Dh12. Local buses operate from just north of Pl Driss ben Nacer.
Around Safi
The wonderfully wild coastline north of Safi, with its dramatic cliffs sheltering gorgeous sandy
coves, makes a great drive. The first stop is the headland of Sidi Bouzid , where you’ll get a
great view back over town. It’s a good spot for lunch at the popular fish restaurant Le Refuge (
0524 46 43 54; Rte Sidi Bouzid; mains Dh100; Tue-Sun) .
Driving further on, you’ll hit some undeveloped beaches that are up-and-coming surf spots
and home to one of the longest tubular right-handers in the world. Professionals such as Gary
Elkerton, Tom Carroll and Jeff Hackman come here to train and in 2006 the Billabong Challenge
was held here. At 12km from Safi, sheltered Lal-la Fatna is one of the nicest spots on this
stretch. Take a left by the Lalla Fatna cafe down a series of hairpin bends to the sands beneath
the cliffs. Further on you’ll reach the headland and lighthouse at Cap Beddouza (23km), where
there’s a wide, sandy beach.
In summer (May to September) bus 15 runs along this route from Rue Driss ben Nacer in
Safi.
ESSAOUIRA
POP 70,000
Essaouira (pronounced ‘essa-weera’, or ‘es-Sweera’ in Arabic) is at once familiar and exotic
with its fortified walls, fishing harbour and seagulls soaring and screaming over the town. At
first it seems as though this could be a town in Brittany, France – not such a strange thought
given that Essaouira was designed by the same Frenchman who designed Brittany’s most
famous port town, Saint-Malo. And yet once you enter the walls, it is also infinitely Moroccan:
narrow alleyways, the wind that reputedly drives people crazy, the smells of fish guts and damp
sea air mixed with the aroma of spices and thuya wood, women in white haiks (veils), the
midday shadow reflection of the palm trees on the red city walls, and the sound of drums and
Gnawa singing that reverberates from shops and houses.
It is the wind – the beautifully named alizee , or taros in Berber, that, despite the crowds,
ensures Essaouira retains its character. It blows too hard to attract sun, sand and sea tourists:
for much of the year, you can’t sit on the beach at all as the sand blows horizontally in your
face. No surprise then that Essaouira has been dubbed ‘Wind City of Africa’ and attracts so
many windsurfers. Sun-seekers head further south to the temperate clime of Agadir. The charm
of the town is that it hasn’t been entirely taken over by tourism. The fishing harbour is just as
busy as it always was, the woodworkers are still amazing at their craft and the medina is just
as important for locals as it is popular with tourists.
Essaouira lies on the crossroads between two tribes: the Arab Chiadma to the north and the
Haha Berbers in the south. Add to that the Gnawa, who came originally from further south in
Africa, and the Europeans and you get a rich cultural mix. The light and beauty have forever
attracted artists to Essaouira, and the town has a flourishing art scene. The sculptor Boujemaa
Lakhdar started the local museum in the 1950s and, in the process, inspired a generation of
artists. Since then, the autodidactic naïf painters, who paint their dreams in a colourful palette,
have earned international renown, mainly thanks to the efforts of the Galerie Frederic
Damgaard.