Excursion: Morocco!

Exactly one month ago, I was arriving back in Pamplona from Morocco. The trip was an excursion organized by a popular travel agency for students called We Love Spain. My friend from UNAV, Debora told me about the trip and we signed up to go together! I'm really thankful my first time there was with a group that had guides because we saw things that I definitely wouldn't have found if I went on my own. For example, we went to a Berber Pharmacy that sold all natural remedies and the shop owner gave us a demonstration of how to use each of the products. There were so many herbs, oils and creams that sounded so useful, but I restricted myself to only buying three things: eucalyptus (I'm giving it to my brother because it's supposed to help with snoring), rose water as a toner for my skin, and argan oil.

The tall dark and handsome man you see in the white coat wasn't the shop owner, but he did give a mean massage.

I'm also glad I went with an organized trip because there were things I wouldn't have expected to face, like the 2 hours it took to cross the border from the Spanish-owned part of Africa to Ceuta.

Because the trip was organized through a travel agency, there were a few different meeting points throughout Spain people could go to before we all met up in Algeciras, where we took a ferry to Ceuta. All of the cities were in southern Spain, so Debora and I took a bus from Pamplona to Madrid, and from Madrid to Málaga where they company had a bus waiting to take us to Algeciras.

We were only in Madrid for about four hours before we took an overnight bus to Málaga (seven hours!), but we were in Málaga for eight hours the next day, so we were able to see a lot more of the city.

more art

me n deb again

cc

On top of the two hours it took to cross the border, our bus also broke down when we stopped for gas on the way to our hotel in Asilah. I honestly don't remember how long we sat at the gas station but it had to be for at least two hours. Luckily it was one of the nicer-sized ones that had tables inside to accompany a little cafe. I saw a coyote walking from the bus inside to the station and also almost got swept away into oblivion by the wind in whatever part of Morocco we were in. We didn't end up getting to the hotel until almost midnight, and they still served us dinner!

We ate rice, chicken kebabs and mixed veggies. Before this plate there was also a rather ambiguous soup that no one could guess the flavor of. A lot of people were saying pumpkin but to me it just tasted like potatoes. I did find a carrot or two in it.

The next morning we explored the center of Asilah, one of the blue cities in Morocco. We started with a guided tour and then we had a little free time to walk around.

hello

Afterwards we headed to Tangier, where we rode camels on the beach! It was definitely one of the highlights of the trip, even though I rode on the bumpiest camel out of the five. I was holding on for my life because every step he took I felt like I was going to fly off. My groin was sore for a good three days after that. This is Henry.

I don't know what his real name is--if he has one, it certainly isn't Henry. One of the guys named him that and it seemed to suit him.

We ate lunch in Tetuan in an Arabic palace that held wedding ceremonies, and afterwards we took a tour of the city. This is where the Berber Pharmacy was and we also saw traditional wedding dresses.

Our final day in Morocco was spent in Chefchauen, the bluest city we saw. Before arriving to Morocco, I thought there was some historical significance behind the color blue being everywhere, but I learned that there's an odor the blue dye produces that keeps mosquitos away. It only works when used in large quantities, so that's why there are entire cities painted blue. If someone were to use the dye on their house while the rest of the city was normal, mosquitos would still come around.

hey!!

For the entire trip, we had two guides, one from Sevilla and the other from Morocco (who spoke English, Spanish and Arabic!). However we had a special tour guide show us Chefchauen. I remember my first encounter with him because they didn't tell us a different person was guiding us through the city. He walked up to me in the hotel where we ate lunch and asked if I was happy because I looked too serious. The entire time I was wondering who this strange man was and why he was talking to me, but he turned out to be the funniest and sweetest soul. Here's a clip of him explaining how someone's day will turn out depending on what foot touches the floor first when s/he gets out of bed.

This is us holding the Moroccan flag!

After the tour we had free time to shop at the markets--which by the way, Morocco is a negotiating culture. I ended up only buying one thing because haggling made me nervous and at times frustrated when I knew something was worth less than a shop-owner was saying and he wouldn't lower the price, but it was fun watching Debora negotiate. She speaks French, which is common in Morocco, so she was able to banter more with people. I did get a henna tattoo though!

Later that evening we headed back to Ceuta for the ferry to Algeciras, and Debora and I started another long journey back to Pamplona. Enjoy some selfies I took with our guides (featuring Frederick!).