Morocco at a Glance

A street in Morocco
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On Friday the 27th, Stef and I did a one day excursion to a port city in Morocco--Tangier. Stef had read about the city from researching Tarifa. Many people take the 35 minute ferry boat ride from Tarifa to Morocco, and we found out about a tour group that went over for a day of sightseeing. After having seen the African coastline from Tarifa, we were so anxious to arrive in Tangier. Stef was even more so, as studying the Muslim culture is her speciality.

The ferry was rather large with multiple rows of airplane-like seats on either side, complete with a big snack bar and restrooms. Throughout the entire ferry ride announcments came over the P.A. system telling passengers that passport control was on the "left hand side of the vessel." Wondering what this meant, Stef went over to check it out and only saw locals getting line for passport control. We decided that we didn´t need to get in this line...

You must get stamp!

Stef and a snake
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Little did we know that it was necessary to get a stamp on the boat in order to get into Morocco. Stef and I are off the boat and going through the line of people when we get to the guards. I show him my ticket and my passport. He looks at my ticket and then begins to thumb through my passport. "You must get stamp!" We were both very confused because we had already gone through customs in Tengier and they did not stamp our passports. After much confusion we realize that we had to go back on the boat to get our passports stamped by passport control. Thinking that we were going to miss out on our tour, we ran back on the boat to get our passports stamped only to find more confused Americans just like us. For some reason they did not stamp our passports, only our boat ticket and we were running back down to guards. Thank goodness we were allowed through and met up with our tour group.

A hotel in Morocco
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After being escorted onto a large tour bus, we were introduced to our tour guide Ali, who fluently spoke French, English, Spanish, and of course, Arabic. The tour was given in English, French as well as Spanish and he was very good at all three languages. Seeing the ciy of Tengier was unlike anything we have ever seen or experienced. The two languages of Tengier are french and arabic, so all  of the street signs are in both. Stef impressed me by sounding out and reading all of the signs in arabic--such an interesting and beautiful language! We were first taken to the older part of the city for our walking tour where we found a quiet and historical atmosphere. Following Ali through this part of town was easy, as we were the only ones. After walking along a stone wall, Ali took a turn through an archway which opened up into the most beautiful view of the water. It was a view that I will never forget. Stef and I gasped as we looked out over the sea, marina and part of the city. We could see for miles. Ali said that on clear days you can see NYC. :)

At our Moroccan restaurant
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Afterwards, we walked into the more modern part of city with shops and markets. The most interesting and (disgusting!) part of the tour was going through the food market on the street. The market begins with vendors on either sides. First we saw fruits and veggies, and then we saw slabs of raw meat layed out on their tables. Raw chickens were hung from their kiosks and huge chunks of beef were displayed for all possible buyers to see. With the heat, bugs, and even stray dogs and cats running around, I´d say it wasn´t the most sanitary place... Even the vendors handled the meats with their bare hands. The smell was unbearable. This was something that was very intriguing, but also something I`ll be glad to not see again.

Comically, after the walk through the raw meat, we were taken to our restaurant for lunch! Some were not too excited about the Moroccon food like the Spanish woman next to us. We think she was too scared after having walked through the market. (I didn´t blame her!) Stef and I didn´t let the market ruin our lunch and we gobbled up all the yummy food. The restaurant itself was awesome! We sat on long couches with our tables in front of us. The walls were decorated with red velvet in gorgeous different designs. And the best part of the restaurant was the group of four Moroccon men playing music. Very cool! The lunch was soup, beef, and chicken with a dessert at the end. It was very yummy!

After lunch we were taken through a very busy part of the trip where we were heckled (UNCONTROLLABLY) by street vendors. Ali told us that many of them do it illegally and they will most likely use the money to buy drugs. He told us not to waste our time buying things from them. There were the stationary street vendors, as well as ones that would follow you when you walked! At first, we said no thanks, no thanks. But then found that it just pushes them more. We would just have to plow through and completly ignore them in order for them to approach their next victim.

We then were taken to two different authentic Moroccon shops--a rug shop and a spice shop. We were shown demonstrations at each shop and it was very interesting the touch the handwoven rugs and smell the exotic spices!

Our group was then lead to the terrace of a hotel for refreshments before going on a panoramic bus tour. Seeing the city for the last time was just incredible. We were taken on the bus up to the more affluent part of town where the streets were lined with mansions and expensive cars. We passed the governor´s house which was an incredible mansion with 3 black Mercedes Benz´s parked in the drive way. Along this drive, there were armed military guards about every 20 feet standing on each side of the street. Ali said this was because the king of Morocco was visiting Tanger for a couple of days and they were guarding a few miles of road ont he way to the palace. We passe the palace which was guarded by even more soliders and it was really amazing to see. The city was also decorated with huge red Moroccan flags and huge billboards with pictures of the king because of his visit. After the last bus tour, we were taken back the port and took the ferry back across to Spain. Overall, it was an incredible trip and really awesome to be able to see Africa.