Sand Castles and River Homes

Ismael, Anna and I had made plans to meet up with Anas and Haitem over coffee the following morning.  Coffee, was a leisurely experience, as most of our mornings thus far have been, with different friends popping in and out to join us for a coffee.

I think my favorite thing that happened during the meal was when this large vehicle pulled up near the restaurant with a huge, blazing skull and the words “I’m Muslim, Don’t Panic, Coexist.”  The main group boiled down to Anna and me, Anas and Haitem, and Ismael.  Our plan for the day was to go to see the “Castle in the Sand.”

Apparently, this is an area just to the south of Essaouira, which hosted a rather large hippie community during the sixties and seventies.  Some famous celebrities, such as Cat Stevens and Jimi Hendrix, even spent some time in this beautiful area.  Local legend has it that Jimi Hendrix wrote “Castles in the Sand” after his time here.  Actually, everyone who told me about this immediately hastened to tell me that he had written the song two years before coming to Essaouira, so I suspect the legend itself is the real legend, rather than the story.

The truth remains, however, that Hendrix did spend time here, and that the lyrics to the song certainly fit the area.  There is a beautiful castle to the south of Essaouira.  From the ruins of the castle, you can see the city itself.  Slowly, the castle is crumbling back into the sea and the desert.  Definitely, a must-see.

So the five of us got a taxi and headed down to check it out.  We weren’t disappointed.  This turned out to be probably the best day I’d spent in Essaouira thus far.  On our way out of town, we’d gathered some food for a picnic from the market.

After walking to the castle from the taxi drop-off point, we played around the castle ruins for quite a while.  The views were incredible and the weather was gorgeous.   Most of the time, we were the only people there.

After a while, we sat on some ruins, enjoyed some fresh, delicious, local food and listened to some – you guessed it – Jimi Hendrix!  

 

 

 

 

After a restful snack, we decided to walk along the river back into Essaouira.  Ismael had been telling us he had a friend who lived along the river who he was hoping to visit.  We didn’t really understand what he meant, and when he headed off to check on his friend, we thought he was going to spend the rest of the day with them.  We settled down by the river, intending to nap and hang out for a while. 

 

 

However, Ismael returned shortly and had us follow him to a wooded area by the river where there was a trail leading into tent and home compound area.  There were dogs and cats, even a goat!

At the home was a man named Simohammed and his wife Tata Mouna, and her grown son.  They also had a couple of people visiting them.  They were busy making a tangine which they had invited us to join them for.   We had a delightful afternoon with this welcoming family.  The tangine was delicious, and Simohammed gave us some incredible tea called fleoo.  It was like the typical Moroccan mint tea but had some extra spices in it that made the flavour quite different and tasty.  I recognized it, somehow, but couldn’t identify it.

While we were there, we met their goat (who Tata Mouna dressed up, amid jokes that the goat was looking for a mate), and Simohammed showed us this incredible door he had gotten.  Everyone discussed it quite intensely.  The door was inlaid and engraved wood.  It was absolutely beautiful.

When we finally left, we could hear the concerts beginning at the beach stage.  We headed up to the beach, where the river met the sea and walked up towards Essaouira while the sun set beside us.  It was spectacular.  I also got one photo with camel, horse, human, vehicle, and I think, dog tracks in the sand.  And we had a live concert soundtrack as we approached Essaouira from the beach stage side of town.  Pretty amazing.

That night was the closing night of the festival.  The concerts were great.  We had a wonderful time.  We saw a performance by Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni Ba and Maalem Hamid El Kasri at the main stage.  The whole audience was into the performance, joining in the songs.  It was really neat to see.

Late that night, Anna and I accompanied the guys to the bus station so they could return to Casablanca.  Anas and Haitem had classes in the morning, and Ismael had to get back to work.  What an amazing festival!  Anna and I certainly aren’t ready to leave this magical place.