Like Agadir, Essa is this great beach town on the Atlantic that really captures the culture clash in Morocco. Inside the medina, there's little cafes, shops and dangerous (and smelly) street construction.... but then the beaches are lined with swanky restaurants and all-inclusive resorts. On the beach, you can ride camels (which we did!)... or ATVs. It's the epitome of new meets old.
This view was all it took to fall in love with Essa. So beautiful.
The bright blue water, the white stone buildings. I didn't notice until now how different Essa looks from the rest of sand-colored Morocco.
This was our first lunch in Essa (and probably the only time we didn't eat mismins or crepes... oops). It was so good! Just a bunch of vegetables and a soup (maybe potato? or cauliflower?). I could maybe go vegetarian if all meals were like this.
I absolutely adored the bathroom in our hotel in Essa. It was this gorgeous tile from floor to ceiling, with a bronze-framed mirror and sink and this gorgeous dark-wood door. It also had a western toilet (!), toilet paper (!) and probably the most efficient shower we experienced in Morocco. It was one of those handheld shower heads and you just stood in there and took a shower. Then, swept the water down a drain with a squeegee. It worked great! But you had to be careful not to spray water all over your clothes, towel or the precious toilet paper.
Coffee in Morocco is served in one of these little glasses, and always with milk. Never black. And people load it up with sugar. Seriously. I saw someone fill half this cup up with sugar cubes.
This fishing area made for great photos... not so great smells. And watch out for seagull droppings!
One of the highlights of my trip! Our camel rides on the beach! This was an amazing experience and SO worth the 75D's we had to pay. Getting on/off the camel was scary, but the half hour ride on the beach was worth it.
Sangria! We were so psyched to see this on the menu for our last, and probably least authentic, meal in Morocco. We stopped in this place called 'Beach & Friends' for pizza, salads, club sandwiches and of course, this sangria. It was right on the beach, and some of the menu was in English. How could we resist?!
That's all for Morocco. I will leave with this gorgeous sunset from the ramparts in Essa. Enjoy!
Click here for links to all my Rome and Morocco travels!
1 comment:
Man, I am jealous of your trip, especially the camel rides!!
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