Our first destination was to find goats that climb argan trees. It didn’t take long to find a shepherd close to the road with his herd of tree climbing goats. Abdou 2 had brought packages of plain cookies and some chunks of bread to feed the goats. The goats on the ground came over to us and jumped up on our chests and shoulders eager to be fed. They took the food very gently and waited for the next offering. In the meantime, goats in the trees were busy eating the leaves of the argan trees. If the goats get too far out on a branch, they often fall out of the tree but the trees are pretty low so it seems that the goats are unharmed. Apparently the argan trees have very deep roots so they can survive the drought conditions and loss of leaves. Many trees were already bearing fruit which ultimately ripens in the summer to a brown color. The nuts are peeled and cracked open by hand to reveal a small inner nut that is ground for oil used for cooking or cosmetics. There is also a paste made with ground almonds, argan seeds, honey and oil making a paste that is similar to peanut butter.
We visited an argan oil women’s cooperative where we saw the grinding process as it used to be. We tasted the pure oil, two different types of honey and the nut butter. Then we were brought to a room that had all sorts of argan oil products. There were many skin creams and oils, each for a special purpose. They also sold honey, soaps, and nut butter. The prices were pretty expensive but we were told this was the “real” pure oil. It’s hard to decide what use is best. I bought some hair serum hoping it would tame my wild look. To be decided later…
Our next stop was a winery which was also our lunch stop. The winery was established by a French man. He produced white, gris, rose, and red wines. We tasted all. The red was the favorite. We were served a nice lunch of many cooked vegetable types followed by chicken and beef skewers. The surroundings were beautiful. Sadly there were very few vines to see as many had not survived the long drought. The Frenchman who had developed the winery had died recently. The future is apparently uncertain with his widow now in charge. I know that many famous champagne houses were run by widows, Veuve Cliquot, being the best known. Veuve means widow in French.
We returned to Essaouria to have a free afternoon. For me it meant a return to the silver shop with my friend Maria. The owner was pleased to see us. We were able to take our time looking around. I bought a fun pair of fish earrings and a ring. Maria found a ring too. We then walked out to a cafe by the beach and had some beer. Our driver came to return us to the hotel.
Dinner was in a very pretty restaurant just off the Main Street. There are clearly many such places that aren’t obvious. They had a good food selection, nice wine and live music. We knew we had to pack up and be ready with bags out early. So we dispersed at the hotel. Tomorrow we take the long drive back to Casablanca.
The Adventures of Anne 