Essaouira

Heading north out of Imsouane, we again took the tiniest of roads on the map and were rewarded with spectacular coastal scenery. The strong wind continued to blow and was making us wonder if driving on the coast was a good idea.

However we had been sold Essaouira by several people who had raved about it. Two of the big vans had headed straight there after leaving Marrakech and Ray said it was his favourite place in Morocco. So of course we could not by-pass it.

We found the campsite and our first reaction was to wonder why two couples in our group had been so keen to get there. It was really a bit of a dump, with its only plus being its proximity to the town. And to think they had missed out on the best campsite on the trip at the Cascades d'Ouzoud!

We caught a local taxi to the town sharing it with others and so getting to our destination in a very roundabout way. And in general we have to say it was a very pleasant place - and quite a good place for a few days relaxing.

We found a restaurant overlooking the water and the Portuguese stone gates guarding the entrance and had a more than acceptable meal on the terrace. We checked out the port and wandered the market. The tourist part was hugely colourful with all the expected wares on sale. Russ found a barber and we managed to get across what we wanted - it turned out rather short, but very neat! Across a few alleys was the local market which as always is more interesting, but after that there wasn't much else to see or do.

Rather than take a taxi back we decided to walk back to the campsite. The broad, hard beach was fine for walking and, with the wind still blowing, the kite surfers were out in force. But on the soft sand, the wind played havoc. It was like being in the Sahara again albeit with slightly smaller dunes.

Time for a hot shower to get all the sand out of our hair. Russ had a great hot one…I had a bloody cold one.