Travel Tales: Morocco

I think the best response I ever had to the question,

"What do you want to do tomorrow?"

was...

"Let's go to Africa."

We were in southern Spain, on the Costa del Sol,

in a little village called Estepona.

The next morning we headed off early and sped

south along the A-7 and passed the Rock of Gibraltar.

At one of the countless turnabouts we saw a tiny sign

for our destination, Tarifa.  We veered off onto a tiny

mountain road and as we rounded a hairpin turn,

there it was, Africa.  When we looked over the tiny

railing we noticed something strange.

We were still so high up in the mountains

we were above the clouds.

We had no ferry schedule and when we arrived

we could hear the boat revving it's engines.

We ran for tickets and later found out we were

part of a tour.  We aren't tour people but since we

planned to hire a private guide once we arrived in

Tangier we decided to go with it.

Onboard we met some Americans including some

great people from New Jersey.  Then we departed to

cross the Straits of Gibraltar,  the straits are where

the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean meet.

I have spent a lot of time on the water but this

was the roughest sea I have ever experienced.

Then, we first set foot in Africa.  It was our first time.

Everything was different, the air was different, the sun

was different, the faces, the clothing, the scents were

so foreign and exciting.

We toured around and admired the architecture and

the kasbah and homes of the famous and then

it was time for the souq.

The souq is the old section filled with

food vendors and shops with handcrafts.

It is a confusing, twisting labrynth of tiny

passageways that make you feel like you are in

an Indiana Jones movie. 

There's laundry and wires and lanterns

strung above your head.

We had been told by our tour guide not to

engage with the street vendors or they wouldn't

stop pestering you.  Pardon me but that was

the most fun.  I broke the ice and bought a

beautiful silver necklace for Kate and got him to

throw in a matching bracelet.  I learned that day

that if I had a past life I was one of these vendors.

I could haggle with the best of them and I had a

fabulous, fun time doing so.

In a shop a British guy from our group told

me he thought they were beggars.  That was

when I stepped outside to have more fun on the

street than with that dull British guy.  The next time

I'm in Tangier I will find the guy in the photo above,

he was lovely and a lot of fun.

By this time we had worked up quite an appetite

and it was time for lunch.  We had a traditional

meal of spicy vegetable soup and Donner Kabobs

and couscous with chicken and baklava.

It is amazing how a group can bond when they

break bread together, here everyone started

talking about where they were from and

swapping travel stories and hints and tips.

All the while we were entertained by local musicians.

In our group were some people from England, the

cute Spanish couple, the older couple from Denmark,

the guys from Germany that I sang songs from Evita

with as we walked through the souq, and the brothers

with their wives who were originally from East

Africa but now live in Edmonton, Alberta and Seattle.

I think I became a temporary member of their family

for a few hours, we had so much fun together.

After lunch we walked off our meal and bartered

some more and took photos and laughed and

compared our treasures.

I think I could spend a lifetime photographing

the beautiful tile work.  Fabulous color and

inspiring design ideas.

As night came on we sat on the terrace of a hotel

and relaxed over drinks while talking with our new

friends about all our adventures.

We took a late night ferry back to Spain and had

to say farewell to our new travel friends.

The guys from Germany dressed up on the return

 journey in their fezs and djellabas ~ they were off to

make a splash in the bars of Tarifa.  I bet they did!

The older couple from Denmark were staying in the

town next to us and since they had GPS they said

they would lead us back through the mountain

roads.  As we were waiting for our husbands to pay

for the car park, the woman came over to my car and

took my hand and said, "Thank you for today" ~ it

was a lovely moment.  We followed the lovely Danish

couple through the mountains and back up the coast

and when we got to our local road we all waved good-bye

like little kids and blew kisses.

And that is what travel is all about!  Kisses, Ellen