Our last stop in Morocco is a coastal city called Essaouira. It is a cute city on the Atlantic known for its wind and kitesurfing. We had a walking tour this morning but have also been able to walk around a lot on our own. I especially like walking along the beachfront. They have a nice futsal court and basketball courts next to the beach. They also have camels on their beach which is isn’t something I see at home.

Our guide was great and helped explain a lot of the city to us. Essaouira means “the beautifully designed” city which has to do with how well their streets in the old city are organized. It is a pretty easy city to navigate although there are still a lot of really small streets. I really have enjoyed the blue in this city. The reason for all the blue started with the fisherman wanting to paint their boats blue to match the color of the water. They thought that would make it easier to catch fish. The paint was then also used for houses and doors by the fisherman but ended up catching on with everyone. Even the taxis are all painted a pretty blue. And I’m very amazed how they get the boats in and out but it does take some organizing with your other fisherman’s. And the blue boats are used to catch the large fish, and the larger fishing vessels are used to catch the small fish because they can use nets to catch a lot at a time.

We have a long travel day tomorrow to the Azores. We have a 3 hour driver back to Marrakech, then fly to Lisbon where we have a long layover before flying on to Sao Miguel. Morocco was beautiful and I’m sad this part is coming to an end. The people have been so welcoming and the food here is amazing. This really has been the best food I have ever had. I’m now looking forward to the Azores.