| Málaga – the beginning | |||||
| Day 1 - Leaving Spain | Day 2 - Chefchaouen | Day 3 - Fes | Day 4 - Er Rachidia | Day 5 - Merzouga | Day 6 - Tinghir |
| Day 7 - Aït Benhaddou | Day 8 - Marrakesh | Day 9 - More Marrakesh | Day 10 - Cascades (Ouzoud) | Day 11 - Ifrane | Day 12 - Tarifa |
| Day 13 - Málaga | Day 14 - Torremolinos | Day 15 - Torremolinos-1 | Day 16 - Torremolinos-2 | Day 17 - Caminito del Rei |
May 6th – Monday
Map Link – 155 kms
Tarifa – Chefchaouen
Today we’d be leaving Spain – and Europe – behind. It was time to visit a new country on a different continent!
One big advantage of having a hotel so close to the ferry terminal was that we didn’t have to rush to get there in the morning. Although we still had to go through the ticket line and then customs, the ferry wouldn’t leave until 9 am. Plenty of time to sleep in a little bit!
We enjoyed a leisurely breakfast buffet at the hotel, then packed up our bags and hopped on the bikes. It was a damp, overcast day on the coast – nothing like the bright sunshine we saw yesterday.
It is a tough life, but someone’s got to do it
A damp and overcast morning
Tarifa was easily navigated and we were soon in line at the ferry ticket office. Hana had already arranged our tickets, but now we had to go through The Process. Each of us were given two tickets, one for the bike and one for the rider. Each ticket had the bike registration information or the person’s name on it, and there was a bit of paper-ruffling as we tried to match everything up appropriately. The Custom’s process was simple and fast and it wasn’t long before we rode the motorcycles onto the ferry. Much to my surprise, the tying down of the motorcycles was handled by the ferry staff. I can’t think of another ferry I’d be on where I wasn’t responsible for this step. Nice to know that someone who knew what they were doing would be responsible! All we had to do was park them as directed and make ourselves comfortable upstairs.
“What do we do now?”
Our ferry
All tied up and nowhere to go
The ferry itself wasn’t very full and it was surprisingly clean and modern. We found seats and sat back for the 45 minute crossing. From the top deck I watched as the Tarifa Lighthouse slide by and then out of view. The lighthouse marks the divide between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, something I never really considered before now.
An empty corner of the ferry seating area
Tarifa lighthouse
Lots of shipping traffic through the Strait of Gibraltar
Farewell Spain!
Having had our passports stamped on the boat, our arrival in Tanger was uneventful. It took about an hour before we could all get through customs, but once through, we were officially in North Africa!
Welcome to Morocco!
The trip through Tanger was a quick introduction to Moroccan road chaos. The drivers were good, but there was no lane discipline, nor seemingly any awareness of what was around them. Despite this, no one ever seems to hit anyone else. It was crazy!
Leaving Tanger behind, the road went inland for a bit. I was tremendously surprised at not only the green hills, but the other colors of various vegetation and soils. Morocco was a colorful country! The temperature was also much cooler than I anticipated. In my mind, “Morocco = hot, arid desert”. What I was experiencing this morning was anything but: the wind was fresh and the sunshine bright but not overwhelming. It was a good day. Our route took us back to the coast, which we followed as the road frequently darted inland to skirt around the valleys that had formed by historic river courses. There were usually small villages tucked into these valleys, but not always.
Following the road inland along the valley sides
Evidence of the old road, with the old bridge filled in at the corner
The ubiquitous tagine – I had no idea just HOW ubiquitous they would be!
Outside of towns and in the middle of nowhere, there was almost always someone set up on the side of the road to sell something. Be it the well-stocked tagine stalls, bags of nuts, or fresh-baked bread, the industriousness of the local people was impressive. They had something to sell, and they were going to sell it! And I was particularly amused to see watermelons for sale. “Why watermelons?” you ask? Because our local fresh market sells watermelons out front and they are always from Morocco. I finally got to see the source of these sweet fruits!
