I have officially set foot on 3 continents (really 3 ½ if you throw Central America in there)! Last weekend I went to Morocco with an organized group and about 50 other people. Usually this kind of traveling does not suit me, but it was really convenient and much less stressful to have everything planned in a country like Morocco. It would have been really hard (not to mention dangerous) to try to figure this trip out on my own.
On Friday afternoon we got on a bus in Granada and drove to Algeciras (close to Gibraltar) to catch a ferry to Morocco. The ferry ride was really pretty–we had a great view of Gibraltar and the Spanish coastline and about an hour later we hit Africa. Spain actually owns two towns in Africa, so when we landed we were still technically in Spain. We only had to drive for about 5 minutes through the Spanish town of Ceuta before we hit the boarder. While we were waiting to go, our bus driver got on the microphone and told us “vamos al médico!” We were all pretty confused as to why we had to go to the doctor and turns out they wanted to check to make sure none of us had swine flu before we entered the county. We had to walk through this contraption that looked like a metal detector to make sure we didn’t have a temperature. I was irrationally nervous. (Good news: I do not have the swine flu).
Gibraltar–still under British rule (the Spanish aren't too happy about that, but their views are pretty hypocritical seeing as Spain won't give Ceuta to Morocco)
The minute we crossed the boarder, we could all tell we were in a different world. Everything from the buildings to the people to the language was completely different than anything I was used to, and it was really interesting to see how drastically things like this can change. We drove to our hotel, ate dinner and called it a night.
Saturday morning we started with a tour of the city of Tetuan. Unfortuantely, our tour guide kind of sucked but walking through the medina (market) was really interesting. More so than in any Spanish town I have visited, this area felt like a never labyrinth. In Every town we visited in Morocco there was a medina, but unlike most markets I’ve seen, these medina were actually walled off parts of the city. You have to enter through one of several gates and the inside of the medina is very different from the rest of the city. As one girl put it, we were “smelling the culture.”
The tannery. Just imagine how that smelled.
Anne got dressed like a Berber, we learned that gold jewelry is really popular, we saw a door fall on a few girls in our group (it was super windy! She ended up being fine, though), and saw people selling things that looked like they were probably from the 1980s.
Anne as a traditional Berber woman.
Our stupid tour guide (Jamal) who wouldn't stop talking about pointless things. At one point in his talk about Moroccan gold he somehow started talking about the US's housing crisis.
After walking around for a while we went into a rug shop to see some authentic Moroccan rugs. It was pretty interesting to see all the different shapes, sizes and patterns, but unfortunately the people were definitely trying to rip us off. If anyone said they wanted to look at something, the guys tried to sell it to them for 3 times (or more?) what it was worth. One girl was looking at a blanket that they told her cost 150 euro. By the time we were leaving, she had it down to 50 (but she still didn’t buy it). That way of doing business really puts a bad taste in your mouth.
Pretty, but pricey
After a delicious Moroccan meal of couscous, tajean, beef kebabs and mint tea we got on the bus once more to head to Tangier. From one point in Tangier you can see the Spanish coastline! It’s really amazing that only 13 km separates such different worlds. We drove through some really rich areas of Tangier where apparently many rich Saudis have houses (including the King).
Where we ate lunch. You can't really see it, but in the background there is a picture of the guy who was dancing around with a tray of candles on his head.
On our way up to a lookout point, we pulled over and got to ride camels! For one euro, you got to get on a camel, take a trot around a parking lot (not exactly where I pictured myself riding a camel, but whatever) and call it good! It was pretty fun, but when camels sit down it’s a bit frightening!
Baby camel!
how exotic!
After our camel stop, we continued up the mountain to a vista where we could see the point where the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean meet. That’s not something you get to see every day.
Me, Anne and Sophie
Can you tell where the Mediterranean stops and the Atlantic begins? Neither could I.
We headed back down into the city and once again explored the medina. Bargaining is kind of fun but it gets old after a while. If you so much as glance at something, the vendors won’t stop harassing you to buy their products until you walk away. After the medina, we went back to the hotel to eat and sleep.
Sunday morning we got up pretty early and drove to the city of Chefchaouen. The drive was painfully windy (brought back the days of Dramamine), but gorgeous. I never would have though Morocco would be so green and mountainous!
Lakes in Africa?
Chefchaouen
Where the city's women go to do the laundry
Chefchaouen was an amazing city. Every building was painted white and blue (they repaint 3 to 4 times every year!), there were spectacular views and a pretty river running through the town. This was definitely my favorite city in Morocco and it confirmed (again) that I prefer small towns more than big cities. Our tour guide in Chefchaouen was really knowledgeable (WAY better than our other guy) and I felt like I learned a lot about the culture and the city itself.
Moroccan cat!
The Hamam is the public bath house.
People go about once a week for a deep clean.
We got taken to a rug/blanket shop and got to see the beautiful products of the families of that town. This shop was really cool because it was a co-op that supported local families, had authentic products and bargaining was not allowed (ie: they didn’t try to rip you off). I left with a beautiful blanket made of silk and wool!
I bought the red and gold one that's on the ground! And that's our tour guide (he rocked)
Mosque #10983751029378509237502349857 (it was actually really cool driving through the country side b/c every time you got near a city the first thing you would see was the tower of the mosque(s). I really like the simplicity of the mosques, at least from the outside.)
We then had a little bit of free time to explore the markets in Chefchaouen before we ate lunch and made our way back toward the boarder. Crossing back into Spain was surprising much easier, and we were one our ferry in no time. Unfortunately, this ferry ride was not so smooth (nor was the ferry as nice). I definitely felt like I was on a roller coaster half the time. We made it back to the mainland in one piece and after a long bus ride got back to Granada around midnight.
I would definitely love to go back to Morocco at some point in my life and explore more of the county and spend more time in places like Chefchaouen!
Other stuff:
Last Thursday Anne and I went to see the gardens at the Alhambra. When we went with our group in January there were no flowers in bloom, and needless to say I’m really glad I went to see it again. It smelled amazing, there were colors everywhere and the sun was shining! See for yourself…
