The windy city

The seething mass of humanity that is Casablanca, is now behind us, as we continue the drive south  towards Agadir. It was impossible not to revisit Essaouria, with the brilliant, whiteness of the lime- washed walls and the sight of women enveloped in voluminous "baiks".

On the side of the town facing the sea, huge ramparts gave protection from naval attack and both the Spanish and Portuguese cannons remain in the crenellations.

By the way, Windy City is not Chicago, but here at  Essaouira where the Trade Winds prevail most of the year along this stretch of the Atlantic coast. It is an amazing fishing port, holiday resort and surfers' paradise, with a forceful wind that cuts through the palms, lifts the sand and disables the seagulls in flight. But the sun filled squares and narrow shopping streets of the medina, make it a pleasure to revisit.
Unfortunately the campsite is half the size it was, as local developers have bought the land and the construction of holiday apartments is well under way. Nevertheless it is our home for a couple of nights.
As we sauntered into town, along an incomplete promenade, typically Moroccan, the camels on the beach out numbered the people kite and wind surfing!!
At the port, the air was filled with gulls because the fishermen had returned with the morning's catch and were gutting and cleaning the fish. Entrails were flung into a box and the local cats fought over the scraps.

We sat and had coffee and watched the world pass by,which included a troupe of young acrobats and three elderly troubadours playing strangely shaped instruments, from which they produced wonderful, ethnic music
Here are a few innovative ways that the local folk use to make life easier. The pavement on a street corner, unlike a shop, costs no rent money and the crabs are fresh from the fishing boat in the harbour across the road.

Fresh bread is delivered to the small shops by a guy riding a put-put bike, with which he easily negotiates the narrow, crowded streets. And who needs a Tesco trolley when an old plastic fish crate can be pulled along using a length of rope found on the quayside!