We leave Sierra Leone and have a 2.5 hr trip to the airport. Its all a bit daunting, especially leaving at 11.30pm however the trip goes smoothly. We are a bit taken aback at the small boat which takes us across the Tagrin Bay… I’m not sure what we were expecting but it all went without a hitch and we arrive at the airport a good 3 hours before our flight to Morocco.
We are on our way to Australia to start a very different kind of adventure. But since we are flying to Brisbane via Casablanca, we decide to have a weeks’ layover and have a look around. This plan came about before the terrible earthquake that hit Marrakesh and surrounding Altas mountains.
We arrive in Casablanca and stay at the Hotel de Paris, its small and comfortable with a nice breakfast. More importantly, it allows us to walk to most of the main sights, find a great seafood cafe, visit the markets, and generally just soak up the atmosphere.
The city of Casablanca started life as a Berber settlement around 10 BC. The medina is one of the oldest areas of Casablanca.
As a contrast to the old areas, many modern murals are popping up and as a result, there is a booming street art scene in Casablanca.
We walk towards the coast to admire one of the largest mosques in the world with the highest minaret at 210 metres. Built to commemorate the former king’s 60th birthday, it took 6 years to build and construction ended in 1993 at an incredible expense estimated to be about €585,000,000.
Another large building not far from the mosque is the Roman Catholic church Notre Dame de Lourdes. There are approximately 20,000 Catholics living in the country and Christians have long been accepted in Morocco.
We are spoilt for choice for food. Our first night we were pointed to Al Mounia, a local middle eastern restaurant which, we found out once we arrived, caters to westerners. The food was beautiful as were the surroundings however it was a little over our budget. Over the next few days we found a great cheap and cheerful seafood cafe, St Michel et Hafida , at the Central Market, less than 10 minute walk from the hotel. It became our ‘go to’ for a nice, inexpensive meal.
We decide to take a trip up to Tangier, a port city in northwestern Morocco on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean.
We take the 2 hour trip in the bullet train, the only one in Africa and we cover 320 kilometres in just over 2 hours.
We walk into Tangier town from the train station and admire the port and of course camels, waiting patiently for the ‘tourists’, particularly those coming across from Spain on the fast ferry.
Our AirBnB in Tangier is right in the middle of the old city. Its a quaint moroccan styled home with a lovely rooftop terrace where we enjoy our breakfast each morning.
We enjoy the vibe of Tangier, so much to see and do. We spend lots of time meandering through the old Medina, browsing at all the shops.
Tangier is also the birthplace of Ibn Battuta, the greatest medieval Muslim traveller and the author of one of the most famous travel books, the Rihlah (Travels). His great work describes his extensive travels covering some 120,000 km to most Muslim countries and as far as China and Indonesia. We spend a few hours in a local museum describing his travels and exploits.
The old town is still surrounded by the remains of what was once more than 1,829 metres (6,000 ft) of stone rampart. Most of it dates to the town’s Portuguese occupation.
The Kasbah in Tangier provided uninterrupted views of the Mediterranean and of the old medina. The white washed alleys and houses look absolutely stunning against the blue water backdrop.
We sadly say goodbye to this interesting country. We’ve seen enough to know that we will be back one day for a proper visit.
Nice camp truck! Looks like you’re having fun.
such a nice trip
I don’t know how else to contact you! Just wanted to say hi! We miss you on the ship. So glad you enjoyed Morocco – what a glorious country. Hope you’re both really well. How do we stay in comms? Are you on Facebook messenger??
wow. Morocco looks amazing. Once again you have done an amazing job of describing your adventure ,& making me want to go. Safe travels, my friends. We are in Croatia.