Unimpressive Casablanca

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Morocco had long been one of my dream destinations. It has such an exotic aura to it and with my fascination with all things Islamic, I jumped at the chance of going when I found a tour company offering a trip at such a reasonable price. I booked the Northern Morocco Adventure tour with Intrepid travel, a company that focuses on responsible tourism. As usual, my travel partner Shea would be coming along on this epic adventure. Unfortunately, things don't always go as planned. A few weeks prior to our scheduled departure, her father fell gravely ill and wasn't given very much time left to live. Shea was very much conflicted with her strong desire to go on this trip but also with the importance of spending every last moment she could with her ailing father. In the end, she made the right decision to stay behind and be with her father. Thankfully, Intrepid required that all passengers on their trips purchase travel insurance and she was able to recoup most of the money that was already paid for the trip. As for me, I continued on the journey solo but knowing that I would be with a tour group for the entire time in Morocco, I had no apprehensions.

It was going to be one hell of a long travel day! My flight was at 6:00 in the morning with American Airlines, my least favorite airline but they had the most reasonable airfare. I arrived at the gate with a good hour to spare before we boarded. Sleep deprived and tired, I was immediately put into an even more sour mood with the arrival of about 10 asian guys who were obnoxiouly loud. Apparently, they were on their way to Miami for a bachelor party weekend for one of the guys. Who the hell can be this full of energy at 4:30 in the morning. Once we boarded the plane, I am immediately reminded of why I do not like American Airlines. The plane was so old and did not look like it had changed much since the 80's. This was also the first cross country flight I had taken that did not have personal entertainment units in the back of the seat in front of me. In the age of I-Phones and I-Pads, this did not pose much of a problem. I landed in Miami with about 4 hours to kill before my next connecting flight on American Airlines to Madrid. I spent this time, exploring the terminal, checking out the Miami Heat store, and having lunch at an Afro-Caribbean restaurant. As with the previous flight, the flight to Madrid was very uneventful. Again, I was on another sorely outdated plane and I began to wonder how this thing was going to make it across the Atlantic. Thankfully, the 7 hour flight went by in no time and now I had 3 hours to kill in Madrid before my connecting flight to Casablanca on Iberia. Again, I explored the terminal, had coffee at Starbucks, and checked out some of the shops. While waiting at the terminal, I noticed what I thought at the time was a very odd couple. He was a tall blonde probably 6 foot 2 and she was a small petite asian probably no more than 5 foot 3. While waiting to board the flight, she approached me and asked how to determine the boarding group number on her boarding pass. Little did either of us know that this was to be the start of a very good friendship.

I arrived in Casablanca excited that I was for the first time setting foot on African soil. Getting through customs was uneventful but did take longer than I anticipated. Eventually, I made my way out to the arrivals hall where I had an airport transfer that I had booked through Intrepid waiting for me. This would be the start of probably one of the most stressful things I had ever experienced in all my travels. Not finding anybody with a sign from Intrepid, I decided to go and locate an ATM to withdraw some Moroccan Dirhams. I found an ATM and tried to withdraw money from my debit card. After 3 attempts with no success, I tried one of my credit cards with no sucess also. I tried the other 4 credit cards that I had and again no success. By now, I was very irritated so I decided to just leave and see if I can find my airport transfer who could take me to a bank in the city. I walked around for about 15-20 minutes with no sucess in finding anybody. Since it was now almost an hour and a half since arrival, I began to think my transfer had left. I went back to the same ATM thinking that this was the only ATM at the airport and still no success with my debit card and credit cards. I was begin to sweat profusely and stress myself out thinking that I was not going to have any access to cash. I felt like I was going to have a panic attack so I went into a bathroom to splash water on my face and calm down. Upon leaving the bathroom, I was approached by an attendant demanding some money for using the bathroom. With nothing on me, I just acted ignorant and walked away with the attendant yelling at me in Arabic. I was now unnerved, stressed out, cashless, and stranded as I checked one last time for my airport transfer. I sat in a cafe and attempted to call my bank but I couldn't figure out how to make an international call on my phone. Just then, I remembered that I had $40US stashed away hidden in my wallet. I took the $40 and converted it to Moroccan Dirhams at one of the exchange desks. Outside, I hailed a taxi cab that cost me pretty much the entire $40US I had just converted. For the duration of the taxi ride, I was trying to figure out what to do if I couldn't access any more cash. With all that on my mind, the situation was made even worse by the driver's erratic driving, the horrible traffic, and the beggars that kept knocking on my window to get my attention. Needless to say, I was a stressed out mess. Finally, we arrived at Hotel Mamounia which appeard to be in not so great of a location. After quickly checking in to my room, I immediately got on the phone to try and contact my bank. Amazingly, I was able to figure it out and spoke with a customer service representative from my bank who assured me that there was no problem with my account and that I should be able to access cash at any ATM. I immediately went downstairs to ask the front desk employees where the nearest bank was located. They gave me several options so I ventured out and tried not to get myself lost. I found a bank about a 5 minute walk away and tried my luck at it's ATM. I let out the biggest sigh of relief when I was able to finally get some cash in my hands.

