Morocco: the Land of Couscous, Camels, & Colorful Cities

The first weekend in April, Katie, Dan, and I embarked on a totally new experience thus far; we were leaving not only the country, but the continent. Yes, the continent. Friday afternoon, we loaded up on a bus with the Discover Sevilla tour company and headed south... to Africa!! We rode for three hours on the bus and finally arrived at the port to cross the Strait of Gibraltar. We had to wait awhile that night to cross because the water was so rough. Since it’s such a tiny stretch, all the water coming from the Atlantic that mixes with all the water coming from the Mediterranean, can make for a rocky thruway, especially if the weather is bad. We were delayed almost three hours, but we were so happy when we were finally able to board the ferry. The ferry was miserable though. I bought a Coke from the snack bar and came back with two barf bags for Katie and Dan as a joke before we set out; little did I know, I should have grabbed one for myself. It was the rockiest water I’ve ever been on in my life. It didn’t help that three children around me all got sick which was making me even more nauseous. I somehow made it through the entire ferry ride without getting sick (barely), but I was pale as a ghost and almost kissed the ground when we made it to the other side. Despite almost tossing my cookies, I was so happy to be in Morocco! 

As we were heading to our hotel around 12am that night, I was finally able to relax on the ride. I was just sitting in my seat, enjoying the movie we were watching, when all of a sudden, we heard a loud noise like something hit the bus. Seconds later, a head popped up in a window on the other side, and the entire bus freaked out! We immediately got the attention of our directors on the trip, and he calmed everyone down with his explanation. It turns out that it was actually young kids, maybe around 10 or 11 years old, that were hiding in the motor and others that jumped on the outside of the bus when we were going around the roundabouts near the ferry. Our guides explained to us that the kids will often times try to hide in the buses and even jump on while they are moving because they think all of the buses are going to Spain. Even if it means they might die trying to make it onto the bus, they still try so hard because they desperately want out of Morocco in order to go to Spain in search of a better life. After the kids that were hanging on our bus realized we were going away from the port, they jumped off, probably in search of more opportunities. This broke my heart whenever they told us this because no child should have to risk their life, trying to independently search for better opportunities by fleeing the country. At ten years old, they should just be enjoying grade school and the playground, not waiting for coach buses to pass to sneak into another country. Anyway, our first experiences in Morocco were quite interesting to say the least. When we finally made it to the hotel, we were served chicken, couscous, and vegetables, which was good because we were all starving!

The next day, we took the bus into the city of Chefchaouen, the blue city. We walked throughout the small city, which was so beautiful. All of the buildings were whitewashed with pretty blue accents and blue doors. There was a little stream running through the city that we ended up crossing in order to get to the restaurant where we were eating lunch. We enjoyed a traditional Moroccan tangine (steamed chicken, vegetables, and rice) and had time to try our hand in bartering with the locals afterward. I ended up buying a thick woolen sweater and a beautiful white and pink blanket made of wool for less than 25 euros!

Around 6:00, we boarded back on the bus and headed back to the hotel. It was nice to relax after a long day outside. We ate dinner again that night at the hotel, went to a small party on the 6th floor with the rest of the people on the trip, and ended up calling it an early night. 

Sunday morning, we woke up early to eat breakfast before leaving the hotel. Our first stop was in Assilah, a small beach town on the Northwestern coast of Morocco. We walked through the city, browsed through the shops, and took so many pictures, before leaving for lunch. That afternoon was one of my favorite parts of the trip. We stopped in another small coastal town and went down into the caves to see where the ocean washed in, then we went on camel rides! You can’t go to Africa and not ride a camel. They are really challenging to get onto though because the camels stand up first with their back legs and it’s very unexpected. I was not ready at all for my camel to stand up, which was why I almost flipped off the front of mine. I’m laughing about it now, but at the time, I thought I was going to face plant into the ground. Anyway, I survived the camel ride and have so many great pictures to prove it! Such a cool experience.

It wasn’t long after our camel rides that it was time to head back to the port and cross back into Spain. We successfully made it through the roundabouts without any kids jumping on the bus (although they did try), and fortunately for me, I made it across the Strait of Gibraltar the second time with no problems; the water was so much smoother on Sunday evening. In no time at all, we were back in Sevilla. Traveling to Morocco was probably one of the most rewarding weekends I’ve had since I’ve been abroad, plus it was so much fun to take a trip with both Katie and Dan. I was glad that all three of us got to experience it together!