Morocco Bound
We arrived in Algeciras to some fairly gloomy weather but fortunately our ferry to Morocco was booked for a day without a major storm. Ferries on the days either side of our crossing had been cancelled due to storms so we were pretty lucky.
Motorhomers usually book the ferry to Morocco through an agency in Algeciras run by Carlos, however this year DFDS have been doing a promotion that was too good to ignore. To get the promotion price (€130 return for 2 people plus a motorhome), you have to phone their call centre in Spain. The two downsides of this is that you have to specify a return date and time (although you can change this up to 48 hours before your return booking, which we did) and you have to find and pay for somewhere to store your drone as Carlos provides this service for free. (Drones are forbidden in Morocco).
We stocked up in Algeciras on things that we knew would be hard to get in Morocco such as alcohol and pork products and we made sure we had full gas, as refillable gas is impossible to get in Morocco.
We spent the night before the crossing at a park-up just five minutes from the port so we were well placed for our morning crossing at 9.30am. The check-in was straightforward and we were directed to a parking area to wait for boarding. And we waited, and waited and then, we waited some more. Eventually we discovered that the 9.30am ferry was cancelled and we were rebooked for the 12.30pm ferry, which was running a couple of hours late !
We finally boarded around 2.30pm and headed straight to the Passport Control booth on the ferry where we had to complete an immigration form and get our passports stamped.
On arrival in Morocco at Tangier Med port things were going well until we reached Customs. This involved a good 45 minute wait as someone disappeared off with our passports and V5. It could have been worse though as we were neither searched nor diverted to the X-ray queue.
Eventually the man returned with our passports and V5, we shared a big sigh of relief and we were free to go. We stopped briefly in the port to buy some insurance – payable in euros (cash only) and quite expensive at €200 for three months.
We were finally out of the port and free in Morocco but with the rain lashing down – not what we had hoped for. We drove South for around an hour to Asilah where there is a good campsite (albeit flooded in parts), just across the road from a big beach. Not that we could see the beach as the weather had got much worse as another storm was starting to come through.
We decided to have dinner at the campsite and we hooked up with some other Brits who were on the same ferry as us. Dinner was delicious and we had a great first night in Morocco.
The next day we woke up to more driving rain, so after checking the weather forecast we decided to drive South until we found the sunshine. We drove all day down the coastal toll roads starting in a raging storm and passing so much devastating flooding where large swathes of land and some buildings were under water, until eventually the weather started to improve. By 5pm we drove into a campsite just outside Marrakech, the sun was out and it was over 20c. After a pretty miserable January in Portugal (weatherwise), we had found the weather we wanted !
After a couple of days relaxing at the well known Relais Campsite, we were ready to start exploring Morocco and first on our list was to go to Marrakech itself. We had decided to leave the camper at the airport where there is secure parking and spend a few nights at a Riad (a small traditional style hotel) right in the centre of the city so we could really get a feel for it.
From the airport it’s easy enough to get a taxi into Marrakech. However, the centre of Marrakech is a walled and mostly pedestrianised place which is a labyrinth of alleyways – the taxi can drop you at the nearest gate but then you’ve got to find your accommodation on foot and in the narrow alleys your phone GPS isn’t always that reliable !
We managed to navigate our way to our Riad, Dar Khmissa Riad. The entrance was just a fairly plain door down a dead end alley but once through the door, the building opens up to a multi-storied traditional building around a central atrium and the roof terrace with a hot tub was a real bonus.
We were greeted at the hotel with our first introduction to Moroccan tea. The Moroccan’s love to offer tea when you arrive at places – it’s part of their culture and hospitality.
We weren’t here to hang out in the hotel though – we were here to explore and Marrakech is a vibrant, lived-in city, which you can wander around for hours and soak up the atmosphere.
There are definitely two sides to the Marrakech experience, there are the touristy areas and then the local areas and the two very much exist side by side. Once you are into the Souk you can walk through a really touristy area selling ceramics, rugs and spices and then turn a corner to see locals whizzing by on mopeds and goat carcasses hanging outside butcher shops.
