Where Atlantic meets Mediterranean

Good Morning from Chefchaouen. It’s been a very busy 24 hours. We left Casablanca yesterday morning at 9 am on the high speed train to Tangier. It was a very smooth ride along with the Moroccan countryside on one side of us, and the Atlantic coast on the other. It was very relaxing to just sit back and watch the world fly by. 

We arrived in Tangier only to be greeted by an absolutely stunning city. The landscape and Mediterranean coastline is site to behold. I feel confident in referring to it as Morocco’s version of the Almalfi coast. Very mountainous with villas tucked away amongst the lush trees. The most interesting part being that you can look across at Spain as Tangier sits right on the strait of Gibraltar. The strait itself is only 14 kms wide. Our first stop was to buy some food and then headed to a beautiful park overlooking the Mediterranean for a picnic. The views did not disappoint however the number of stray cats begging for food was a little off-putting. One of the cats put it sights on me and that was it. This is very common in many African and Asian countries. He/she was very aggressive and insisted I share my meal. I have always been someone whom animals seem to gravitate towards for some unknown reason but in this case, the food helped I suppose. I guess in the grand scheme of things I should think myself lucky as there were many cats but only this particular one set its sights on me. 

 After the picnic, we went to Tangier Lighthouse. The first point of land when entering the Gibraltar strait. There were many ships off the coast either coming or going. There was a sign there depicting where the Atlantic Ocean ends and the Med begins. We did some old and group shots there as is the touristy thing to do. The great thing about being in a group is that every one takes pics for every one. We then loaded back in the minibus and headed to Hercules Cave. The drive over was just stunning as it hugged the coast line with nothing but beaches, cliffs and intense surf to treat your eyes. There were a lot of camels as well on the beaches. Mostly for the photo op with some offering rides. 

 After a short ride, we arrived at Hercules Cave. Yes it refers to the Hercules from Greek and Roman mythology. The legend is that Hercules rested in this cave after separating the European and African continents. It was nice and offered up a few great pics. Once we left here, we had a little free time to explore Tangier on our own. We strolled the old Medina, navigated through the narrow alleyways with some doing some shopping. One thing I enjoy about Morocco is that it is much less aggressive than some countries I have visited. 

After a little free time, we headed out for our 2.5 hour drive to Chefchaouen. It was a very winding road up and down through the Rif mountains. It was an aggressive ride but the scenery kept us occupied. Unfortunately one of our group members did get motion sick so we had to make a quick stop. Once we regrouped, we finished the drive and arrived in here in Chefchaouen, also known as the blue city. After the hotel check in and we got settled, we reconvened in the lobby and went out for supper.  This ran a little later than expected so I didn’t write last night. I got up a little earlier this morning to start and finishing up now. 

After breakfast this morning, there were two options for todays activity. One was to do a three hour hike in the mountains and swim by a waterfall, or the second was to take a guided tour of this town. I chose to do the guided tour as I really wanted to see the sites here and I have a mountain hike in the Atlas Mountains when I get to Marrakech any way. The guided tour of Chefchaoun was fantastic. The many shades of blues were a sight to behold. There were just photogenic scenes every where you looked. It was just a couple hours of head swivelling and camera pointing! The guide, Youseff, was very friendly and knowledgable. He also helped with photo ops and answered any questions we had. He took us around the old Medina and in town the town square where we parted ways. After that a few of us stayed together and wandered on our own. After a few more pics and some light shopping, we met up wth a couple more, who were wandering on their own, for lunch. Then came a test of our navigation skills to find our way back to the hotel and here we are, finishing off another blog entry. Later the whole group will go for a guided walk to a sunset viewing point. Should be a good time. Today was just wonderful and I look forward to more like it along the way. I will keep this one short and end here. Will update and post again soon. Cheers!