Morrocan Adventures – Part 2

Exploring Essaouira
In the 60’s, Essaouira was called Mogador after the Muslim saint named Sidi Mogdoul who was buried there. Essaouira is now a popular port city in the western region of Morocco on the Atlantic coast.

Sidi Mohammed Ben Abdellah al-Qatib was Sultan of Morocco in the 1700’s. The Sultan employed the French architect, Théodore Cornut to build Essaouira. The local Berbers, the ‘Haha,’ and Arab tribesmen, the ‘Chiadma’ provided the labor. They were overseen by the Sultan’s military contingents, the ‘abîd al-Bukhârî’, the Sultan’s black slave soldiers, who were permanently stationed there. The city’s neighborhoods of Ahl Agadir, Bani Antar, and Bouakhir, originated from the two groups of laborers and the men who guarded them.

Their goals and mission was building a city adapted to the demands of foreign merchants. The city grew, becoming the country’s most important commercial port. From the 18th century to the first half of the 19th century, Essaouira experienced its golden age. It offered goods from Morocco’s caravan trade to the world.

We headed to Essaouira from Marrakesh. There were a few reasons, we couldn’t bypass Essaouira.

First, it’s a beach town. It’s a big plus since I am an islander and Darwin grew up in California. We’re drawn to water by instinct. I love the ocean. It gets windy there and I heard it’s an ideal place to go wind or kitesurfing. Don’t forget your windbreakers!

We also read that lots of movies were filmed in this area. Season III of The Game of Thrones, my all time favorite series, was filmed in Essaouira. They were the scenes in the fictional city of Astapor, the home of the ‘Army of the Unsullied’. The scene with the rows of crucified slaves? They were used as props to cover the Portuguese cannons.
Oliver stones, ‘Alexander’, Ridley Scott’s ‘Kingdom of Heaven’ were also filmed here. These walls were even used to depict ancient Jerusalem. Some of the scenes from the John Wick series, featuring Keanu Reaves, was shot here too. Do you recognize the fish souk and the ramparts of Essaouira?
As movie buffs, it’s a big deal to us to visit the local settings and behind the scenes backdrops of our favorite films.

Third, Jimi Hendrix hung out on the coastline of Essaouira. We encountered many true and fictitious stories circulating about Jimi Hendrix in Morocco. For instance, local Essaouirans claim that the half buried fort ‘Bordj El Berod’ inspired Hendrix to write ‘Castles made of Sand’. But the track was released two years before he arrived in Morocco. One thing is undeniable, Essaouira loves Jimi Hendrix and this legendary rock icon, Jimi loved Essaouira!

According to rock historians, Hendrix flew to Casablanca from Paris. Upon arrival, accompanied by Noel Redding and Mitch Mitchell, he hired a limousine to drive to Essaouira. They stayed for 11 days near the Medina and chilled. Could he have visited earlier, who knows? He lived in London and it was a popular vacation destination back then and to this day, especially among Parisians and the Spaniards.

Hendrix left his ‘footprints in the sand’ in Essaouira. They continue to commemorate him with T-shirts, mugs, and Merch items. It’s not hard to find people to recount their Hendrix stories. In the 60’s, Essaouira evolved to be a Hippie’s mecca. Essaouira has a historic guest list of the who’s who of the Rock & Roll royalty among them; the Rolling Stones, the Beatles, Frank Zappa, Jim Morrison, Jefferson Airplane, CSN&Y, and Cat Stevens all traveled to Essaouira in the 60’s and 70’s. Essaouira’s ‘hippie’ popularity was partially owing to it, being a beach community with hashish as an available commodity. Many flew in to relax after concerts, spending time soaking up the sun from its famed beaches. Some took the Hippie trail, trekking down from Spain thru Morocco.
Unfortunately, we did not get a chance to visit this famous Jimi Hendrix cafe. I read somewhere that it’s disappointing. But who’s to tell? Next time for sure!

Last but not least, a very good reason to come is to meet up with a friend. Jacky Donovan, who happened to be in Morocco, while we were there. Lucky us! She’s a best selling author and a globe trotter, who’s been traipsing around the world for a couple of years now. Does she ever have some stories to tell! You’ll have to buy her books.

We decided to meet up in Essaouira. It was one of her favorite cities and now ours. A year prior, when travel restrictions were airtight, we’d been talking about meeting up. I couldn’t believe that our plans to meet up would finally materialize a year later!
What better reason? No place is too far to meet a friend and we were lucky enough to have her as a guide to show. us around. This was her familiar playground.
Thank you, Jackie, for your precious time!
Essaouira, here we come!

