Morocco: Essaouria & Agafay Desert
I first visited Morocco during my study abroad semester in Milan.
Morocco was a destination I have always been so intrigued by. My professors had told me to “be careful” and be prepared for a completely different culture than anything I had experienced before (almost as if that was a bad thing…?). Well, the promise of experiencing something completely new to me was all I needed to book a ticket.
Marrakesh was an amazing first trip to Morocco. It was reliable and there was a ton of information on the city with nonstop flights from Milan.
So my second time around, I knew I wanted to branch out a little more. Morocco is huge, and my list of cities to visit in this beautiful country keeps growing.
My well-traveled cousin was coming to visit me in London, so we decided to go to Morocco while she was on this side of the globe (Morocco was a top destination for us for years). For reference, it is about a four-hour flight from London.
After extensive research, I decided it would be the cheapest and most feasible to fly into Marrakesh, desert “glamp” in the Agafay Desert, and then go to Essaouria before coming back to Marrakesh to fly out.
We booked a stay at the Nomad Campsite in Agafay for two nights. I had an ad pop up on Instagram for the camp and it looked super cool, so we thought this would be the perfect balance between staying near Marrakesh, and still in a serene location outside of the city.
This camp was sick. However, it required a bit of planning if we tried to go anywhere else. If you are fine spending $60 each way to get anywhere outside the camp, then this might be the perfect place. For us, we didn't realize how much of a hassle it would be to get to and from. Looking back, this should have been obvious given how remote it was. Next time around, we will stay in a slightly more central area.
After Agafay, we headed to the star of the show: Essaouria (eh-ss-oww-ree-uh)
Essaouira is on the Western coast of Morocco about 3 hours from Marrakesh. On the way from Marrakesh to Essaouira is this goat tree.
I had seen the goat tree on Pinterest before and heard of it from travel blogs, but didn't realize how accessible it would be on our drive there. The goats eat the argan on the tree and stand on the branches making for a pretty entertaining scene. Our friendly driver picked up one of the baby goats for us to cuddle with.
Walking through the streets of Essaouira was a completely different experience from Marrakesh. Marrakesh is bustling, loud, and energized whereas Essaouira is chill, quiet, and warm.
Walking through the souks was like walking through a museum. The colors and textures of every rug, pillow, and tapestry spoke with each other and created beautiful stories. Stories that you can take home with you to help you remember what it felt like to walk through those streets.