The brown mounds behind the umbrellas are ovens, and the stalls are selling fresh-baked bread
Red and white markers show the edge of the road, giving evidence to the high water that can flood it
Not a very good shot, but we all remarked later about the “horse in the middle of the purple field”
The scenery was so much more than I expected!
Approaching our lunch stop – note that amazing passing position!
Lunch was at the most interesting and unique restaurant I’ve ever been to. Restaurant Merican, located on the shores of the Mediterranean, was an unassuming building, with an unassuming interior. But the food counter was anything but unassuming. It was loaded with fresh seafood of all kinds, ready to be cooked as soon as you chose what you wanted.
Only a very small portion of the variety of seafood available
In addition to the seafood counter there was a type of salad bar, where you could tell them which of the dozens of ingredients you wanted as you “salad side”. It was impressive, and we did not leave hungry.
Overlook on the Mediterranean
Still lots of wildflowers
I noticed that many building were partially finished, often with tall strands of rebar poking up from the four corners of the uppermost floor. Some people would leave the top floor unfinished for either tax reasons, or in the expectation of expanding when time and finances allowed for it. It simultaneously gave an air of “exciting expansion” and “sad neglect”.
These buildings are too far away to see any unfinished construction
Goats on the road!
Infrastructure improvements were evident throughout the country
Tangines forever!
It was late afternoon as we skirted the town of Chefchaouen. The view from the road didn’t give much indication of the town’s secret, but then as we rounded a bend I could see it: it was the famous “Blue City“! Sure, I kind of knew that we were coming here because of the itinerary that Hana provided months ago, but…. well, that was months ago and I wasn’t paying much attention to our daily routes and sites. But now here we were and I was looking forward to exploring.
Hotel Dar Jasmine – over 140 steps to reach the reception desk (and our room was even further up!)
The post-ride tea – tea is a big thing in Morocco!
The hotel was extremely interesting and had some great design features. It was built on the side of a hill, and the rooms were stacked up, each one with a fantastic view across to the old district of Chefchaouen.
The view from our room
Our room
Bespoke railings
Gourd lights in the trees
Kitchen employee picking fresh herbs for tonight’s dinner
After some time to change and unwind, Hana offered to lead us through the old streets of Chefchaouen. Only Ron, Sue, Dan, and I took her up on it; I think that the steps were too daunting for others to want to climb again on the return.
The old laundry washing station was now used for washing oranges for juicing
Traditional hats for sale; each regional tribe has their own design style and colors (that’s our hotel in the background)
Walking down the blue streets with market stalls on either side
A quiet side street
Intricate metal Moroccan lamps
Typical door colors and metal-working styles
A couple of the old fountains
Eggs!
Above the Blue
There were quite a few semi-feral cats in Morocco. I say “semi” feral because many times there was food and water set out for them, but the cats (and kittens – many more kittens than adults) were skittish and obviously did not enjoy any veterinary care. It was difficult for me to see these darling little critters and know that they had a tough life ahead of them. Not pampered and loved like the kitties I had left at home (with their own live-in holiday caregivers, no less!)
One thing that really surprised me was how relaxed the merchants were! I had read so many horror stories about stall owners harassing you to “come and look”, “buy this, buy that”, and the pickpockets that would follow and take advantage of the distractions. There was nothing like that here. It was a quiet, calm setting and I never once felt pressured into buying anything. Sure, there was a rare, casual invitation to come in and look around, but nothing that a smile and shake of the head didn’t take care of.
The markets themselves sold a variety of items. There were some of the typical tourist tchotchke, of course, but that wasn’t the focus. Instead, there was a huge variety of leather goods, rugs, wool sweaters, jewellery, soaps, Argan oil, shoes, some craftsmen (cobblers, painters)… these were real crafted items, most of them likely made locally.
Chefchaouen’s main square
After some fresh-squeezed orange juice in the main square, we made the short walk back up the hill and then up our hotel’s steps. It felt good to be moving, but I was ready for our dinner. We were going to eat at the hotel on the balcony that had the same awesome view as our room, but now with the added beauty of sunset. It was another amazing meal and the group chatted about our first day in Morocco.
