We were apprehensive to take a long weekend trip to Morocco, primarily due to the concerns over aggressive beggars and/or fearing losing a kid…but when we heard that this weekend was the Ferria (fair) in Nerja-with music blaring right outside our window until 6AM, we decided we could take a chance and go. We decided against an organized tour bus trip-although it would’ve been easier and cheaper-because they only leave Nerja at 5AM on Thursday mornings and return late that same night. Liz looked up a highly recommended Moroccan tour guide (he led Bruce Springsteen on his tour) and we opted to stay a couple of overnights in the port town of Tarifa (as opposed to Algeciras which apparently is a bit of a hole). We are so happy we did-Tarifa is a beautiful little walled town with narrow streets and great food. We happened to be there on a not busy weekend-apparently the place gets very busy. We stayed in a small hotel room (the old man who ran it reiterated that “there were only 3 of us, right?”) So we had to do a little bit of staggered entry and exit. The fast Ferry ride over was indeed fast, but was so crowded that is seemed a little unsafe and disorganized. Due to the storms that had been hitting the coast, the seas were rocky and made for rough travel. I was reminded of the Seinfeld flashback episode where Frank was a cook in the army and prepared something that made the soldiers get sick…the scene was similar to that as one person would fill a seasick bag which would trigger another 2 or 3 and so on. We were fairly lucky with only one casualty. We arrived in Tangiers and were met by our guide-Said-who was holding up a “Pola/Karr” sign..which put us at ease. Liz had been to Morocco many years before and was bombarded by “hello my friend, do you have the time” as locals would volunteer to become your guide. We were asked a number of times by these very aggressive little men but Said or his assistant would shoo them away. At the time it was pouring rain and his umbrella and waiting van were welcomed. We first drove around the outskirts of Tangiers, which looked much like any other city town. It is a generally cooler environment as both the Mediterranean and Atlantic oceans diverge here-lots of breezes and beautiful ocean views.
We had an opportunity to ride donkeys and then later-the mandatory camel ride. The kids loved it.
We went into a beautiful coastal cave that was carved out by early Phoenicians to resemble the continent of Africa.
We later went to the street markets (meat, vegetable) which were stocked with only local Moroccan foods. Said took us into one area that is sort of “off limits” to westerners and we got a lot of puzzled looks but it was fascinating. Said took us for a big lunch, which we feared due to the universal fear of stomach “discomfort” after eating locally in Morocco. He brought us heaping plates of meat and vegetables and camel and goat cheese-all tasty. We waited for the stomach rumblings to begin but nothing…we were able to leave Morocco unscathed.
We then walked around the Kasbah. It was remarkable as families had lived there in the same units for many generations-they were all decrepit looking but some of the “wealthier” families actually had electricity and running water. We wrapped up in the evening and boarded the ferry back to Tarifa.
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