Before we moved to Southern Spain, I did what any overly excited travel-lover would do; I started researching the travel possibilities that moving to Spain would provide. One of my top travel destinations on my to-do list was Morocco. After researching, I soon made a jaw-dropping discovery; living in the Rota area, the only thing standing between me and my two feet landing on Moroccan soil was a mere 2 hour distance. One hour and 15 minutes by car and a 45-minute ferry ride. Dreams of camels, snake charmers and curry food started dancing in my head. I had to go. And so I did.
Of course I waited until my siblings came to visit. Such a special experience could have only been reserved to share with some of my favorite people in the entire world. Besides, going without them would have triggered years of overwhelming jealousy and never-ending sibling rivalry.
To begin the planning of our day trip, I booked a *tour guide named Jamal. He’s pretty well known within the American community as the go-to tour guide for Tangier. As soon as we exited the ferry from Spain, Jamal was there at the dock waiting for us. Originally, I had planned for a day full of walking. Much to my relief, Jamal had a private driver and a large, clean van for us equipped with A/C. We were able to leave some belongings in the vehicle safely each time we stopped to explore a new place as the driver stayed with the van. The trip was more comfortable for us with two small children and lots of little extras that we ended up not having to carry every step of the way.
After Moroccan security gave our passports a look-see, we were bright-eyed, bushy tailed and on our way to our very own Moroccan adventure.
Mosque in memory of King Mohammed V.
This is a restaurant that we popped in for a quick break. We didn’t eat our lunch there but I’ve known of several Americans that have. Next time I’ll have to try some of their food.
My brother is musically talented in several instruments (drums, guitar, piano and the ukelele). He met with these fellas while in Morocco and we’re all looking forward to when this newly assembled boy band puts out their first record.
In the museum in the Kasbah.
The Kasbah and two chickens out on a stroll.
Overlooking the port of Tangier.
Ah, yes. The snake charmer. An unbelievable experience.
Oh, what a trooper.
Growing up, my sister had a couple of snakes as pets. She loves them.
See?
And then… there were camels.
We went for a camel ride! This happened to be Andrew and Leila’s favorite part of the trip.
This little baby was hanging around enjoying the ocean breeze.
This was my camel for our short camel-riding excursion. We bonded.
A view of Cape Spartel.
After our camel rides, we were hit up a local restaurant for lunch. To start, we had this delicious seafood soup. My sister, brother and myself all had amazing chicken and lamb kebabs. Andrew went straight for the typical moroccan dish, Tajine.
Lunch ended on a high note with this Moroccan Mint Tea, mighty tasty indeed.
After lunch, we got to visit the Church of St. Andrew, an Anglican church built in 1894.
Then, it was off to shop. Here’s a few shots around the market:
Here we are all together basking in the beauty of experiencing Morocco.
*For those of living within traveling distance to Morocco (that means you, Rota), I highly recommend using Jamal as your travel guide. He has really great tours to offer you and is more than willing to work with you on your very own customized tour upon request. Contact Jamal for more info at jamal_chatt@hotmail.com
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Tags: Africa, Morocco, Morocco Travel, Naval Base Rota, rota naval base, snake charmers, southern spain, Tangier Morocco, travel
