Note: The spontaneous sighting on this day was the highlight of the trip!!  #awesome

Day 5, Wednesday:
After the Berber market, we went to La Fromagerie for lunch. They make goat cheese and served a delicious lunch with generous servings of wine.   We then had a short time after lunch to nap sketch.

The outdoor oven on the right may have been slow cooking dinner for another group

Cheese plate

I went out front, where I spotted Karen shadowing two turtles, who were trying to mate. Not terribly thrilled with that entertainment, I happened to look past her and spotted a herd of camels passing by!  There were 25-30 of them, moseying along, of different sizes and colors ranging from soft caramel to deep deep brown.  It felt like a scene from a movie.  All I could do was shout CAMELS!

Camels!!

We were hot on their trail, cameras in hand, as they were herded into a stone wall enclosure.  We then found a knoll and climbed up to take as many photos as possible, until Karen suggested we were most likely annoying unnerving the camels, so we left them in peace and returned to share details of our unexpected sighting with the others.

Curious camel herd

This camel wanted to say hello

Back in Essaouira, we had time before dinner to head to the beach and paint the sunset’s glorious colors. I’m not showing my feeble attempts – it’s not easy at all!!!  If you have been trying to paint skies, don’t be dismayed.  Although, I should be very clear here – I did not improve!  I stopped trying that night, and will just have to try again another day.