Essaouira and the Had Draa Camel Market, Morocco


Ahhh, Essaouira.  Not raining, considerably warmer, and a lot less hectic.  Essaouira is a picturesque old port town.  Most of its white-washed buildings sport freshly painted blue doors and shutters.  But the real attraction for us, as coasters, were the colourful fishing boats in the harbour.  A photographer’s dream.






Hardly surprising, Essaouira had a great fish market.  I couldn't identify many of the fish, but they all looked very fresh, quite probably caught that morning in the early hours before daybreak.  The sellers, like fish-sellers everywhere, were experts at skinning and filleting, wielding their knives with economy and precision, ensuring very little waste.  




Just south of Essaouira, in Had Draa, another photographer’s dream: a popular Sunday market where goats, sheep, donkeys and camels are traded.  As the self-proclaimed and now 30 plus years uncontested ‘Camel Queen,’ this was a must-do attraction for me.  As an added bonus, the Had Draa market was still mostly local.   We were the only tourists there.  We were sorely tempted to buy a camel, but our trunk wasn’t big enough.  







Location: Essaouira, Morocco

Comments

  1. Will AJanuary 14, 2026 at 2:29 PM

    Wonderfull pictures of Essaouira- just they way I remember. It was an amazing trip that we all took- Im so glad you guys went earlier to scope things out!

    ReplyDelete

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