essouiera

we’ve spent yesterday evening and today in essouiera, a small coastal city in the west of morocco. let me tell ya, IT’S SO NICE!! this town is great. it’ really chill and laid back, the people are wayyy more friendly and less pushy, the beach is great, the whole town is cute since it’s painted white w/ blue trim, and it just overall is so great. after the hustle and bustle of marrakech, fez, etc etc, it’ so nice to just relax. the last day and a half, we’ve had no hurrying, no hassles, no anything but a nice time. there’s definitely something to be said for cities on the coast…. they always just have such a nice feel, and this one is particularly interesting because it’s chill, but has the moroccan flare thrown in… it’s an interesting combination.

today we walked down the beach and went to this place that gave kite-surfing lessons (where you are strapped to a surf board, but propelled by a huge kite that you hold), but it turned out that the lessons are super expensive… 300$! but, they offer intro windsurfing lessons for a lot cheaper, so i think i might give that a shot tomorrow! the rest of the dqy we just wandered around town and took it all in. there is a port in town, and that area is pretty crazy w/ all sorts of people rushing about and selling tons of different fishes straight off the boat. we ate at a place where you choose your own fish and they grill it for you. the fish was pretty good, but the prawns we got were too difficult to deal w/.

when it came time for the sun to go down, caryn noticed this perfect terrace on top of a four story hotel to watch the sunset. we kicked it up there, sipping our mint tea, and enjoying the view. ahhhh, life is nice!

btw, i dont know if i’ve mentioned this yet, but morocco is *full* of cats. they’re everywhere. tons qnd tons of them. i guess cats are considered holy in the koran, so moroccans dont harm them and they just reproduce like crazy. it’s pretty cool cause everywhere you turn there are tiny ity bitty kittens running about!

*v