Our first agenda was charting our way to Essaouira from Marrakesh. Essaouira was 2-3 hours from Marrakesh depending on your mode of transportation. People do day trips from Marrakesh to Essaouira. We opted to stay for 3 days. We booked a private transfer and we lucked out again. There was a private van available that needed two more passengers, which included a tour. We were able to get the transfer from Marrakesh to Essaouira for a very reasonable fare. The tour was an added bonus. We rode with two American ladies who were traveling from Paris to Morocco. We all got along since we’re all orginated from California, although we currently live in different parts of the world now. We had similar perspectives and we steered clear from sketchy topics so we could enjoy the ride.

The tour took us through olive plantations and deserts. The highlight of the trip were the goats chewing Argan nuts in the trees!
Does money grown on trees? Not sure, but maybe goats do!
I am aware it’s a tourist trap. I’d watched YouTube videos during my research about Morocco. But it was a treat seeing these fancy goats in person. It’s definitely a memorable experience for us.

We also passed by camels for our blog shots; here’s to camel love!
I’d walk a mile for my Camel!
When we finally arrived in Essaouira, we discovered that they allowed no cars in the Riad. Our driver, who was familiar with the protocol, rang the hotel and their porter met us outside the Riad. He loaded our luggage on an old bread cart and pulled our bags from the street through the Medina to our Riad.
We booked at the Hotel Villa De L’O. It was a 12-room, 18th century Riad located a few meters from the beach. We were sheltered by the old city, in the Medina walls and we loved it!

The hotel was reminiscent of all those old movie sets. The furnishings were antique decadence! It reflected its history. Stone, sculpted wood and textured walls mirrored the fusion of oriental and colonial traditions. We felt like we’d walked into a different time. The reception personnel spoke very good English. They were so accommodating. Everyone, even the staff with limited English, were hospitable.
Tourism was scarce at the time, but the world was opening to visitors. Here, there were minimal restrictions. Out of the blue, they upgraded our room without additional costs. We were beginning to love Essaouira more and more. Even the writing desk in our room was special. I imagined Hemingway or Anias Nin writing at that desk. It was every authors’ dream especially because the room was filled with antique books, first edition books no less, and a great fancy writing desk.
The highlight of the room was the antique copper bathtub. It was at the center of the doorless bathroom with sheer curtains for privacy. Awesome! You might think us suckers for cheap thrills, easily impressed. But bathtubs have been a singular luxury for us since our move to the Philippines. They aren’t so common here.
The next day, we met up with Jacky. I was grateful that she showed us the town. Without her the trip wouldn’t have been half the fun. We loved Essaouira, and the vendors weren’t as pushy as in Casablanca or Marrakesh. What do you expect? It’s a beach city, the people were naturally more laid back since this place was known for its art, music, and ethnic crafts. My husband Darwin is an artist, so he was in his element. We strolled the streets and visited art galleries and craft importers. Essaouira has an interesting art scene.
In its entirety, we also loved Morocco for its healthy cuisine. Happily, there was a variety of reasonable, yummy vegetarian places to eat in Essaouira. There were plenty of hip veggie places known to the local crowd. There were tons of expats from all over in this windy city.
The food was delicious, but alcohol was pretty absent from most menus. The places offering it, did so at a premium. After our walking tour, Jacky showed us a place where I could enjoy a long awaited margarita. Darwin got a cold beer and Jacky, her glass of red wine. We chilled for a couple of hours to celebrate Essaouira, the amazing sunset and our friendship!
The next day, we wanted to hang out in a coffee shop and catch up on our writing. We were planning on heading to Chefchaouen, the Blue City.
More of Chefchaouen in the next blog! Stay tuned and watch this space.
Photo credits:
I have taken most of the photos myself, some were shared to me by my husband Darwin. See below image sources of pictures taken off the web.
Freedom Park Flood –Yes The Best Dumaguete | Dumaguete City | Facebook
Map of Essaouira – Essaouira map by Scott Jessop for the December 2014 issue of The Sunday Times Travel Magazine
Jimi Hendrix cafe – Why is Essaouira in Morocco so obsessed with Jimi Hendrix? (thenationalnews.com)
Hotel Villa De L’O pictures were taken of their website.
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