In January 2016, while visiting our daughter in Spain, we had the opportunity to take a side trip across the Straights of Gibraltar to Morocco. It was an amazing 5 days!
After researching tour and travel information we decided to take an independent private tour as we were limited to approximately 5 days. We booked our tour through Back to Morocco Tours. We were so glad we did, the communication and service was excellent and our guide Ibrahaim was very flexible and catered to our every need.
Day 1 – Arrival & Chefchaouen: After taking the ferry from Gibraltar, Spain to the Tangier Med ferry terminal we were met by Ibrahaim and proceeded to the mountain village of Chefchaouen, known as the blue city for its centuries long tradition of painting the walls of the medina (old town) blue, a tradition brought by which Jews escaping the Spanish Inquisition.
After checking into our hotel, Riad Assilah we began exploring the Medina, which is the old town section of the town.The Medina consists of series of winding alley-like streets where vendors sell a variety of locally made crafts and products. The main streets lead to the town square, known as Place Uta Hammam, where there are additional shops, artisans, restaurants, and the local mosque. While exploring we met two brothers who were painting and selling original artwork depicting different scenes within the Medina. We enjoyed meeting them and of course we returned home with several paintings.
Day 2 – Fes: This morning we awoke early and prepared to depart for Fes. The previous night the hotel offered to prepare a breakfast to take on our drive to Fez as we were leaving prior to their serving breakfast. However, the hotel staff arrived early and prepare a full breakfast especially for us. After more food than we could possibly eat, we loaded the car and began our journey to Fes. The route to Fes is a scenic drive 3 1/2 hour drive through the Rif mountains. Of particular interest were the traditional garb worn by various sects throughout the region.
After traveling through the mountains and across the plains, we finally arrived in Fes, also spelled Fez, around noon. The diversity of the city was quite surprising. The juxtaposition of donkey carts against gleaming, modern buildings and traditional regional dress mixed with western style clothing was most interesting. Shortly after our arrival we met with our guide who led us on an afternoon tour of the Medina.
The Medina, a UNESCO World Heritage Site makes up an area of approximately 15 square miles (if I recall correctly) and is considered to be one of the most extensively and well-preserved towns in the Arab-Muslim world.
We entered the Medina near the souk (or market). The first stop, of course was lunch! Our lunch consisted of lamb kufta (similar to a spiced meat wrapped in a pita shell) and magrhebi (Moroccan green tea with spearmint leaves and sugar). There was also the option of a shot of anise in the tea which we declined. After a brief lunch we continued our tour of the Medina which be found to be fascinating. We saw a variety of traditional Moroccan delicacies of which I no longer recall the names.
Numerous artisans were observed at work including the two pictured below who graciously allow us to photograph them at work. As we were wandering through the maze of cobblestone streets and alleyways, someone on a motorbike drove through the narrow crowded streets, apparently a frequent occurrence there, but I couldn’t help saying Bond, James Bond!
Continuing through the Medina we approached a large wooden door which we entered and began climb a small rather poorly lit staircase, my wife an I looked at each other as if to say “where is this guy taking us?” As we reached the top of the stairs, we entered a larger open area on what turned out to be the showroom of the world-famous (which we hadn’t heard of before) Chouara Tannery.
The tannery makes and sells a variety of goods including wallets, purses, hassocks, luggage, etc. Items may be made of animal skins such as goat, camel, ram, and cow. All are dyed naturally by hand using animal by-products. Their leather products come in all sizes and colors and are incredible well crafted. We bought a hassock which came unfilled and we were able to pack in our luggage and carry it with us. This leather pouffe that we purchased (above right) is made of camel skin. Note the intricately carved hand carved design and hand stitched bead work and seams.The tannery was one of the many highlights of our trip.
After exploring the Medina for several hours we met our driver and proceeded to our final stop of the day, Art Naji, a renown manufacturer of pottery in Fes. The pottery is short drive from where we were in the Medina, perhaps 10 minutes or so. They do have a free tour which concludes in the on-site factory store. The staff was happy to show us their creations but there was no pressure to buy anything. The guide walked us through each step of the pottery making process.
After a long day of travel and touring we were ready to go to our hotel and get some rest. As we entered the hotel we were truly caught off guard by the exquisite tile work and grandeur of of the place! After the initial shock of the magnificence of the lobby, we proceeded to our room which we were equally taken aback by. It was so large that it couldn’t all be fit into one photo, we thought “this is how we know how royalty must live!” Just for curiosity’s sake I checked to see how much the room rented for. I expected to see $250-$300 USD per night. To my surprise it was only about $125! After check in were treated to yet another wonderful Moroccan meal in the hotel restaurant then began to prepare for our next day’s adventure. A day long drive to the Sahara Desert!
Day 3 – Off to the Sahara! Once again we were up and on the road early. The drive from Fes to Merzouga, which is on the edge of the Sahara Desert, takes approximately 8 hours. While it is a long day, we did make a few stops that made it rather interesting. The first was in the town if Ifrane, which is a famous Moroccan winter resort town resembling an alpine Swiss village. There is a small town square with lovely picturesque fountains. After a brief stop there continued on our journey with our next stop being in the middle and high Atlas Mountains where we stopped to see and feed the wild Barbary Macaque monkeys.
