Becky Ryan a.k.a Webmoxy

This trip had all the essentials that would make for the ultimate ride! I don’t want to focus on the bad or scary parts, as there were many, but to focus on how a couple hours can create a life change.

Tangier is the most northern part of Africa. It has a beautiful mix of Arabic, African, Spanish and French influences.

For starters, Marie Howell (SEObiker) and I discussed going to Morocco before planning the trip to Spain. I personally wanted to go since a young child.

Marie and I both felt very prepared for anything: Marie besides being highly intelligent and running a successful business - she speaks multiple languages, races motorcycles and has gone to “economically challenged” areas in South America many times.

Once in Spain we told my dear friend, Sally, we wanted to go to Tangier. Sally is also highly intelligent and one of the most well travelled and adventurous friends that I have. She has been all over the globe and speak many languages! She has seen the pyramids and has been to many exotic locations and third world countries. She also is very proper and sophisticated.

When she told us that Tangier sounded like fun and she wanted to go we toasted to our coming trip Tangier! This is so exciting that when Marie and I head back we can’t wait to get ready.
This is my dear friend Sally:

At the crack of dawn Sunday, Sally met us and gave me her fathers coat …as to much of my skin was showing (!?!) and tissues. Later she said toilet tissues are basically a commodity (eek).

We took an hour plus ride to Tarifa to catch the Eurostar. Then a 30-40 minute ride to Tangier.

Once we got settled in we had breakfast on board. Marie and I heard lovely stories about Sally’s previous adventures and what she would like for us to experience when we get their. Other then making sure we had are tissues there was only exciting stories. Note: they were all pleasant/lovely stories!

Here we are on the boat! Three girls, cash, and passports we were set to buy and see all that Tangier could offer.

As the boat docks we gather our belonging and head to shore. In this picture there is a line up of about 50 guys waiting for tourists. They all look very nice ….from hundreds of yards away!!

Most of the people on board signed up for a $6 tour. We opted out as we wanted to explore Tangier!

Sally told us we could easily get a guide, for about $20-30 eu. As we got off the boat those 50 some guys surrounded us. It was disturbing as they were quiet forceful, talking very loud and actually grabbing. I must admit my nervous were getting rattled.

I realized Tangier Port Guides are have no knowledge about “spatial awareness.” Most were very aggressive, loud, and spoke either Arabic, French, Spanish or broken English. One guide stood out, Abdul. He was well dress very articulate and spoke English, as a second language.

As we set off to see Morocco, Sally and Abdul walked freely. They discussed, chatted, and laughed about all the happenings, history, culture, including the weather. Sally mentioned all the places she wanted Marie and I to visit, shores we wanted and the best restaurants.

All of this while Marie and I clung to each other. Smelling that most rancid smells, stepping over some yuckies, and hearing God knows what by Arabic men. We basically only saw Sally’s and Abdul’s feet.

WHERE are the the poor children?? I thought we would be handing out money…. maybe buying trinkets from cute little kids maybe a lot of flies? Instead big burly dudes that have consumed mercury in the daily diet! Showers I started guessing were also a commodity.

Poor Marie actually understands what is also being shouted by these “men”. At some point, I had to tell her to STOP TRANSLATING!! My stomach was in knots. Marie and I clung, heads down and then the giggles started. (okay I may have started it) but we were both at fault. Again Sally and Abdul casually discussed “cultural issues affecting tourism.”

Marie and I were NOT on the same trip as Sally, for at least another 20 minutes! We basically clung for dear life, stayed close to them and stared at the ground. We prayed a lot about not to becoming part of the slave trade. We thanked God for Abdul. When groups of men would start surrounding or coming closer he would tell the guys to leave us alone.

Side Note: Yes, we know how unflattering we look!

The tension, smells, big burly guys - led to Marie getting a migraine. Sally and Abdul decide to take sick Marie., to the pharmacist.

The pharmacist concocted some powders with herbs, black seeds, and white stuff. He was nicely dressed well spoken and clean!

He told Marie to smell this stuff.

Though her migraine was huge Marie and myself were worried about the concoction. Sally talked to the pharmacist and was very positive. Marie and I were not convinced. Sally to prove it - sniffed it first. For the life of me I don’t know why she did that(!?!)

I sure hope that it wasn’t illegal but after they sniffed the stuff, her headache went away and she felt great! I even felt better through osmosis. It was the first time since we landed I felt relaxed, Marie was happy and Sally she was Sally

Maybe the drugs helped. Marie and I got a kick out of the strangest things:

This is some type of lizard they use as an aphrodisiac and for black magic.

We went to check out the carpet stores. They were actually so much fun. The first carpet store had a huge room with carpets, chairs and benches. They offered us some wonderful tea!

They then start bring out the carpets. They owner educates you on everything from the history, types of weaves, dyes, symbols, types of quality, materials, and the dedication within each of the carpets. They are simply fine pieces of art that I know have a huge respect for. Some of the carpets we saw took over a year to make with several weavers. The prices are about 1/4 or more cheaper then in the states!

We then decided to go to the town centre. There were many people there including the Bedouins. The Bedouin women don’t like their pictures taken. I know this is disrespectful but Marie and I really wanted a photo.

We even tried to make it look like Marie was taking a photo of me but as you can see they turned theirs heads and covered their faces. The Bedouin women can be easy to spot not only because of their clothing , but the tattoos. When the women are younger they opt to have a very decorative tattoo which starts on their face. Most notably is the chin going down their neck and maybe father… Their tatoos are very tribal and striking as most of the women I noticed had the tattoos cover most of their faces.

Abdul wanted to make sure we knew that facial tattoos are a choice. As Abdul said, “the tattoo helps women be able to go to big towns and know if they see someone else with the same tattoo, that they are from the same tribe.” I asked if the men do the same and the answer was “no”. *interesting *

Here is one I found on the net:
As we continued we were amazed at the actual beauty of the architecture, history, and the people. The Arabic Muslim prayers are played many times a day through hundreds (if not thousands of speakers) plugged in through out the city. I didn’t see anyone praying but maybe they only do that in the mosques?

Like Abdul said they are rebuilding a lot. We came to what is probably going to be a beautiful park:

After a fantastic lunch!! We were started to shop:

We even had time to go to the top of some of the buildings and take pictures of the city. It is absolutely huge!

When we made it safely back to the boat there was such a sense of accomplishment, in my heart. I truly can say Morocco changed me. A country that at first seemed so archaic grew on me. The people and culture which at first scared me became intrigue. When we sat down with food and drinks we reminisced. We had tears feel our eyes at how scared we were, how happy we became and how we all would like to explore more places.

Tangier is noted for having a lot of beauty and wonderful people. I would love to go back and explore the Hercules Caves, ride a camel and actually get to know more about the wonders of North Africa! For more information check out this Tangier’s Guide by Tore Kjeilen

This entry was posted on Sunday, February 11th, 2007 at 7:45 pm and is filed under Travel. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. You can comment below, or link to this permanent URL from your own site. Your comments will be moderated but will appear as soon as humanly possible.