Essaouira - Uncomfortably Full

Freedom! Sweet baby Jane it's freedom! Today, I woke up at a leisurely pace, didn't have to repack my bag or eat a hard-boiled egg for breakfast and wasn't forced back into the bleak prisoner transport that our bus has become.

First item on the agenda? Seek and eat some crepes. As a former French protectorate, Morocco has continued to present fine French cuisine and street-side treats. I can't believe I hadn't devoured a dozen crepes by now. I freakin' love crepes! Sitting down at a creperie, it was coffee and gluttony to start the day.

Continuing the eating tour of eating, we headed off to the pier to check out the incoming ships and their cargo. A local sailor showed us what lazy local life at its finest could be... Oh to be a cat in a fish market.

I have named him Steven. Steven Seagull because he seemed like a shady a-hole.

There were a multitude of stalls selling shellfish fresh from the sea. Angela sidled up to a couple stalls for some delicious looking oysters and urchins.

Not only was it a bit too early for me to switch from sweets to seafood, but I also started bumming out when I spotted one of my favourite creatures being hauled around on a cart. It was a beautiful little thresher shark. If you know me at all, you know I love sharks and am passionate about the need for sharks to be protected. It's a well-established fact that shark populations are declining at alarming rates due to finning and unsustainable fishing practices. It's also a well-established fact that shark meat has an extremely high mercury content and is not advised for human consumption.

Thresher sharks are magnificent animals. They have the longest fin (relative to body size) of all sharks - their distinctive tail fin can be as long as their whole body! They use this long thresher-shaped tail to stun their prey. Threshers are among the only sharks able to fully breach out of the water in pursuit of their fast-moving food (commonly tuna, bluefish and mackerel). I've always wanted to see one out in the open ocean. But in the fish market, I saw one dead on a table.

As soon as the thresher caught my eye and I went to snap a quick photo, it was covered and I received uncomfortable stares from the fishermen. Although the Thresher Shark is listed as vulnerable with populations declining by the IUCN, it is not illegal to fish them (except for their fins alone).

Despite the dead shark putting a damper on the day, it was time to head to the hammam for our spa experience. I have a lot to say about the hammam, so I'll cover it next time in my Essaouira - Uncomfortably Naked post.

After getting soaked, scrubbed, rubbed down and greased up at the hammam, we went we walked along the walls of the old fort town, meandering from shop to shop and street to street.

Strolling down the beach in pursuit of lunch, we stopped in the sunshine for a HUGE fish fry in a restaurant right on the sand. It was a massive amount of seafood and I destroyed that plate. Who knew fresh sardines were so delicious?

Our goal was to check out the kite surfers at the end of the crescent shaped beach. So onward we walked, or maybe waddled is more accurate as I was uncomfortably full. It seemed like a prime day for kite surfing as it was hella windy. A couple of new kiters were getting dragged across the sand as they were learning to furl and control their kites. Out in the water, it was kite city! I easily counted 24 surfers in the waves.

With the cool wind and sand picking up, we headed back into the cover of the fort town to shop til we dropped in the marketplaces. There was a measurement crisis that required internet to download a photo of a lamp (long story in the saga of Ang buying all the things), so we went to a lovely rooftop cafe for a pot of tea and a spot of wifi. Let the eating tour of eating continue with local sweets! Pomegranate and fig pastries, amlou and almond chocolates, and a rosewater and sesame crunch.

Lamp-measuring crisis resolved somewhat satisfactorily, the sun was setting on our free day in Essaouira.

What to do with your last hours in a seaside town? Eat more seafood of course! We went to the grills by the pier for another giant fresh fish feast. Uncomfortably full yet again, but revelling in the gluttony of it all, it was time to go back and lie down if for nothing more than the chance to digest.

I REGRET NOTHING! My stomach on the other hand...