After a long day of driving, we arrived in Merzouga, on the edge of the Erg Chebbi Dunes in the Sahara Desert. After arriving at our hotel, just to drop bags for the night and wash up, we were escorted to our awaiting transportation, CAMELS, for an overnight trip into the desert. We thought that getting on the camels could be a challenge however that was not the case. Staying on the camel was the challenge!! When you get on a camel, they are sitting on the ground and it is very simple to swing a leg over and get on. The challenge comes when the camel stands up. First, the camel stands on his hind legs (about 5 feet in the air) which suddenly throws you forward! Then, the other part of the equation…..you guessed it……, the camel stands on it’s front legs throwing you backward! We’re not quite sure how we did it but we hung on….yea!
After arriving at the camp and getting settled, we were treated to a fabulous meal in the dining tent. There were about 10-12 tourists in the camp, some staying overnight and some for multiple days. After dinner the camp staff, who were all from the local Berber community, prepared a bonfire for our enjoyment.
We all sat around talking, listening to singing, drumming, and of course star-gazing. We had never seen so many stars in our whole life! Unfortunately, we were not able to photograph them. Then, someone brought out ingredients for s’mores, yum, and I had the opportunity to teach a young lady from Columbia, how to make s’mores. She was very excited to learn “from a real American.”
As the drummers took a break, they spread out among their visitors and taught us about their culture while we shared with them questions about America and our culture. I assume others had the same types of conversations. After 20-30 minutes, the drumming resumed for a short period of until people began wandering off to their tents.
The tents are made layers of heavy blankets placed over a frame. The bedding also consisted of layers of heavy blankets. We were told to bring heavy clothing cold weather Under Armor to sleep in as the desert is very cold at night. We had planned well and were very comfortable.
Day 4 – Return to Fes: The next morning, the entire camp was awoken early so that we could observe the sunrise in the desert. Everyone was very excited to see it and it did not disappoint! As we were standing atop the dune watching the sunrise someone pulled out their phone and began playing the theme from the Lion King! It was very timely and everyone laughed, a wonderful; memory. Afterwards we packed up and headed back to the hotel where we previously dropped our excess bags. In the interest of time, we took a jeep and went 4 wheeling through the desert on our return. Upon our return and a quick shower, the hotel had prepared a wonderful breakfast, which we ate outside with the Sahara as the backdrop. It was beautiful!
As we began driving we asked if we could stop at a local shop to buy a turbans. We stopped at a placed called Depot Nomade, a cooperative where local Berber women make items in their homes, such as scarves, rugs, etc., sell them at the cooperative and each gets a share of the collective profits. We quickly discovered that the turbans are not likes hats per se, but a long narrow piece of hand dyed fabric that is folded or tied in a specific way. The fabric comes in every color and design that you could possibly think of. We enjoyed interacting with the staff and learning how to tie them THEN, we saw the rugs.
OMG! A huge room consisting entirely of hand-woven rugs in every style and size imaginable which they were eager to show us. We were seated to one side of the room while the gentleman and his assistant pulled one rug after another from piles of carpets and shared the significance of the design and colors. He was very clear that we were under “no obligation to buy anything,” (yes we knew it was a sales tactic) while we learned about the rugs and saw the variety of beautiful rugs. We truly did not feel pressured but, yes we did buy a rug! I mean, how many times were we going to be in the Sahara Desert in our lifetime? After making our purchase, a wallet and the head scarves were now “free gifts,'” we headed back to Fes.
The trip was rather uneventful but we did run across one unusual sight, several people standing in the road (in the mountains miles from anything) where as we soon discovered a car had gone off the road, into a ditch, and was resting on its side. I joined our driver as he got out to assist then we (about 8-10 people by then) lifted the car out of the ditch and back onto the road then everybody, including the car in the ditch, hopped back into their car and proceeded on their way, a unique experience.
We arrived in Fes just as it was getting dark, checked into the same palatial hotel, and said farewell to Ibrahaim, our driver, as we prepared to catch the train the next morning to Tangier.
Day 5 – Return to Spain: The hotel arranged a taxi for us to the train station. In Morocco, train tickets can only be purchased in person at the train station, there are no online purchase options, so we were a little nervous and wanted to make sure we were early to avoid any complications. Since the difference between a first class ticket and coach was minimal (about $5.00 per person) we purchased a first class ticket. Coach is much as you would expect, open seating on each side of the train with 3-4 seats in each row. Though First class compartments can hold up to 6 people. Most people travel coach so we ended up having our compartment to ourselves.
The trip back to Tangier was scheduled to take 5 hours. Much like the ferry, train schedules seem to be more of suggested times rather than set schedules. The ferry back to Spain was scheduled to depart at 2:00 and we were scheduled to arrive in Tangier at 1:00 however, due to the numerous stops at seemingly every little village we did not arrive in Tangier until 2:30! We were very stressed!! We quickly caught a taxi for the 10 minute ride to the ferry terminal, ran to the ticket window, out across the pier, which was quite long (and praying the whole way) and finally onto the ferry. As we collapsed into our seats, the ferry began to pull out, we made it!! Sadly, our amazing journey to Morocco had come to an end. We look forward to returning someday!