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Published: June 19th 2006
Hercules Cave
Day 1 tourist shot - Meant to look like a map of AfricaThe final few days of the Moroccan tour included seeing some cedar forests (I felt like I could have been in Canada rather than Morocco), some Barbary apes (same as the ones I saw in Gibraltar), receiving an interesting information session about the Muslim religion from our tour guide, visiting a ceramic factory and a tannery in Fes - great city - and eating a McArabia. Yes, that is correct, several of us visited McDonalds to taste the localised version of the Big Mac - main difference being it was served in pita bread rather than a bun!
Also visited Meknes. The highlight for me there was visiting the former stables of Moulay Ismail. At one time, he had 12,000 horses stabled there. Unfortunately, the Lisbon earthquake had knocked down the roof, but the rest of the place looked great and I was imagining just how many stablehands one would require!
We also saw Volubilis, an old Roman city that, too, was decimated by the Lisbon earthquake. Since then, archaeologists have been digging up the ruins revealing some great mosaics etc. Only problem here for me was just how hot it was standing around in the sun! Glad we
Royal Palace, Rabat
Me outside the Royal Palace in Rabat. The only time you can take photos of police or soldiers without fear! were not on tour in July/August.
Final stop was in the town of Chefchaouen. It was fantastic. Very clean, very Spanish and the capital of Morocco's 'chocolate' industry. That would be the local term for hashish! We had a free morning to wander around. Walked to an abandoned Spanish church and got great views over the town , not to mention the great and yet simple sight of women washing clothes and rugs in the river and their children playing around them. A nice way to finish up.
The tour officially ended in Tangier but it is not a nice place to visit or stay - it is simply a port town. I can assure you that the 6 of us who started the tour there were most pleased to be jumping on the ferry back to Spain the next morning!
Finally, just a few observations about Morocco:
The highlight for me was the contrast in landscapes. There was a lot of what I expected from Morocco, a harsh desert-like landscape but the High Atlas, Anti-Atlas, Middle Atlas and Rif Mountains were spectacles I did not expect nor the green forests and beautiful beaches.
The
Hassan II Mosque, Casablanca
The tallest minaret (the tower) in the world, at the world's third largest Mosque. people were friendly and tried hard to understand my very basic high school French or sign language, whichever worked best. Thankfully, most of the time Manuela was with me to speak French well and this made for a much easier and enjoyable time.
And the buildings were interesting. Some great Moorish architecture, beautiful Spanish buildings, a bit of French influence and then the modern housing - 2-3 storey concrete brick monstrosities and not at all safe-looking. Building standards seem to be a little bit behind the times!
It did take me a few days to get over the poverty in Morocco. I did not expect the affluence of Western Europe, but I did not expect to see quite so many beggars, squalid conditions and so many stray cats, thousands of them roaming the streets. Interestingly though, most houses in the poor areas still had satellite dishes on them!
The other annoyance for me was the sunrise 'call to prayer'. Muslims pray 5 times a day. The first 'call to prayer', a strange unintelligible sound played through loud speakers at each and every mosque, was between 3:15am
Post- Dinner in Casablanca
The 6 Aussies who started the tour in Tangier; Liz, Chris, Me, Manuela, Andre and Bronia. and 4:30 am (changes depending on the time of sunrise) each day we were in Morocco. We also seemed to stay in a hotel near a mosque, so each and every morning I would be awoken by the call. In the end, I decided that this was a not so subtle way of trying to convert light sleepers. Afterall, if you are awake, you may as well get up and pray!! The other 4 calls were at much more acceptable hours with the latest around 8-9pm.
Finally, the one thing I was unable to accept and why 2 weeks in Morocco was enough for me this time around (I will o back, it is such a beautiful country), was the way women were treated. It became a tour joke, who could spot a woman at a cafe. There would be 20+ men sitting outside a cafe, all seats facing the street, and not a woman in sight. Where are the women we asked Rachid, our tour guide? His answer was visiting other families and undertaking discussions that were 'women's business'. This may have been true for some but did not explain all the women working out in the fields
Doors
One of my favorite photographic themes for the Moroccan tour - shots of different colors and styles of doors. where there were no men in sight!!!! Any woman, Western or Moroccan, who did walk past a cafe, or anywhere else for that matter, was ogled without a hint of subtlety. In my opinion, they have a lot to learn!
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