Today's itinerary was to travel to Tangier in the morning, spend the afternoon and evening in Tangier, and then catch the overnight train at about 11 PM to head to Marrakech.
Fun fact. We have seen lots of cats in Morocco on the streets and they appear to be well fed. When we were on our hike yesterday we asked our guide about the cats. He said they keep the snakes away. He showed us a video of a cat attacking a cobra. He said that cats are immune to the cobra venom. A dog will die if bit by a cobra but not a cat. We also learned that in Morocco they say that a cat has 7 lives, whereas in the US (and Ireland/New Zealand/Australia based on our fellow hikers) a cat is said to have 9 lives. Poor cats in Morocco are getting short changed!
This morning we left Chefchaouen and headed to Tangier via minibus. The Intrepid tour we are on has a limit of 16 people, and that is dictated by the minibuses which seat 18, - driver, tour leader, and 16 visitors. When we were in Fes we had a local guide who rode with us to some of the sites outside the medina so our tour leader had to sit on the floor.
The drive to Tangier was about 2 1/2 hours. The road was very winding as it worked its way through the Rif mountains. It also had lots of traffic, including trucks so it made for slow going. We went through a number if small towns, and there were a series of reservoirs along the river. The lower part of the mountains were planted in crops or olives, with the upper portions forested (pine trees) or rocky. In some of the lower mountains there were crops and grazing land all the way to the top, even on steep land.
We stopped for a break midway and while everyone else was sitting inside drinking coffee and eating snacks I walked around outside - too much sitting on uncomfortable seats in the bus to spend breaks sitting even if the chairs were more comfortable. We were at a gas station, so I took note of fuel prices, 96.8 dh per liter for regular. That converts to USD 3.86 per gal. An interesting observation was that in the far back of the building, accessible just from outside, they had a carpeted prayer room. Not sure if it is for workers, travelers, or both.
Tangier was founded as a Phoenician colony in the 10th to 8th century BC. It currently is the 3rd largest city in Morocco. Over the past 500 years Tangier has been independent about half the time and controlled by European countries the balance of the time. Portugal conquered Tangier in 1471, and retained control until gifting the area to England and King Charles II in 1661. An independent Morocco took control in 1684 and retained control until 1912. For the next 43 years Tangier was governed by Spain and an international coalition until Morocco regained independence in 1955. As a result the architecture of Tangier is diverse.
When we arrived in Tangier we had lunch down in the waterfront then drove up to a viewpoint of Spain across the Straight of Gibraltar, followed by a visit to the Phare Cap Spartel. This lighthouse is on the Moroccan 200 dh bill.
It's hard to see in the photo, but you can see Spain across the water.
We then continued to another viewpoint where the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean meet. From there the minibus took us to a beach and then the Grotto of Hercules. If you flip the image the grotto entrance to the sea is shaped like an outline of Africa.
We concluded our day by going to an overlook of the city, a visit to a tea/coffee house that had gorgeous views of the port and sea from the terrace, and then we walked through the medina back to the waterfront where we met the minibus.
Tangier has grown rapidly in recent years, with lots of upscale construction driven by the proximity to Europe (it is a short ferry ride from Spain) and the influx of foreign money. Much of the city looked very different from the rest of Morocco that we have seen so far, almost like a different country. It was very cosmopolitan. Even the medina had more of a hip vibe to it.
After being picked up by the minibus we had a home cooked dinner in the home of the sister of the driver - delicious! We then went to the train station for a 11 PM departure on an overnight train to Marrakech. The train station was a gorgeous modern building.
The train sleeper cars were simple but adequate. Two sets of bunk beds, 24 inches wide by 6 feet long, with a 30 inch space in between. There was enough height to be able to sit up on the bunks, with space beneath the bottom bunks for luggage and a rack above the window for luggage.
Here is a photo of the compartment we were initially in. Our guide then moved Karen to another car so we had all male/all female compartments. When we boarded the train was very hot, but once it got moving we were able to get the window open in the compartment I was in, but Karen was not so lucky and spent the night in a hot compartment.
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