Fish, a Wind Farm and Tree Climbing Goats

Saturday, October 16, 2010
Essaouira, Morocco
I keep thinking that our trip can't get any better--then it does. This morning we had the hotel dining room to ourselves and instead of a buffet, they brought the food to our table, and then cooked omelets to order. After breakfast we made a short stop to learn about Thuya wood and see demonstartions of some amazing marquetry work.

Next we drove to the port where we watched the fishermen selling their catch . Many of the buyers were widows who will then re-sell the fish in the market. The port is located just outside the medina and is next to one of the two Squalas, or sea bastions, that guard the city. We walked to the top of the tower for views of the city and two off-shore islands. The first has ruins of a Portuguese fort and the other, called the purple island has some small roman ruins.

Down from the tower, we entered the medina and our first stop was at a produce stall where we purchased vegetables for our lunch. Each of us picked something--artichokes, eggplant, squash, potatos, carrots, and tomatos. Next we visited a local restaurant where we left our vegetables to be cooked for our lunch, and were told that we also needed garlic, cilantro, and olive oil. Ab returned with those ingredients and we left to explore the souks of the medina.

About an hour later we returned to the restaurant where we were given bread and olives while we waited for the tagine to finish cooking . While we waited, we watched a lot of people come in with their vegetables and fish or meat, and others come in to pick up things that they left earlier. It was either eat in or take out, and by the time we left the tiny place was crowded with people and wonderful aromas. Although most of us were a little skeptical at the start we all agree that it was one of the best meals that we have eaten.

After lunch we had a little down time, and then we sat off to visit a nearby wind farm and have another walk on the beach. As we headed south we passed some Argon groves and suddenly the van was making a U turn. It seems that Ab had spotted a large herd of tree-climbing goats. These goats love to eat the fruit of the tree, and in order toreach them, they have learned to climb up the small thorny trees. In order to get better pictures of the animals we had to walk across a very rocky, scrub filled field, and because the trees are still leaf covered it wasn't always easy to spot the goats, until they jumped down and ran away, but I did get a few pictures, and they really do climb high into the trees .

Our next stop of a large wind farm that generates most of the electricity for the South Atlantic area of Morocco. There are between 90 and 100 wind mills that cost a million dollars each. That sounds like a lot of money but when you think of the cost of building a traditonal power plant and include the cost of the fuel and the impact on the environment, this green way of generatating electricity is wonderful. Because Morocco has to import most of the oil and coal needed for tradtional energy sources, it was an early advocate of wind power. This wind farm which began operations in 2007, was the third farm to operate in Morocco and produces about 210 Gwh annually, and reduces carbon emissions by 256,000 tons each year. Additional wind farms opened in 2009 and 2010 further increasing Morocco's use of "green" energy.

Our final stop was a beautiful beach where we saw a wonderful sunset and waded in the east coast of the Atlantic Ocean. The water was clean and just a little on the cool side, but it was a great experience, and the camels that were treking across the beach made it even more special.
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