Our Riad was less than a ten minute walk to Jemaa El-Fnaa Square, the main market square of Marrakech. It’s a massive open square which is relatively quiet during the day, with just a few market stalls and one or two snake charmers and monkey handlers around. It’s best not to photograph their animals as the handlers can get quite aggressive demanding money and we have read that they treat their animals poorly, in some instances sewing up the mouths of the snakes so they can’t bite. As a result their life expectancy is very short.
At night the Square completely changes and becomes filled with temporary restaurants selling grilled food as well as the standard tagines. There are lots of different restaurants and each one has people hassling you to sit at their tables. In fact this is where we received the most hassle on our whole trip in Morocco. After wandering through the melee it became evident that they all pretty much sell the same food at the same prices so we sat ourselves down and got stuck in. We never saw a menu, as soon as we say down they started to bring us food and it just kept coming, including a whole bunch of tasty meat skewers, calamari and grilled fish.
We probably should have insisted on seeing a menu and ordering one plate (rookie error!) as the downside to this was that it turned out to be the most expensive meal we had in Morocco, but we had properly feasted and for only €40. Expensive for Morocco (we were to find out as we became more familiar with the country) but by British standards still fairly cheap.
We also tried one of the Marrakesh specialties that appear at night. Vendors of snail soup. We sat at a counter while the chef dished us up a bowl of soup and we can report that it was OK. A little bit bland if we are honest – we definitely prefer them the French way, smothered in garlic butter.
The square really comes alive at night, with musicians, storytellers and even fairground games. The whole atmosphere was great.
Off one side of Jemaa el-Fnaa the souks or Medina starts and you can walk for what feels like miles through the narrow corridors lined with merchants. It’s hard to keep your sense of direction as they can be very disorienting.
Despite hearing that there can be a lot of harassment in the souks we really didn’t find that to be the case. Of course the various merchants are trying to sell their products but with a simple “No thank you” or “Non Merci” they would back off and didn’t press their case. It was nothing like the level of harassment that we had suffered in Cairo !
In the heart of the souks we came across the entrance for the Madrasa Ben Youssef. This is a theological college that was founded in the 14th century where students came to live and study Islamic law and the Quran right up until 1960.
It is a real architectural gem with a peaceful central courtyard with a shallow reflective pool which leads you to the prayer hall. Upstairs overlooking the courtyard are 130 small rooms which were the student accommodation.
We also visited the Bahia Palace which is away from the centre of the town off Tinsmiths Square and next to the Jewish Quarter. It was built in 1866 by Si Moussa, the grand vizier of the Sultan.
There are 150 rooms and lots of courtyards with many hand painted wooden ceilings. There is ongoing restoration work but what is open is in very good condition.
Not very far from here is another site to visit, the Saadian Tombs. This is a quicker visit and is really all about one central room. There is only room for one or two people to view this at a time so there can be a bit of a queue. It’s best to get there early in the day to beat the crowds.
This was the resting place of the Saadian dynasty who ruled Morocco in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. After the fall of the Saadian’s the complex was walled off for many years until 1917 when it was rediscovered by the French by aerial survey.
We ate out at a couple of restaurants in Marrakech but after our first night’s extravaganza we decided to try out the smaller, more lowkey eateries frequented by the locals which saved us a but of money but also gave us a chance to try proper Moroccan food.
I tried the regional specialty Tanjiaa, which is basically stewed meat. It was good but a bit dry. Sarah tried a chicken Pastilla which she loved. It is a bit strange – a savoury but also sweet pie. And of course we had a Tagine. I mean it is Morocco after all !
Sarah decided to buy some Moroccan sweet pastries from a very nice guy. He even threw in some for free. I am not one to judge too harshly but I’ve had tastier cardboard !
We really enjoyed the buzz of Marrakech but as with all cities, after a few days we were ready to move on and find somewhere more remote for some peace and quiet. Marrakech was a good introduction to Morocco and we were looking forward to discovering what else she had in store for us.
