Vacation 2011 Day 17 to Essouira

We left Marrakesh in the early afternoon and headed 200k almost directly west until we hit the Atlantic and Essouira. It was my first time here and I was very impressed. Instead of the red of marrakesh, here everything was white.

Like in Marrakesh, fresh squeezed orange juice was abundant and cheap.

Essouira is one of the best anchorages on the Moroccan Atlantic coast.... Phoenician, Carthaginians and Romans all had settlements here in ancient times. The harbor is filled with funky wooden fishing boats of all sizes.

Essouira is now a very popular tourist resort so the narrow, traffic-free alleys were filled with art and craft shops.

The huge stone wall of the Portugese fort still surrounds the old town

The old town has a main plaza but mostly consists of a maze of narrow alleys and lanes...