Tangier, Morocco

Dale and I enjoyed our day at Cape Spartel, the African mainland’s northernmost point, where the Mediterranean and the Atlantic come together, and in the kasbah of Tangier. Tangier is a very clean, beautiful, modern city and it even has some fairly tall buildings but the old city is also very much in evidence and picturesque.

At Cape Spartel we visited the Cave of Hercules where goat herders used to live and where limestone which is perfect for grinding stones was extracted. The ride out to the cape was lovely and green — such a contrast to the area around Casablanca.

After we saw the cave and the other tourist attractions nearby (I did enjoy seeing baby camels for the first time!) we drove back in to Tangier and through their “Beverly Hills” of mansions.

Every tour guide in Morocco has emphasized their toleration of all religions and the fact that every city has separate cemeteries for all three faiths, Muslim, Jewish and Christian, and we finally saw this Christian one. Today they also told us that Hitler had asked for the 600,000 Jews in Morocco at the time but the king protected them, saying that they were Moroccans first.

We walked for hours in the kasbah and the medina in Tangier where cats were everywhere and we were told that people don’t throw any food in the garbage but rather set it out for the cats, dogs and donkeys.

There are many gates to the kasbah / fortress and inside there are great views of the city and the water from up high.

We stopped at a Berber rug showroom but the rugs were no way near as nice as the ones in India and they didn’t find any customers in our group. Then we visited a spice market and had a lecture that included a whiff of the spices. Lots of customers among us there.

We stopped at a hotel for a snack and a great view of the city and of Gibraltar, just 8 miles across the water.

The hotel’s ceiling was stunning.

Then it was back into the medina and its crowded, narrow streets which did not deter any vehicle from driving right through anyway.

It was an interesting day in any interesting city and as always we came home to compare stories with friends who took different excursions, some wonderful and some not so much. Tonight we loose an hour and in the morning we must get up extra early. So goodnight.