Well I survived the night. Ended up wearing 3 layers of clothes and had 4” of blankets but I was cozy. The bad news is 2 of my roommates were champion snorers so it was not a good sleep…

Yesterday we trekked up a hiking/donkey path to our gîte located at 6240’, today we had to get back down to our bus in Imlil below. 2.7 miles this time down an easy gravel road. Easy except for one water crossing where I opted to go barefoot rather than risk wet shoes. Instantly froze my toes but they thawed faster than wet shoes would dry.

Followed the same road of the mountains then skirted the suburbs of Marrekech for miles on our way to a mega grocery store to pick up supplies for a picnic lunch. Then a rather bleak hour’s drive west through the outskirts into the desert and to a restaurant where we could use their tables to eat for the price of a drink. Saaid told the owner we were up to there with tagines and couscous ;-). It ended up being lovely as our tables were on the patio under blossoming orange trees and I ate a delish variety of fresh salads, my first of the trip! I’ve been super cautious of only eating cooked food to avoid stomach issues but was assured these were safe. One of our group has had problems for several days now and has been miserable…

And….another hour’s drive through flat desert dotted with the occasional olive farm to a women’s cooperative, this one for Argan oil which has become incredibly expensive with its recent popularity in skin and hair products.

Only place in the world that the argan tree bears fruit. Unfortunately it’s become very popular for tourists to take pictures of goats in the trees eating fruit so shepherds now stick dozens of goats in the trees for hours at a time and charging tourists for the photos. G Adventures won’t support this, and rightfully so, so we just took pics as we speeded by.

And then Essaouira. A cosmopolitan seaside town with a French flair. Our hotel is a traditional riad inside the Medina.

The Windy City, Essaouira is a beach town famous for its water sports such as windsurfing and kite-surfing. We had a brief orientation walk through the Medina then dinner at a wonderful rooftop restaurant with gorgeous sunset views, traditional music interspersed with hits from the 70’s, and a surprise cake for Emily & Sean’s third wedding anniversary. Great night.