Enchanted

Saturday, June 25, 2011
Essaouira, Morroco

Enchanted.

We left the heat and hustle and overall madness of Marrakech in hopes of finding a seaside town with a cool ocean breeze. We had not a single idea of what to expect.
Nearly every hour…. no, to be more accurate, every hour has held the most incredible surprises. It’s impossible to fathom saying “Wow!” legitimately more than once a day. We have certainly said “Wow” more than once in a day.
A few things.
We arrived to Essaouira and learned that this weekend was the weekend of the international music festival. There are millions of people here gathered to see some of the best world music. One would expect the hotels to be full and the restaurants to be jammed. No. Our hotel is empty and it cost only $35 dollars per night. Restaurants are abundant. For the last two nights, we have been the only ones in the restaurant? Where are all of these people sleeping and eating?
The beach is alive and thriving. Muslim families are here to vacation. There are groups happily playing soccer on the beach. Mothers chase their laughing children. A happy time.
In crowds, large crowds, Duarte and I often find ourselves to be the only white people. We sense no feelings of discrimination or illwill.
Camels walk on the beach at night! Duarte chased after a Berber man and asked if we could have a ride. The kind man happily obliged. Perhaps one of the most beautiful experience of my life. We walked along the water’s edge in the moonlight, listening to the waves and enjoying the gentle cadence of our strolling camels. I rode Jimmie and Duarte rode Blanca. Wow.
We stopped for lunch unknowingly in front of a crowded mosque at noontime yesterday. As we indulged in the most delicious shwarma ever to be tasted, hundreds of men lay down their carpets to pray. The mosque was so full. We had a front seat view. Wow.
In the mornings, men and boys gather on the beach with their Arabian horses. These adroit and swift horses swim, surf waves, and sprint full gallop on the beach. Their owner relaxed and laughing and dressed only in shorts. The horses aren’t wearing saddles. I believe this is the equivalent to our passion for mountain biking. Mornings on the beach with Arabian horses. Wow!

Yesterday, we dragged ourselves back to our hotel after a long day of walking. It was around 3:00 and I was utterly spent and had it in my mind I would rest until dinner. Duarte was going to sit on the veranda and read a bit. Just as I sat down, Duarte came racing in and said (not for the first time)…”You’ve got to see this!” Well, if I had 20 guesses, I couldn’t have dreamed of what we saw… 100’s of Arabian horses on the beach. Of course, we grabbed our camera and run down to the beach for a closer look. What the heck? There we saw upon closer inspection Arabian horses fully dressed in decorated in the most beautiful…I don’t know how to describe this…. Ok, I’ll try… Have you ever ridden the carousel at Walt Disney World? If so, imagine those beautiful horses, with colorful saddles and bridles and eye covering things hopping off the carousel – walking onto an African beach and then racing. That is truly what I thought of when I saw these horses. So, all of these Bedouins (I guess) were adorned in turbans on top of their clad Arabian horses, carrying rifles. Within minutes, groups were racing up the beach at top speed in perfect alignment and then suddenly halting and shooting off loud rifles. What a thrill. We stopped only inches from where the horses were suddenly halted. We enjoyed the adrenaline rush of watching these incredible horses races at us, stop quickly and then the wildness of rifles being shot off. I ducked every time. WOW!!!!
The tastes, the flavors, the smells, the kindness of people, the beauty of a Burka, the ruggedness of the fisherman, the happiness of youth, the apparent pleasure of Muslims so enjoying the ocean, the dusty air, the setting sun, the cool nights, the prayer calls….wow, wow, wow!
I have much to share. We never stop processing and attempting to discern what’s going on around us. It is all….enchanting.