Carol's Travels

This morning we traveled to Tangier.  When we were passing by a goat and sheep market, we stopped to mingle with the sellers and animals.

A little while later we drove along the coast.  We stopped at the place where the Atlantic Ocean meets the Mediterranean Sea.

We walked into the Hercules Caves which are beside the water.

We walked through the Tangier Médina.  “Come vith me to the casbah!”

Tangier

Coastal view from our hotel room

Insider information from one of the locals.

We drove to Tétouan this morning.  Mohammed’s sister lives here, so we went to her house to visit with her family.  One of the sons is a baker and brought fancy Moroccan cookies for us to enjoy with our tea.  He will open a bakery in their garage in a few days.  The whole family helped him buy the commercial baking equipment.

We drove to the city next and walked among the vendors of the weekly Saturday flea market along the narrow city streets.  We encountered a tailor who makes and decorates the traditional dress for men.  It takes him three or four days to complete a garment.  People bring the fabric to him and he completes the garment in 2-3 days for about $10 a day.  Mohammed was wearing one today.

After walking past the palace and through the Jewish quarter, we rode the bus to a restaurant where we ate two kinds of fish, shrimp, calamari, veggies, rice, and creme brûlée.  

After our late lunch, we walked across the road from the restaurant to experience the local Mediterranean beach.

Then we drove through the scenic mountains.

Along the way, we noticed some of the illegally planted light green cannabis crops in this region.

After flying fourteen hours on two Air France jets, we arrived in Casa Blanca, Morocco.  Four of us who had flown on the last flight together were picked up at the airport by an Overseas Adventure Travel representative and driven to a hotel in Casablanca.  The eleven of us who would be on the pre-trip ate dinner together that evening.  The next morning we embarked on our adventure as we boarded our mid-sized bus.  It took about eight hours of traveling, including a stop for lunch and chances to meet the local people doing what they do in their daily lives.

Local farmers selling their melons.  At lunch we ate one of these, and it was the best melon I have ever eaten!

Taxi van holding as many people as possible

Carol standing at the lookout for Chefchaouen

In Chefchaouen we stayed in Casa Hassan Guest House, a renovated Riad (an old house that is now a hotel).

We took a walk along the steep streets surrounded by blue buildings.  We stopped at a couple of shops, then suddenly we heard drumming.  I walked closer, then found myself surrounded by drummers moving through the crowd.  It was after this that we returned to the hotel for dinner.