then were sent off with our guide Simo. We rode out onto the beach and along the water. Beautiful!!! Simo lead, Nancy was a dare-devil racing behind, and I took up the rear. We stopped at a beach next to a cave where a rotating cast of “hippies” lived. It was a beautiful spot, we wandered along the rocks for a while and took pictures. Nancy
is never one to shy away from the camera, and while she was hamming it up a huge wave came along and drenched us! Simo laughed. We’re pretty sure he knew that would happen.

After that Rachid (the owner of the quad place) sent us to a restaurant in town and treated us to an amazing lunch!! While we were walking into the restaurant we looked up – and oh look….Allan and Malika! We decided to give them a little space for once, and sat down to a separate table, but chatted for a bit after lunch.

Right after lunch we went back to the hotel to change, and off to meet up with our Fanta friend from the day before. He was taking us to a nearby town to go horseback riding on the beach. We got a bit of a late start, and finally got into a taxi around 6 or so. After a half an hour taxi ride we arrived in Sidi Kaouki. Our friend found someone to rent horses from, and we finally got going around 7. The thing is, I’ve never ridden a horse before. Nancy had, but I hadn’t. These horses were beautiful, and well cared for – but they seem much bigger from up top. They got me up, and we went off along the beach. It was amazing walking along, not a soul on the beach but us, and the sun was starting to set. It was surreal. We walked along for a while. I was fine. Then we walked a smidge faster. I was having a great time! Then just a little bit faster – I slipped sideways a little and almost fell off. Not having a great time!!! I panicked. I had visions of falling, breaking my arm, and going to the hospital in Morocco. That probably would have made for an interesting blog post, but would have put a damper on my kite-surfing aspirations for the next day. From that point I was adamant that this horse and I would only walk!!! Sorry to my 3 partners that were forced to walk as well, but there was absolutely NO WAY. We watched the sunset, and spent forever getting back because of me. Notice how it looks like my horse is practically standing still?

That night was Nancy’s last night, so even though we were exhausted from the long day we went out for a quick dinner, and then a drink. The next day we stopped by Allan and Malika’s Riad to say goodbye, Nancy left to catch the bus, and I moved to my new budget Riad.

After a power nap I went to the surf school for my kite-surfing lesson. We packed so much into the last week that I was beat! I walked in the shop like a zombie, and was told that I would have to hang out for a while as there wasn’t any wind. No problem! I grabbed a snack, and chatted with the guys at the surf shop for a couple of hours. Finally, the call was made – no kite surfing today. Oh thank god. I went home and took a nap!!

The next couple of days were pretty uneventful. The wind was only good one day so I managed one more kite surfing lesson (still not on the board!!!). I did get a couple of regular surfing lessons in though, and I found out I like it lot! You’re able to make more progress sooner, so you don’t feel like a complete failure. The school was excellent, and the other students and staff were really friendly. Great way to spend the next 3 days on my own! The one thing I will say – Moroccan’s have very long eyelashes, and beautiful dark eyes. It can be very distracting to try to pay attention to what an instructor (or anyone) is saying with eyes like that. I need a very old unattractive instructor for future kite-surfing or surfing lessons if I am ever going to make any progress.

From Essaouira I took the bus back to Marrakech and overnighted before my flight out of the country. Morocco has been awesome. My time has been jam packed, but I had only just scratched the surface. The culture and customs were completely different, and sometimes confusing. There were highs and lows (a few unmentioned). The country is modern and westernized in some ways, but very traditional in others. There are things that are considered “wrong” here – but you see people do them anyway. Drinking, dating, touching in public….all wrong, but not really. But really, but not really. But really. Half the men willing to start a conversation with you either are angling for money, or are hoping to sleep with you. Not everyone of course, but enough to keep you on your guard. On the flip side I’ve met some of most genuinely kind and funny people (like the ladies in Chefchaoen). To add to the confusion you can wear whatever you want, but often I covered up anyway to avoid extra attention (especially when traveling alone). You can run alone and be safe, but I found I was too intimidated to try. I’ve loved it here, but it’s not always easy. I face-timed with my cousin Cammy and she had a perfect observation – it makes you appreciate the freedom you have as a woman in America.