Blogs from Morocco, Africa - page 18

Leaving Spain at the Ceuta border you are greeted by a mass of taxis, but they are not all vying for your business. They seem to have a co-ordinator who takes all the hassle out getting a ride, and there’s no haggling for prices – they are fixed no matter how hard you try! It takes about two hours to travel along the pretty coastline, past Tétouan, and up into the beautiful hills to the blue city of Chefchaouen, all for €50. Not cheap, but we couldn’t be doing with getting a taxi to nearby Fnideq, changing on a bus to Tétouan, and then changing onto another bus to our final destination, all to save a few Euros. We were deposited at the base of the medina where an old man led us up through the ... read more

Even the loftiest of mountains begins on the ground ~ Moroccan Proverb HE SAID... Today we were travelling south from Marrakesh to Aroumd. We left Marrakesh around 9am and drove through the city with the snow-capped High Atlas looming on the horizon. This alluring and pervasive mountain range dominates the southern skyline of Marrakesh, and it wasn’t long before we were climbing and winding our way up towards the snow. As we ascended, the road narrowed and the scenery changed dramatically. There were steep drops to one side with barely enough room for two cars to pass. Tiny villages were set into arid hillsides, and I wondered what prevented them from tumbling down into the valley below. And all the while, the ever-present High Atlas Mountains towered above us. Near-empty river beds ran along the valley ... read more

He who does not travel does not know the value of men ~ Moroccan Proverb HE SAID... Today we were travelling northwest from Chefchaouen to Tangier. We woke early to the call to prayer after a broken night’s sleep – the local dogs had been unsettled for most of the night. I did sleep a little with the help of a couple of paracetamol tablets at midnight, but my sore throat was lingering. I needed it to dissipate, as we had a long travel day to Tangier and then an overnight sleeper train to Marrakesh. We were leaving Tangier at 11:30pm, so we would not have access to a shower until we checked into our Marrakesh hotel tomorrow morning. We headed down to the dark hotel restaurant for breakfast around 7:30am. I hydrated with orange juice ... read more

It’s 23 years since we visited Tangier on a long weekend from Gibraltar. Since then we’ve been on so many adventures and travelled so many miles. We wondered if, in the intervening years, this intriguing city had stayed the same. The truth is, neither of us could recognise it from our memories! We drove up to Valencia and stayed in the Travelodge near the airport ready for an early morning Ryanair flight to Morocco. Everything went smoothly and before we knew it our taxi was dropping us off at the foot of the medina and Google Maps was guiding us through the maze of streets to Riad Tingis. Fending off guides, official or not, was tiresome. We were relived to get to the door of the riad and led up to the rooftop terrace while we ... read more

There is no queue at the gate of patience ~ Moroccan Proverb HE SAID... Today we were travelling northeast from Meknes to Fes. It was a wet afternoon in Meknes. Heavy rain fell from dark clouds shrouding the city, and a bitter wind swept the empty streets. We emerged from the medina and sheltered as best we could in the shadows of Bab el-Mansour (the city’s iconic gateway) until a taxi arrived. We jumped in, dropped by the hotel where we’d left our packs a few hours earlier and headed to the Meknes train station – we were about to embark on a one-hour train journey to Fes. Moroccan train travel is unbridled and anarchic, and you get to experience the gamut of Moroccan life in the cramped and chaotic confines of your designated carriage. We’d ... read more