11/19/2007 – Tangier

Today we go to Africa. We took a hydrofoil from Tarifa that took about fifty minutes to make the crossing. Tangier, Morocco was founded 1200 years before Christ. It is a Muslim democracy like Iran. It seems to be friendly to Europeans and our local guide took every opportunity to point out Christian churches, Anglican churches and Synagogues. There was a Mosque on every other block, however, and the call to prayer was broadcast all through out the city on loudspeakers five times a day.

Our hotel was a beautiful Northern African style five-star that was very nicely apportioned. It was unlike anyplace I have ever stayed. The room had large oak cabinets and a high ceiling. The main dining room was off an open-air courtyard that had tables and comfortable chairs positioned in a way to ensure privacy. The area around our hotel seems to be a fairly cosmopolitan. There are many twisting and turning pedestrian walkways with people, mostly men, everywhere. They were all walking around and going to the shops that seemed to be doing brisk business, relaxing at the cafes and congregating in the square. The difference between this place and any city in Europe seemed to be the great congestion of people and traffic. It was difficult to move in some places. You really had to be aggressive to get around.

When we arrived on the ferry from Tarifa and our local guide took us on a brief city tour. As I mentioned he specifically pointed out a Synagogue, Christian Church and a Mosque in the first ten minutes we were there. He really seemed to be concerned that we not think of Morocco as a place of religious intolerance. He talked a great deal about what used to be a large population of Jews in Morocco. It seems that at one point, nearly half the population of Morocco was Jewish. There are now more than seven hundred thousand Moroccan Jews in Israel. Additionally, the Moroccan Jewish vote is so important in New York that Hillary Clinton came to Tangier twice when she was running for her Senate seat to court that voting block.

After the city tour we took a drive to Azayla to see their Kaspah. We drove through the wealthy area and saw the homes of kings and princes from various Middle Eastern oil nations. We were also shown large tracts of land that have been purchased by foreign investors for development (and money laundering purposes). Unfortunately, this level of investment in the country has greatly expanded the rich-poor gap. Property is all but unavailable to the common Moroccan and they are encouraged to purchase 30m X 30m apartments for 20,000 Euros. Unemployment hovers around 20% in the cities and there are many people in the streets and the cafes during the day. The illiteracy rate is around 30%.

Typical Moroccan home



There is a great deal of development outside the city but great stretches of the Atlantic coastline remain untouched by commercial interests. This would be great except for the garbage strewn across the beaches. Almost everywhere you go there are plastic grocery bags lying around. The coastline is beautiful but it is all privately owned and in need of cleanup.

Littered coastline



Voice of America broadcast complex



Azayla is the festival town of Morocco. Indeed, it was the most well maintained place we saw while we were there. The Kaspah is basically a fortified area around which a wall was built to keep out invaders. Life here, like everywhere else in Morocco revolves around prayer. Everything closes when there is a call to prayer. Sometimes shops reopen and sometimes they don’t. There are no set times for places to stay open here. They just open and close depending on necessity and whim.

Kaspah





Apartment in the Kaspah



View of Atlantic from Kaspah



The Kaspah is a pretty amazing place. It has an amazing view of the Atlantic and there seems to be a great deal of restoration work taking place. We were walking along and we came across a small bakery and they gave our group a few loaves of fresh-baked bread to share amongst us. This was fresh out of the oven and it was the best bread I have ever had. I am told that they use very little salt and you can tell.

After the Kaspah we drove back to Tangier. Along the way we stopped for camel rides. It seemed like a good photo opportunity and, really, how often does a guy from Perrysburg, Ohio get to ride a camel. A vendor gave me a fez to complete the experience and I was off. I rode an elephant once when I was ten and this was not really that different. It was pretty fun though and certainly one of those vacation experiences that you have to do when the opportunity presents itself.

Our next stop was at a café for a glass of mint tea. This is a common Moroccan drink made with green tea, sugar and mint leaves. It was somewhat overpowering at first but you got used to it and it is actually very refreshing.

Mint Tea



We went back to the hotel and relaxed for a while. I took a walk through the streets surrounding our hotel. It was crowded, as I mentioned. Dinner was very good. We had chicken couscous and it was served family-style. It was way more than the six people at our table could eat. We left more than half. There was a couscous base with a whole chicken, vegetables and various spices. The whole thing was steamed and served to us in a giant dish. It was extremely good with hot sauce.

After dinner it was time to sleep. We have an early day tomorrow.