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Essaouira Warnings or Dangers
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Essaouira Warnings or Dangers

Sea mist over Place Moulay Hassan Essaouira - Essaouira
Sea mist over Place Moulay Hassan Essaouira
by suvanki
Essaouira travel tips posted by real travelers and Essaouira locals.
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Food
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  • matcrazy1
  • Updated By matcrazy1 on June 27, 2005
  • Essaouira Page by matcrazy1
  • AT THE LOCAL MARKET - Essaouira
    AT THE LOCAL MARKET
    by matcrazy1
    The natives don't care about hygiene referring to food. For example the homemade bread (cheap, always fresh and delicious) is sold from the earth at the local market (look at the picture).

    So, better be careful if your stomach is sensitive :-). Mine wasn't. I ate almost everything and nothing bad happened to me.

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    Gulls overhead!
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  • suvanki
  • Updated By suvanki on January 2, 2008
  • Essaouira Page by suvanki
  • Gulls, Skala, Essaouira - Essaouira
    Gulls, Skala, Essaouira
    by suvanki, 2 more photos
    Near Fishing harbours, you can be sure that there will be sea birds.

    Near the Skala du port, there are masses !!!! all squawking and flapping, either flying over the harbour / fish market area, or perching ready to grab a morsel of fish or other scraps of food.
    If there was 'Soundavision' on this site, you'd hear the theme from Hitchcocks 'The Birds'!!

    Having once been the victim of a 'direct hit' from a defaecating seagull flying overhead, I naturally get a bit wary! (I now try and wear a hat, if visiting coastal ports)

    Even if they don't 'hit' you, these feathered scavengers do leave their mark over walls and seating, so be careful when you sit down. They can be a bit daunting too, flapping so close overhead!

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    Helpful guides?
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  • barryg23
  • Updated By barryg23 on March 13, 2005
  • Essaouira Page by barryg23
  • Though the amount of unwanted attention that tourists receive in Essaouira is much less than in Marrakech, there is still plenty of occasions for you to unnecessarily part with your Dirhams.

    When our bus arrived in Essaouira there was a group of locals there to greet us. They offered to carry our bags into the medina, to find us hotels, to show us around, etc. We ignored all these offers; if you do accept them, make sure you agree the price beforehand. On the return journey a local guy insisted on loading our bags on the bus (despite our protests) and then demanded a tip.

    Also, while walking the streets with our bags, a couple of guys asked us what hotel we were staying at and then tried to convince us that our hotel was full but that they could rent us a cheap room.

    I was also offered drugs by one guy on a couple of occasions. The first time he spoke to us I thought he was trying to sell us carpets (tapis) raher than hashisch.

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    Stomach upsets
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  • suvanki
  • Updated By suvanki on April 14, 2008
  • Essaouira Page by suvanki
  • Sea mist over Place Moulay Hassan Essaouira - Essaouira
    Sea mist over Place Moulay
    Hassan Essaouira
    by suvanki
    Since my return home, I've read an article that states that many people visiting Essaouira succumb to stomach upsets no matter how carefully they eat and drink.

    The article attributes this to the mists that occur in Essaouira that are often formed from the sea spray from the rocks below.

    Apparently there is untreated sewerage being poured into the sea, which is being carried in the mist.

    Well I'm not sure how many people do suffer from stomach problems here - personally I haven't, and there was a mist on the evening we arrived in Essaouira.

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    Essaouira - DONT LEND MONEY!!!!
  • By Alifelessordinary on September 6, 2009
  • Essaouira Page by Alifelessordinary
  • A quick note to those of you who are honest and somewhat naive.... Unfortunately there are a 2 guys working together at the beach targeting female foreign tourists and in some cases "borrowing" money from them only to be told they have no interest in paying it back. I lent a considerable amount (3600 MAD) to help a guy with a kite surfing instructors course in which he didnt do. The story I got ranged from " my father was an alcoholic and spent all the money the family had" to "i crashed the rental car and am in serious trouble". His mother apologised that her son had lied and ripped me off and promised to get the money to me at months end. She has since advised she would prefer to use it to aid the building of a house in a little village near Cap Sim / Sidi Kaouki. I have been there several times, taken them for dinner, away on group trips....you would therefore imagine these particular people had some respect firstly for themselves, their families and possibly us the tourists however it would seem not. It is really sad these 2 guys in particular are giving the others a bad reputation.

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    Magic fun Afrika
  • By moogill on April 9, 2007
  • Essaouira Page by moogill
  • I came to Essaouira to learn to kite surf with magic fun afrika, on my arrival i could not find the shop until the next day i saw the managers van, he explained all businesses have to move to make way for beach side cafès. We agreed to meet at 12pm to start my first lesson, however by 12.30 there was no sign of him, when he did show he had not brought any equiptment for me. He offered to go back to the shop but his lack of enthusiasm and unreliability had put me off spending so much money on his service. Instead I agreed at his suggestion, going the next day with him and some others to Moulay where he said the surf was better and they had another shop. The next day eagerly met up with him for the trip. The shop is under construction, and i was concerned keeping my belongings there but the manager assured me my stuff would be safe as he would be there the whole time. The surf however was rubbish; and after an hour of dodging torpedoing windsurfers I gave up and headed back to the shop. As I entered and went up the stairs I noticed my bag had been tampered with; I immediately opened it up and found my purse only to find that 600dh had been stolen. I ran down the owner explaining this, he simply shrugged and said 'ìmpossible, I ave been here the whole time', over and again I pleaded with him that I know exactly how much money I had but he refused to believe me and claimed all his workmen and staff were honest people, he barely looked at me and continued to set up a wind surfer. Furious I went to check if anything else had been taken, his colleague followed me up, he kept saying 'i believe you, but there is no way someone could have come up and taken it'. I gave up and waited to go home in disbelief; not so much that my money was stolen but the way they treated me.
    Im not pointing fingers but the more I think of it the dodgier the whole thing feels.

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