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Hello my friends!

Day Three of our Magical Marrakech Retreat began with our daily yoga class given by Aisha and another delicious breakfast! Our bodies are getting stronger and more flexible by the minute. We left our Riad at 10am to travel by private mini-bus to the seaside town of Essaouira. It’s a 3 hour drive and we made some wonderful stops on the way.

One of the beauty secrets in Morocco is Argan oil that women use for their face, hair and body. The Argan nuts come from the Argan trees in this area of southwestern Morocco. As we were driving, we came across GOATS up high on branches in the Argan trees! They love to eat the argan fruits. It was a sight to see so we stopped to get a closer look.

Some of us held a baby goat. There were a lot of ‘ooohs and aahs.’

From there, we stopped at a womens cooperative for Argan oil. The Berber women crack open the shell of the Argan nut with a rock and then squeeze out the oil, with many processes along the way.

Argan oil is Morocco’s beauty secret, know as “liquid gold.” It has extremely high levels of Vitamin E and 80% fatty acids which make it perfect for healing many skin ailments as well as protecting against premature aging caused by oxidation. In fact, Morocco is the only place in the world where Argan trees grow and now they are protected by UNESCO.

Many of the Berber women are divorced or widowed and this is their only way of supporting themselves. A lot of us bought Argan oil and mine is infused with Rose essential oil. It’s definitely is gaining popularity as a “miracle ingredient” in the Western beauty product industry.

A few miles down the road were a few camels and two of our guests took a little ride for a photo opportunity!

We arrived at the beautiful seaside city of Essaouira, where the views were fantastic!

At the beach, I gave a class on personal feng shui. We discussed techniques to bring more energy into your body, mind and spirit, which is from Chapter 2 of my book Feng Shui Your Life. It was my favorite chapter to write. I also guided them in a letting go and manifestation exercise at the water’s edge. It was very powerful!

After our class, some of us had lunch at the fresh fish grille at the port and others of us were a little nervous about the fish heads!

Essaouira has a wonderful medina that is great for shopping. We walked through the old city, took pictures and bargained away! My husband has been haggling to get fantastic deals for everyone since he is Moroccan. There is always a “Tourist price” and a “Moroccan price.” He has literally saved them hundreds and hundreds of dollars for Moroccan mirrors, swords, pillow cases, poufs, dresses, stemware, pottery and more! Look at these beautiful rugs. A few people bought silk Berber rugs a few days later.

We noticed some interesting spices being sold in the marketplace!

A stunning sunset from the Kasbah in Essaouira!

After a 2.5 hour ride back to Marrakech, we were met at the Riad with a beautiful 5 course meal with Moroccan salads, chicken tagines, veggies, dessert and more. Yum! The staff at Riad Les Trois Palmiers were beyond fantastic and took such good care of us.

This has definitely been a “foodie” trip. In my next post for Day 4, I’ll share pictures and stories about our wonderful Moroccan cooking class we took at Riad ZamZam.

Click below to watch Theresa, a retreat participant from CA, share her experience of being in Morocco!

Theresa from Marrakech Retreat – 2011 – You Tube

Sending positive energy your way!

Jayme Barrett

 

P.S. To see the activities for each day of our Magical Marrakech Retreat, click below!

Day 1 & 2 – Yoga, Cultural Tour of Old Marrakech and Palaces

Day 3 – Day trip to the coastal town of Essaouira

Day 4 – Moroccan Cooking Class

Day 5 – Shopping and Spa’ing in the Souk

Day 6 – Hiking, Tagine & Feng Shui in a Berber village in the Atlas Mountains 

Day 7 & 8 – Manifestation, Gratitude & Wrap-up!