Overnight it rained quite a bit so the morning was quite fresh and the air clean. We had a leisurely breakfast at the hostel, who also provide an excellent breakfast of fruit, breads, jams, tomatoes and cucumber, cheese and tea/coffee, all included in the price of the room. The hostel has an open meeting area that is very well decorated with paintings and various surfing type decorations.

We arranged for the hostel to do some laundry for us and then walked along them sea front to the port and the medina. Before we entered the medina we stopped for a cup of coffee and a short rest and then strolled through the medina to see the old city walls running against the sea. It was a magnificent sight and on some of the cannons that are there you can see their date of manufacture, the first one we saw showed Barcelona, December 1788, but we eventually found one that was made in 1744.

While strolling through the medina we managed to buy some Christmas gifts and souvenirs. The area is know for a particular type of wood, Thuya (Tetraclinis articulata), a cedar -like tree, that is apparently unique to that area and has a very distinct, cedar-like smell and is polished to a shine. It is a orangish or reddish brown wood that tends to darken with age to a medium to dark reddish brown. It has beautiful grains and patterns that are enhanced by the polishing.

We then took a look at the old Jewish quarter including 2 synagogues that were open to non-Jewish visitors. Trevor asked the caretaker of the one synagogue if there was still a sizable population of Jews in Essaouira but she said there was only 1, an old man.

We found a great little restaurant on the edge of the medina and had lunch there. They only do dish of the day so there is no choice, but we got a piece of fish, lentil salad and pumpkin and finished with a persimmon and argan cream desert. Not only was it great food and the reviews confirm that, it is also located just off the rocky seashore, partly overlooking the Christian cemetery. Sitting outside on the first floor one had a beautiful view of the waves crashing over the rocks and the smell of the sea, absolutely awesome.

After lunch we strolled back to the hostel through the medina and then took a drive as Trevor wanted to see the golf course that was just outside of town and that was designed by South African golfing legend Gary Player and opened in 2009. Unfortunately there was not really a view of the course from the clubhouse, so we headed back to the hostel stopping at the supermarket to top up on some items, including fruit.

Then we headed back to our seafood restaurant for an early dose of fried calamari and aubergine and were then just in time to view an amazing sunset, with some cloud around, over the island just out to sea.