Blogs from Grand Casablanca, Morocco, Africa - page 3

Morocco. Casablanca. The very names evoke the essence of exotica. Maybe it is the dark aura of Rick's Cafe from the movie, with the sweeping lighthouse beam and the dark menace of the Gestapo. Maybe it is the old Pepe LePew line of "Come with me to the casbah!" Or maybe it is just the Vietnam era reverberating through "Marrakech Express". For whatever reason, the mere saying of "we are leaving Paris and will be in Casablanca in 3 hours" just reeks of adventure and secret places. The reality, at least for Casablanca, is somewhat different, for this is no ancient city with a many-alleyed medina. It is a large city of some 4 million inhabitants, or about 5 million in the greater metropolitan area, making it the largest city not only in Morocco but the ... read more

THURSDAY 2ND APRIL 2015 (18.30) - text update from Geoff & Tom: We are both good, exciting day with customs and traffic being mad. Currently about 30 mins north of Casablanca so not bad progress. We hope to make it as far as Marrakech tonight. As for the others, we are hoping they are able to get on the ferry tonight or first thing in the morning. UPDATE: just before midnight the other two teams reached Morocco! Chris managed to get through after a slight interrogation about his holiday to Egypt a few years ago. All happy and on there way to Marrakech. Good luck!... read more

So I've jumped north and here I find myself in a blue skied Morocco. And here I have waited and waited ... and waited. Apart from Rick's bar which has only recently come into being, the Casablanca film references (+1 pt with Laura's family for knowing the director was Hungarian) within Casablanca are few and far between. There is definitely pretty unrestricted Ryanair flights to Lisbon these days and happily the vultures are gone (seeking refuge in the more touristed spots around Fes and Marrakesh no doubt). Casablanca is not really on the tourist circuit but the Atlantic coast city has a rather nice feel to it, a Medina full of locals bartering, a new town with some interesting (often crumbling) mauresque and art deco architecture. Note: I have no clue what art deco and mauresque ... read more

CASABLANCA. 17 November, 2014. Blue sky, finally. We departed Marrakech by a good train this morning at 10.45 for the three hours ride to Casablanca. The train was busy, but left punctually which was a little surprising as many things appear haphazard, but in reality seem to work smoothly. The scenery was interesting, low rolling hills with little natural foliage. The land was extensively cleared and plowed, yet evidence of crops was little. The paddocks were edged with cacti as the fencing barrier, and their vibrant green against the red furrowed earth interesting. The homes amidst the paddocks were surrounded by tall earthen walls. Noticed flocks of grazing goats and a few sheep, not sure what they would have been eating, rocks perhaps!! We saw plantations of what we thought were eucalyptus trees. Not sure why, ... read more

Nice drive up to the camp site from Ouzoud, with Dad's truck able to go along at 60 without issue, we made the camp site by 3pm. Though unfortunately the co-ordinates in the book put us in the middle of a building site, and no they wouldn't let us camp there, but they knew where we should be and told us how to get there. At Marrakesh, the reception could order taxis for us and organise tours if need be, but not this place. We had to walk up to the main road and hail one Moroccan style. Attempt number one failed due to a large language barrier, attempt number two involved a local security guard, two passers by and the Lonely planet travel guide, but we got our taxi. The next problem was I miss ... read more