Day 12 — Tangier, Morocco
- When: Tuesday, May 1, 2007
- Where: Tangier
Welcome to Morocco! I should back up and tell you that our Tangier experience began the night before we arrived, when the Captain sent a letter to all the staterooms letting people know that Tangier could be dangerous so don’t act like idiot tourists and walk around with a giant map, hundreds of dollars in your hand, three cameras around your neck, etc. Duh. Basically: watch your back. The same advice I’ve taken to heart everywhere I’ve been since I was 14. Still, it was enough to give some of the other passengers second thoughts about leaving the ship.
That would’ve been a shame. I quite enjoyed my day in Morocco. We booked a shore excursion for today, as well, which ended up being a wise idea, as there wasn’t much to do near the shore, and there are cab drivers willing to screw you out of money.
This was a relatively early day for us: wake up at 7am to make it to the excursion meeting place, one deck down, by 8am. And it’s a good thing we did! Otherwise, we would’ve been late for leaving the ship an hour-and-a-half later, at 9:30!
It was borderline chaos as this was the only stop on the trip where we weren’t actually docked, but had to take a tender boat instead. That means confusion, wait times, etc. It wasn’t AS horrible as I anticipated when we first arrived at the meeting point, but still… it did take us 1.5 hrs to leave the ship.
We finally boarded a tender and made our way into Tangier.
Off the tender and on to our waiting bus. They couldn’t get the PA system working (it sounded like they had the gain turned up 300%), so I grew concerned we’d be listening to someone talk through what sounded like a McDonald’s drive-thru speaker for 3 hours. Wisely, they moved us to a different bus where the system was working a little better, and off we went.
For the next few hours we toured around the area outside Tangier. I don’t know, I was expecting desert conditions… but everything was lush and green. There were obvious signs of poverty, like where it appeared they would build an apartment building, get 92% done, then call it done and let people move in. It was weird. There’d be apartment buildings that were new-ish (but clearly lived in for 5+ years) where there’d still be construction debris piled up…
We stopped at several places where we could buy trinkets. I’m sure there’s a little arrangement between the vendors and the tour company owners and guides.
The scenery is quite stunning in places.
At one stop I paid $1 US to pet a camel. I found out later that it was possible to pay to RIDE one of the other camels. I wanted to do that!!
The last part of the tour was a walk through the medina area, near where we re-board the tender ships. It was so unbelievably cool! I fully expected to round a corner and end up in the first Indiana Jones movie. “Bad dates.”
There’s no way I’ll be able to reproduce the experience of walking through the medina for you here… I’m simply not that accomplished a writer. It was amazing, though. I took every opportunity to pause and soak up the experience; it was the most different place I’ve been so far in life. It wasn’t particularly clean, you would get a lot of stares, and the merchants were relentless in trying to sell their wooden camels, bracelets, handbags, toy drums, and wallets. It was authentic, though, and I savored that.
Anyways, the tour was over and I wasn’t ready to leave, so Sherri and I parted company (she headed back to the ship with the tour), and I headed back in the medina to wander around and grab a bite to eat. I stopped at a cafe and found a nice table for one outside that faced the main street. This was NOT a tourist’s restaurant – there wasn’t a big menu board by the street with laminated photos and someone trying to wave you in to the restaurant; it was on its own and unassuming. The waiter and I did not know each other’s language, but I was able to determine that a chicken dish was available and that I’d like one please. So I had my grilled chicken, french fries, and some sort of olive dish, plus a Coke, and watched Tangier life. It was one of the better meal experiences I’ve ever had in my life — not for the food, though it was satisfying, but for the atmosphere of the bustling market, the weather, and the friendliness of most of the people I encountered. I also felt very fortunate for everything I had in life.
Towards the end of my meal, Dave and Pat walked by… not entirely unexpected, given our previous encounters. I finished my meal and returned to the ship with them, and that was it for Morocco.
One more sea day (you know what happens on THOSE) and then the cruise is over.
Next stop: Barcelona, where we debark.