After many visits to Marrakech, I visited Essaouira for the first time in April 2018. I was curious about the art in the new airport… Antoine de St.Exupery (The Little Prince), Orson Welles and Jimi Hendrix. An unlikely trio. Yet they speak to the slightly off-Broadway feel of the place. Of Morocco yet also of itself. Part Arab, part Berber, part Nomad, part European.
It has a clarity that hits you in the eye as soon as you walk out into the daylight. Searingly bright. Swept clean by the near constant winds off the Atlantic.
In half an hour you can go from the ancient medina sheltered by the city walls, to new apartments and surfer scene, to ancient argan forests and meadows of wildflowers. All of the passion and colour of North Africa garnished with a more relaxed, almost bohemian culture mix.
What a place to think. To feel. To be open to new ideas. Every conversation drenched in philosophy, cultural encounters on every corner. Things can happen here it feels. Ideas can be born that might not emerge anywhere else. Come and join the adventure!