4 hours in tangier

5:30am wake-up, 6:30am bus ride from marbella, spain to taraiffe to grab the ferry to morocco.  magnificent views of the british rock of gibralter.  9am an hour ferry across the mediteranian sea. 10am my first step onto africa, and directly into a tour bus filled with 50 others, the other tour bus of 50 directly behind.  10:30am to 2:30pm a quick guide of tangier which included most of the time in and out of the bus with a moment for a camel ride around a circle of tourists if you wanted to ride on a camel who seemed to be cruely treated, with wonds of puss and general unhappiness.  some history of the city and someone pointed to where the mediterranian sea and the atlantic ocean meet with only enough time for a glance as the bus drove off.  about an hour spent in an extremely overpriced shop of souviniers and rooms full of rugs.  a traditional middle-eastern meal which was quite tastey and a belly dance performance which consisted of a woman fully covered with a big straw hat, no belly showing, and about a minute worth of hip momevents side to side so that foreigners could take a photo.  a nice albiet brief walk through an old part of the city and a casbah, a fully enclosed structure consisting of 5 things: a school, an oven for making flat bread, a drinking fountain, and two more i can't remember at this time.  a snake charmer was witnessed... and i was so excited to be here.  more excited if given the chance to return for a longer stay because a one day tour where half the time is spent just getting there is not my cup of tea.  at least now i know. 3pm-6pm the return trip to marbella.