Road Trip…..
Essaouira has been sparking my interest for years, but for one reason or another was always bumped down the travel list. After discovering it was a 2.5 hour drive from Marrakech, we decided to plan a day trip over there to see what it had to offer.
There are group trips you can join from Marrakech for less than £20 per person, but given the long journey and the fact that we were travelling with the kids, we decided to hire a private taxi. This gave us more control over what we did and when. The whole trip worked out to be about £100 ($125), which I think for 4 of us is really reasonable given the fuel costs and the fact we had the driver for the whole day (who also spoke great English and did a great job of being our tour guide).
Our driver really persevered in teaching me the correct pronunciation of Essaouira on the 2.5 hour trip down there (languages has never been my strongest point). Phonetically it’s pronounced ‘Ess-a-wee-ra‘.
Argan Oil & Tree Climbing Goats
**Please note that argon oil is extracted from a tree nut, so if you have tree nut allergies, I would recommend you avoid this trip**
Myself and my daughter use argan oil a lot and as it’s so expensive to buy back home, I knew I wanted to stop off at the factory on the way to Essaouira to stock up.
Goats in Trees….
Did you know that traditionally argan oil is actually made from goat-digested argan nut (that is, the nuts that the goats eat and poop out). The goats climb the thorny and gnarled argan trees to get to the fruit, which looks like a shrivelled, yellow apple. They love it so much that they’ll scamper 30-feet up off the ground just to munch on some of the bitter, fleshy pulp. These animals eat the fruit whole, including the inner nut, which their bodies can’t digest. The goats either spit out or poop out the nuts, which are then collected by oil harvesters, dried out, and cracked open. This method is preferred as extracting the pulp isn’t an easy task.
More recently, businesses producing argan oil have been opting for other methods of fruit pulp removal. This is not to make it more appealing to the buyer but actually because the goats are contributing to the decline of the argon forests.
Agadir Argan Oil Factory
The production of oil is a sacred art in Morocco that only women practice and given the increased demand for the oil over recent years, this has meant more opportunities for women locally. It takes up to three days of grinding the argon down to get just one litre of argan oil, making it one of the most precious and expensive oils in the world.
The tour around the factory was really insightful. We spoke to the women making the oil who described each step in the process with such pride. What I didn’t realise was just how versatile the oil is. It can be used in food (oils & dips), medicinal purposes (offering health benefits such as immune system support, cholesterol control, potential cancer-fighting properties, anti-aging effects, and wound healing) as well as for hair and skin care.
My son has allergies to some tree nuts, but is ok with argan. They gave him a sample pot of argon oil based cream to use on his eczema. I have to say that it didn’t make a lot of difference, but equally he didn’t consistently use it to really test it properly, so the jury is still open on this one.
I bought a litre bottle of pure argon oil for about £140 ($180). For me, the cost is justified as it’s a lot more effective and cheaper than the diluted argon oil back home. I discovered that the factory also ship overseas, so will back in touch when I run out in a year or two, as there really is no comparison.
Essaouira Souks
On reaching Essaouira, we headed to the main square (Place Moulay Hassan), located between the Medina and the port and offers a stunning view of the Atlantic coastline. This is the bustling heart of the city, filled with souks, musicians, street entertainers and artists. The square has plenty of restaurants and cafe’s and apparently a sunset to die for, which we unfortunately had to miss as we needed to leave for Marrakech late afternoon.
While the souks were in scale compared to Marrakech, they had a more relaxed, laid-back vibe which was appreciated. You could feel Essaouira’s rich history just by strolling through the old city streets, with labyrinthinepathways and authentic buildings that added to the charm of the area.
We found the locals to be very welcoming, respectful and friendly and felt safe walking around, more so than the old Medina in Marrakech where pick pockets are known to be more of an issue.
The Beach…..
Just a short walk down from the main square is a 2km stretch of golden sandy beach, which runs alongside a huge promenade. I didn’t fully appreciate just how windy it was until I sat down. We were definitely expecting a calmer, more relaxing experience, so evidently this was one area I hadn’t researched so well. The sea is safe to swim in but very cold (not helped by the wind) and sunbeds were reasonably priced given we were going to be there for a while (25DH/£5 each).
There are other beaches that are a short drive away in Essaouira, that are quieter and more picturesque. However given our fleeting visit we decided to keep it local. All of these beaches are windy, which although it’s not the greatest for sunbathing, it does make it perfect for surfing, kite surfing or wind surfing.
As we were relatively unfamiliar with the area, coupled with the fact we were only there for the day, we decided to bring food with us from our villa back in Marrakech. I did find a couple of restaurants that said they would be able to cater for allergies and if we were staying for longer, we would have tried them out. There were some local shops on the promenade where we were able to get dairy free ice lollies, which were nice in the heat of the day.
Horse Riding on the Beach
OK so the big finale. I had arranged for my daughter and I to go horse riding along the beach. Both or us can ride, but we had both had bad falls in the last year so our experience had been massively knocked. I spoke to the owner of Cheval Essaouira before the trip and explained our situation and she assured me that the horses were safe and that we wouldn’t have any problems. I asked our driver to take us there as it was a 20 minute drive away.
Further down the beach we noticed loads of camels so naturally thought we were going to the same place. It seemed not as we continued to drive until we reached a remote neighbourhood. A couple of guys were waiting on a motorbike, who I was told we should follow (on foot) to the stables. It did feel a little unsafe, to the extent that even my driver refused to let us get out of the taxi, so he drove us as far as the ‘road’ would allow and walked with us for the rest.
HOWEVER, my initial instinct could not have been more wrong. As soon as we arrived at the stables we received a warm welcome. The horses were stunning Arabic stallions and very well cared for. I had a bit of an internal mental breakdown at the thought of getting on stallions, given our knocked confidence, but did my best to internalise this in front of my daughter. My horse was called ‘Mi Amor’, translated ‘My Love’ and he has to be the most well behaved, well trained horse I have been on in my 35 years of horse riding. Our private trek took us down to the beach where we both galloped along the shoreline. Confidence back and fear gone! Our guide was fabulous, funny and just the right level of putting me in my place when my fear was holding me back. I would come back here in a heartbeat, an unforgettable experience and would highly recommend!
To Conclude……
My thoughts on Essaouira are mixed. I’m glad we ticked it off the bucket list, but I have to say it isn’t what I expected. The Agadir Argon Oil Tourand Cheval Essaouira riding on the beach were definitely the highlights of the trip. The beach in Essaouira itself disappointed due to being very windy and is not somewhere you can easily relax. Given all of this, I think a couple of days is a good amount of time to cover off everything you might want to do. I feel any longer would warrant finding a nice place to stay that offers a pool and somewhere to relax.
Morocco still has a way to go when it comes to understanding and catering for allergies. If you do plan to stay here, it’s really important you contact the hotels and restaurants ahead of your visit to ensure they can properly cater for your allergies, much like Marrakech. Check out my blog on Navigating Marrakech with Food Allergies and Travel Tips for further information.