Boars, Camels, Sites and the Caves of Tangier

 Our next stop took us to the lighthouse, but on the way we saw a few women selling plants, a family of wild boars, and of course camels.

 

                                           The wild, and woolly Atlantic Ocean!

A Beautiful Little Park in Tangier

 Our tour guide Rasheed took us to a park that over looked the Mediterranean Sea. We drove through a very nice neighbourhood to get there.

 

 

Clay pots of drinking water.

 

Tangier

We were quite surprised how clean and modern Tangier was. I guess we were expecting more of a frontier, port city. 

Tangier lies on the Mediterranean coast of Morocco. On a clear, sunny day you should be able to see The Rock of Gibraltar. For many centuries this city has been Europe's gateway to Africa. Throughout the centuries it has been conquered and ruled by Romans, Vandals, Byzantines, Arabs, and Portuguese. In more recent history many Europeans relocated to Tangier giving it a multicultural vibe, There are still pockets of varying cultures ranging from the Jewish Quarters, to the neighbourhoods of the French, Spanish, Portugese, English, Swedish, Dutch, Belgiums, Italians, and USA citizens.

Tangier has always had a reputation of being a bit on the seedier side, because of its international flare that has attracted eccentric foreigners, artists, hippies, muscians, and spies. 

Nowadays, Tangier is very different. Investments have flown in and the city has become modern and self confident.

 

  A beautiful beach, but a bit on the chilly side. It's only about 20 degrees Celsius.

                                           Anyone up for a ride?

Onward, Forward To Tangier

 A few rambling pictures of our bus ride to Tangier.

 

Last Glimpses of Rabat

We found Rabat to be very clean, organized, safe, modern and we enjoyed it very much.

 

Rabat City Tour

 In 2020 we had designed our own Moroccan trip and we were to leave from Australia, and then Covid hit! So we decided to try again this year but opted for a Gate One tour. We really enjoyed our Gate One riverboat cruise through Europe last year, and decided to join their Moroccan tour which was very similar to what we had planned. It's a small group tour of 40 people and the tour is lead by a man named Rasheed. He is very informative and he's quite funny and very approachable. We are only two days in but we are already enjoying the tour, and besides Hoss doesn't need to drive. We enter the bus, find a seat and let the professionals lead the way. It's very relaxing! I guess we are getting lazy!

                                              The new opera house.

                     This unique building is almost complete and will be used for offices.

                         This is the entrance to the mausoleum of Mohammad V.

Door knockers often give clues to who lives behind the door. If the knocker has a hand with a ring, the resident will be a Jewish jeweler, a resident with scissors on the knocker will be a tailor.

This is a minaret tower that always accompanies a muslim mosque. The tower is used to send out a mournful song to let worshipers know it is time to pray. The pillars are remains of an unfinished roof.

      King Mohammad V mausoleum. He was a special guy, even streets are named after him.

                                     Jewellery and clothing museum inside the medina.

                                            Lovely gardens outside the jewellery/clothing museum.

 

This plant is said to be toxic. We were told if you sit under the foliage for any length of time you will start hallucinating.

                                                      A bitter orange tree.

                        Moroccan flag...the red is for blood spilled and the  five pointed star represents the five pillars of Islam which are the Muslim creed, prayer, charity to the poor, fasting during the month of Ramadan and the pilgrimage to Mecca. The colour green is considered paradise, representing fertility, growth, and prosperity.

                     Rabat is the capital city of Morocco.