One of the day trips we went on was the to the beautiful town of Essaouira. We traveled there in an old, but functional van with another couple. It took about 3.5 hours to get there and we drove on one road and one bumpy road only.
On the way there we stopped at an almond oil factory. It was amazing to see how this stuff is made. Ladies collect almonds from the tree and load them into giant sacs. Next they sit in a line where one lady cracks the shell with a rock then passes it to the lady beside her. She then places handfuls of nuts into a grinder and turns it until it liquefied . Then another lady would take the paste and forms it into balls and places them in another sac. Quite the process! I managed to snap some pictures and gave them a nice little tip for posing for me :-) It's too bad the sun was in way! Oh well!
After 30 minutes or so, back in the van we went. It was a beautiful drive as we saw the diverse landscape Morocco has to offer. We started in the city of Marrakech, drove through the lush green land with mountains on either side, through dry areas, and finally through some of the poorest towns/villages I think I have ever seen. We drove through this one particular village and our driver said it was market day. Off to the side was a muddy trail with hundreds of people. It was too hard to see what was actually for sale, but one thing that stood out was the parking lot. It was a dirty plot of land with hundreds of donkey with their cart tied down. What a site! The trip gave me time to really think and remind me of how unbelievably lucky we are and that we tend to take a lot in life for granted. It was a definite eye opener!
Once we arrived in Essaouira we had four hours to walk around. We saw the casbah (the wall around the Medina) and entered the Medina and started to walk around. The things for sale we not as good as in Marrakech, but that is ok because I preferred the architecture and "feel" here instead. After we roamed the streets we went to the marina area to take in the sites there.
Here are some from the day:
Steamed & seasoned chickpeas! YUMMY!
Au natural
4 comments:
You have some amazing pictures here Sara. What an experience
Wow look at all those colours! I did pick out some favs at the beginning, but then I decided that I LOVE them all, especially the spice shots!!
Look at all those baskets, OMG, imagine the organizing I could do with all of those LOLOL
Oh how I miss the chickpeas and the mint tea...wonderful pictures Sara, the colours are amazing. I need to take you with me on all my world travels. Mom
wow Sara - these are gorgeous!
Post a Comment