Morocco (1) – TRAVICARIOUS

Gate1 Travel – 13 Day Kaleidoscope of Morocco

February 26 to March 11, 2025

Three flights to Casablanca though Atlanta, Paris and 3 flights home Paris to Atlanta

with Jane

Tour Guide Mohamed Chaouqi (Show-Key)

The trip highlight was a camel ride up a huge sand dune, waiting for sunset and riding down again. Camel pics are on Morocco (4) Blog.

Met Jane in Atlanta, flew to Paris (where she had a special coffee/cream and we had croissants) into Casablanca (largest city in Morocco).

We got Moroccan dirhams from the exchange desk. I automatically read “Bank of America” … until I looked closer. I wasn’t in Kansas anymore!!

The money was easy because it was 10 dirhams to $1 (just divide by 10).

The big red coat didn’t look promising — I was cold the entire trip. And it was still cold when I returned home.

Our transfer van took us from the Casablanca airport to Rabat, the country’s capital, on a 1-1/2 hour drive.

We just hung out in the hotel in Rabat that evening. The next day, we got massages here at the hotel.

The hotels were wonderful with great views; but the rooms often left something to be desired. First floor sliding doors didn’t lock and there wasn’t enough light in any of the rooms. I used my portable floating marine light for some extra light each night. An electric plug-in fell out of the wall and electrical sockets were scarce. We plug in headphones, watches, hearing aids, phones, phone chargers, hair driers, curling irons and water kettles. We’re are quite high maintenance in the electricity department.

Rooftop was interesting and so was the artwork.

We ventured out to see the marina but never got there. We ended up going through that gated wall into a non-tourist area where they spoke NO English. We tried to buy a couple pieces of pastries in a bakery with sign language. Things were for sale per kilogram, so after the fact, we realized they were different prices per kg and they had to weigh each piece separately. It turned out to cost 2 US dollars for six pieces. They thought we were crazy Americans — we were. I noticed they gave us the most pitiful paper money as our change. THEY won’t accept ANY flaws in US money; yet they pass around old crumpled stuff to us.

The night before we paid $5 at the hotel for a bottle of water. So we stopped into a tiny little local shop and bought two 2-liter bottles for 75 cents each.

Wind and rain was imminent so we headed home and ate our snacks. Later we saw the same snacks in different markets, swarming with flies and bees! We never did get sick, luckily. We made sure to only use bottled water, use no ice and wash our toothbrush and rinse with bottled water. We did try to avoid fresh, uncooked fruits and vegetables. I was craving a salad once I got home.

Had our meet and greet meeting and dinner that evening. My name tag has my name in Berber — the original language of Morocco.

There were 19 of us. Most people were single. There were about 3 married couples and a family of a couple and their 35 year old daughter. She worked at Google in NYC and left 2 days early since she needed to get back to work.

We met Renay and Randy, 2 women from Simi Valley, California, who travel a lot and play lot of games. We learned to play a card game, 7’s, and we also played what I call swoop and what they call sweep.

Our first bus ride. Turns out we had 1,500 MILES of bus ride on this trip!!

I’m happy to say that we stopped enough never to really, really have to pee.

This was a new business office building.

The roads were very good with plenty of round-abouts.

It’s a no-no to take photos of police — however he never saw it coming.

Thought these trees on the sidewalk were ridiculous. They were beautifully shaped – but you couldn’t walk down most of the sidewalk!

President’s palace. Even though they say women are equal and can get equal education and careers — there are no women allowed in this palace.

Fortress walls everywhere.

The ogee-shaped entrances are called gates — and I kept looking for a fence.

What juxtaposition! Brand new and centuries old.

I loved these trees/weeds.

And this tree too. There was alotta growing going on.

The entrance to the Hassan Tower and the Mausoleum of Mohammed V.

The Hassan Tower, though incomplete, stands as a powerful symbol of the vision, ambition, and creativity of the Almohad Dynasty. It was going to be the largest Mosque in the country and would seat 50,000 people. Construction was started in 1195 AD and in 1199AD construction stops when Sultan Yacoub El Mansour died. Then the Lisbon, Portugal earthquake damaged the ruins in 1755 AD. The minaret was only half built when the earthquake happened. In 1920 French and Moroccan archaeologists begin excavations at the site and in 1960 the ruins are moved so that Mosque ruins relocated to make way for the Mausoleum of Mohammed V.

I believe a king, his brother and his son are interred here in the mausoleum.

Typical bathrooms. The pipes were in my stall. Half the time they did not have toilet paper and they never had towels for drying your hands. That’s why I wear a pashmina — and use it as a hand towel.

The little hand figurine on the door is The Hand of Fatima and is an Islam symbol of protection. The “Dar” on the door means house, so it’s house of Cherif.

At the back is a small mosque. Non-Muslins are not allowed to enter.

This river goes out to the Atlantic Ocean.

He was a surfer but I thought he was a paddle boarder.

Cats everywhere. They vaccinate cats and dogs against rabies and neuter them.

A very aggressive woman came at Jane with a syringe of henna and drew this design on her arm — and then demanded $10 US from her. By the next day, it was pitiful looking. You just can’t trust a street vendor!!