With my wallet now stuffed with cash, I was able to finally relax and start soaking everything in. I went back to my room to shower and relax for a bit before checking out Casablanca's main attraction, The Hassan II Mosque. Far taller than any surrounding structure, the mosque's minaret is easily visible. In fact, it is the tallest minaret in the world. Even more impressive than the minaret is the fact that the entire mosque is built on a rocky outcrop right on the coast. I had wanted to take a tour inside the mosque but I arrived a bit too late in the day to make the last guided tour. Instead, I was content with just walking around soaking in the entire atmosphere. It would have been really awesome to have heard the call to prayer emanating from the heights of the minaret but during my brief visit, none was to be heard. After spending about an hour walking around, admiring the fine details of the mosque, and doing a little people watching, I decided to hail down a taxi to take me back to my hotel. I probably should have done a little more sightseeing but I wasn't sure what else was a must see in Casablanca. The taxi ride from the hotel to the mosque was about 40 dirhams. The taxi driver on the return trip completely ripped me off and charged me 200 dirhams. I simply handed over the cash without even so much as a thought that I was being ripped off. It wasn't until I stepped out of the vehicle and he drove off that I realized I was just ripped off. Oh well, lesson learned to inquire beforehand on the price. Back at the hotel, I decided to take a walk around the neighborhood before the 6:00pm tour meeting. It was now early evening, and the streets surrounding the hotel were jam packed with activity with the main street filled with peddlers selling their wares. Walking around I felt like I was in a rather sketchy and unappealing neighborhood. Not that I ever felt unsafe but it was just complete culture shock during my stroll around the area.

Back at the hotel, I ran into the couple that I saw at the Madrid airport. Melanie and Troy were from New York City and were going to be on the tour with me. After chatting for a bit, I learned that they were waiting at the airport for me with the airport transfer. They left after waiting for about an hour. I really have no idea how I could have missed them as I definitely would have noticed the couple if I saw them. At the tour group meeting, I met our guide for the next 10 days, Abdul, a native Moroccan from the High Atlas Mountains. The remainder of the tour consisted of a dating couple from New Zealand but living in England, 4 from Australia, and 2 from Cumbria in England. Within the group, there was a wide range of ages with 2 of the girls in their mid 20's and 5 people were definitely at least in their late 50s. We went through the typical pre-tour administrative duties before heading out to dinner at a nearby restaurant with Abdul. We were brought to L'Etoile Centrale where I had my first experience with tagine and couscous. I ordered a chicken tagine and absolutely loved the conical dish in which it was served in. After dinner, most of us were completely tired after a long day of travelling so everyone pretty much headed back to their rooms for a good night's rest in order to start the tour tomorrow.

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