One of the side trips we were looking forward to is scheduled for today Friday November 25th. We decide to take an organized tour to Morocco instead of go it on our own. Which turns out to be a great decision. With language changes, custom changes, continent changes, money changes and a short amount of time to try to experience the city of Tangiers on the Northern tip of Africa. We were under the leadership of a very good English speaking local resident who toured us through parts of the city we would have never seen otherwise: The casbah, the medina and the various sections of the city defined by which nationality settled that area. …and she was able to fill us in on the rich history and cultural uniqueness of the area. We had a stop for a Kodak moment (in our case it was an HP moment) where Jackie, Ben and I all had the opportunity to sit on a camel and ride around a bit. The camels didn´t seem to be too amused, but we were.
Then off to the casbah, which was originally a military fortress years ago, but now is a town within a town, a residential community of rows and rows of small bungalows that are divided only by narrow cement pathways…as she described it this is community living like we have never seen. The house are so close you can hear conversations from one to the other, and everyone, knows everyone else's business. It´s like Desperate Housewives without the landscaping. Then the snake charmer….the poor old fellow blew his picallo trying to get that snake to surface…but finally they just grabbed the back he was in and yanked him out for the tourists to take pictures with. We all declined that one. Finally, they dumped us in the hands of some high pressured rug salesmen, who gave us a 15 minute presentation of their wares. This is the only part of the tour that was a bit tacky…we had no desire or need for a Moroccan rug…so we patiently waited and got the heck out. Street vendors are soooooo aggressive on the small winding pathways through the medina that it puts the Mexican beach vendors to shame. These guys are all over you, literally encircling you and barking at you with their deals, and super deals…..well it was just too much for Jackie to resist….she bought a wooden box from one guy, and that escaladed the selling frenzy to a whole new level…..she was forced into yet another purchase of a small wooden camel from a teen age boy….and luckly we were about to escape to the bus and our Super Ferry ride back to Spain. Maybe one of our very best days…so different, so unique.
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