Needless to say, Africa was amazing. I still can't quite wrap my head around the fact that I was in Africa. I went in not really knowing what to expect and looking back, I am happy that was the case because I was so open to everything we did and everything I saw.
First of all, I think it's important to say that Morocco is way more progressive than people give it credit for. Our tour guide was telling us that 20 out of the 30 members of parliament are women, women can drive, we saw women without the traditional headdresses and clothing. While there was still a large religious presence, it was not nearly as strictly conservative as I expected. There was never a point when I felt uncomfortable for being American or Jewish or different. We obviously stuck out as a tour group, but the natives just gave us a glance while passing by.
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| The walk from our flight to airport |
So the trip! We spent ALL of Friday traveling. The day started with a 9:15 flight to Sevilla Friday morning (when we got off the RyanAir flight, we couldn't even see the airport. We had a bit of a trek in). We went straight to the meeting point for our group in Sevilla and then took a 3 hour charter bus ride to the port in Tarifa, Spain. We went through passport control there and then loaded our ferry to travel the 10 miles to Africa. We had been told that a few weekends before, everyone on the ferry had gotten motion sickness and were throwing up so I came prepared with my Spanish motion sickness medicine, expecting a rickety little boat. The ferry was huge! It had an under area for our charter buses and the passenger area up top was like a tiny cruise ship-very comfortable. We were on the ferry for about an hour and a half. We disembarked in Africa and had to go through security and passport control at their port before reloading onto the charter buses and driving the hour to our hotel in Tetuan. We arrived at the hotel at 7pm and had dinner in the hotel at 8pm and just a relaxing night in after a long day of traveling. Dinner was a tasty soup and then a chicken and couscous dish. The sauce with the chicken was very sweet with caramelized onions, chickpeas, raisins, and delicious spices.
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| Cats in the port in Africa |
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| "It's time for Africa" |
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| At the port in Africa |
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| Soup |
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| The lobby of our hotel |
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| Chicken with caramelized onions |
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| Coca-Cola ad |
Saturday morning we woke up bright and early to drive about an hour to Tangiers. We picked up a local tour guide who joined our bus as we drove through the different areas of the city. It was very interesting because Tangiers had so many imperial influences that are still evident in the city. The balconies on some of the buildings were French influence because Moroccans didn't want them because it allowed for the public to see the women. The dog cemetery was the influence of the British because it wasn't customary for Moroccans to have dogs as pets but the British did. We drove by the central mosque and a synagogue. Then we headed to the wealthy part of the city and the royal homes looking over the city. We got off at an interesting Roman cemetery that had been vandalized when different countries took over Tangiers. It looked out over the Strait of Gibraltar, which was a beautiful blue. The tour guide explained to us that the Strait is so hard to cross because it is the area where the Mediterranean and the Atlantic come together. The waters of the two bodies of water sit on top of each other and the different temperatures and salt concentrations create a very strong current. We stopped at Cabo Spartel to see a nice view of the Atlantic and then headed to the camel rides!
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| Strait of Gibralter |
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| Strait of Gibralter |
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| Cabo Spartel |
We got to the camel area in Tangiers which had a nice view of the Atlantic coast line. There were six camels to ride and then three baby camels to play with while we waited. I heard some weird noises that camel's make, saw people get nearly bitten, and saw some camel sex. A lot of firsts on this trip! The weather was perfect and it was a lot of fun. Since camels knees are backwards, it was a little nerve-racking when they would stand up or sit down. They would push up there front two legs so I was at an angle and then push up the back two to even out. And when I was getting off, the front two legs would drop really abruptly (I thought I was going to fling off in front of its head) and then the back two came down.
After camels, we stopped for lunch and then we headed to the town of Assilah. At lunch we had a delicious salad that we later learned is pretty traditional for Morocco. It's a mix of veggies, rice, potatoes all separated and then we mixed it together. We also had chicken kabobs and fries. In Assilah, we walked around, saw some beach views, and murals painted on walls throughout, and then headed to the town center to bargain in the shops. I got my henna in Assilah, as well as the traditional Moroccan mint tea. We left Assilah and headed back to our hotel in Tetuan. On the bus ride, one of the guides of the trip put on some classics and the whole bus started singing together. It brought back high school bus ride memories. On all of our drives from town to town, it was so interesting to see the random animals walking along the road. Goats, sheep, horses, donkeys, dogs, cows, all just roaming wherever they wanted. Occasionally, they were lead by a herder but more often than not, any time there was grass, there were animals.
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| Moroccan mint tea |
At the hotel, we had another dinner, this time it was the traditional salad and then rice, meatballs, and roasted eggplant. Our dinner included a fun music/dancing show. Since we couldn't really go out in Morocco, our trip guides put together a little party for us after dinner in a multi-purpose room in the hotel. They had music, sangria, lights and it basically felt like a bar mitzvah party. It was funny and very nice of them.
Sunday we woke up, had breakfast, checked out and headed an hour away to the town of Chefchaouen. Chaouen, as it is called, is known for its white and blue walls throughout the town. The walls are white to cool it down during the summer and blue to keep away bugs and for a religious purpose. There were so many different shades of blue, it was unbelievable. I didn't hear the whole explanation but apparently, depending on the material of a persons door in Chaouen, you can determine their religion. Wooden doors are Jewish families and then there are two different kinds of doors that represent two different sects of Islam. There were many more shops in Chaouen so we explored the various alleyways and had more Moroccan mint tea. Lunch in Chaouen was the traditional salad, another spiced chicken dish with rice AND fries, and fruit for dessert. We met some interesting characters throughout the town and again had great weather for walking around outside.
From Chaouen, we drove back to the port, waited for two hours to load the ferry, got on the three hour charter bus ride back to Sevilla. We arrived at 3am and then had to wait for the airport to open at 4:30 and our flight at 6:55am. But eventually we made it! The trip was amazing, eye-opening, and a tad exhausting but 100% worth it.
Thanks for reading this novel, hope you enjoyed!
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