Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
From late afternoon onwards, you can buy fresh shellfish on the beachfront, straight from
the hauled-up boats or from crates on the backs of fishermen's scooters. Oysters, clams,
razorshells and urchins are shucked as fast as you can eat them and served with a squeeze
of lemon for around Dh6 a shell. Divine.
Information
You'll find a bank, CTM office and internet cafe on the main street, and a Saturday souq
when people from surrounding villages come to town to sell their wares. Visit
www.oualidia.info
for tourist information.
Getting There & Away
Grands taxis run at irregular times to El-Jadida (Dh25, 40 minutes) and Safi (Dh25, 45
minutes). They leave from near the post office on the main road. CTM has a daily bus
(Dh30) in either direction. From the main road, it's a 10-minute walk down to the lagoon
and accommodation - grands taxis will ask for an extra tip to drop you downhill.
TOP OF CHAPTER
Safi
POP 285,000
An industrial centre and thriving port, Safi is a lot less picturesque than neighbouring
coastal towns, but it offers an insight into the day-to-day life of a Moroccan city. Most
tourists stop here en route to or from Essaouira to visit the giant pottery works that pro-
duce the typical brightly coloured Safi pottery.
The new town is pleasant enough, with tree-lined boulevards and whitewashed villas,
but the alleys of the walled and fortified medina are more atmospheric to stroll through,
and you often have the sights to yourself. The beaches are famous for their impressive
surf.
Safi's natural harbour was known to the Phoenicians and the Romans, but in the 11th
century it was a port for the trans-Saharan trade between Marrakesh and Guinea, where
gold, slaves and ivory were sold. In the 14th century the town became an important reli-
gious and cultural centre, when the Merenids built a
ribat
here. The Portuguese took the
city for a brief spell from 1508 until 1541, when the Saadians took it back. They built the
