We spent the morning relaxing under the shade of the gum trees. They are the only good things going for the campsite, I did however have a warm shower, but the ladies showers were cold. It was also time to do some washing; hand washing as we have not seen a washing machine that works in any of the places we have stayed so far, and there was a good breeze. After lunch and with the washing all hung up we walked into town. 

The fishing boats were in when we wandered down to the port. It was a chaotic scene with activity in every direction, people selling fish, boats being washed, large seabirds enjoying the scraps, crates of fish being moved and buyers haggling for a good price. The sights, sounds and smells have to be experienced to understand.

The ramparts of the port area were used in the filming of Game of Thrones and after parting with 10 dirhams each (about $1.45 Australian or 1 euro) we set off to explore them. Entry fees to most places is usually 10 dirhams so very cheap to get into most sites. The scene in the series is where Daenerys meets her unsullied for the first time.

The rest of the afternoon was spent exploring the medina area where we bought a few small souvenirs and some cakes , some delicacies just have to be experienced and the local cakes are one of these. 

Eating out in Morocco is very cheap and a normal meal including drinks (non alcoholic) is under $10. It always comes with plenty of bread. A more fancy meal with several courses will cost around $20. Take away with drinks is usually less than $5. Tonight we opted for the fancy meal in a very traditional Moroccan restaurant. It was excellent and afterwards we caught a taxi back to the campsite for a quiet evening, having our cake with coffee. We enjoyed our stay at Essaouira, the town is very laid back and people are friendly and don’t hassle you as you walk through the medina. 

Our destination next (Friday 22nd) was Marrakech but not to the heart of the city as that would come later but to a campsite that has been described as the best campsite in Morocco. After a few dodgy campsites we thought it might be a change to see what a good one looks like. We also needed a rest day to just relax and this site has a swimming pool, a good thing when the temperatures have been in the mid thirties. We were not disappointed as the campsite was excellent and the pool clean. I give it a rating of 9/10 just because it is located next to a busy road apart from that it is well maintained with beautiful gardens, large pitches and hot showers. The drive to the campsite from Essaouira was on a good road but we did stop to see the goats in the Argan trees. ……a tourist trap when they quickly decent on you for a donation to photograph  the goats. Although Argan is processed  mostly by modern machinery the tradition of goats eating the fruit and pooping out the seeds is a practice that is mainly for tourists.

The fridge saga continues!!

I asked the man at the campsite who spoke reasonable english if he knew of anyone who could have a look at our fridge. He made a phone call and said that someone would come later in the afternoon, not surprisingly no one came. I asked again and was told that he would come in the morning at about 11.00, needless to say when we left the campsite at 1.00 the fridgeman had still not arrived. We are of the opinion that with the fridge being over 20 years old it might be better getting a new one. This won’t happen in Morocco and we will have to put up with it until we get back to Spain. We have also discovered that larger supermarkets sell bags of ice, we have been buying these when we can so at least we can keep’s a few things fresh and have cold drinks.