Blogs from Chefchaouen, Tangier-Tétouan, Morocco, Africa - page 7

I have now officially been to 4 continents! I doubt I got the full scope of Africa, but it was a start. At the beginning, on Friday, we left Granada around 1:30 in the afternoon to drive to Algeciras where we caught the ferry to Ceuta. Ceuta is right across the straight of Gilbralter (we saw the Rock) and is technically still Spainish territory. Interesting Factoid about Ceuta, it is where Franco declared The Spanish Civil War: we saw the building (from a bus) Anyway, once we reached the continent of Africa, we still hadn't reached Morocco. Customs took forever; they are very stirct. Its one of the political problems plaguing Spain at the moment (immigration, etc) If you need an analogy, think Cuba...except Spain trades with Morocco. Anyway, we finally got through cutoms and reached ... read more

We both actually managed to get up at six thirty and surprisingly our first argument wasn't until much later on. We caught a petit taxi to the station and the driver tried the usual tricks of 10dh each for baggage even though the journey only cost 10dh itself. Due to the early morning I wasn't feeling up to my usual heated argument, so I told him he could take 14dh for everything or nothing at all. Maybe he sensed that to mess with me first thing in the morning was a dangerous thing, but he accepted with little protest. With the taxi antics dealt with, we went inside for a breakfast of pastry and juice. The bus journey was longer than I had believed it would be, so we didn't arrive in Chefchaouen until nearly one. ... read more

For Meg's last weekend in Morocco we headed to Chefchaouen, a quaint mountain town just five hours outside of Fes, known for its brightly painted blue buildings and its drugs. Despite its reputation as a mecca for drug-tourists in Morocco--and the constant pestering that it brings from local youth trying to make their share of profit--the town is actually quite charming. The medina is small and the lanes wind up and down the mountain, past houses that have been whitewashed and painted in varying shades of Smurf blue. There isn't much to do in Chaouen (as it is called by the locals) other than stroll through the medina or head up the mountain for a hike. Having done both and discovered that the food was not very good, we were content to leave after two days. ... read more

Wow! Chefchaouen was one of my favorite maroccan spot! The blue town, in the mountains, with friendly locals...Ok, too many tourist, but beeing one, how can you complain?... read more

I considered it an omen. The moon was in cresent just past new and right below it almost close enough to be touching was the brightest light in the night sky and one of the only ones strong enough to burn through the surronding light pollution. It was definitely a plantet probably Venus as the evening star. Much the same way the ancient Maya used certain alignments of Venus (the celestial embodiment of one of the Hero Twins from the Popul Vuh) as a sign of the right time to make war on their neighbors or enemies I'd be taking this cosmic alignment as a heavenly blessing on my upcoming travels. That was the night before I left and flew from Seattle to New York and then on to Casablanca. Having to pick up my ... read more