Crossing The Strait Of Gibraltar by Ferry

Europe and Africa are only separated by 8 miles of sea at the narrowest point, the Strait of Gibraltar.  It has served as a quick hop-over point for many civilizations throughout history. Why not take this historic journey too?

We decided to take a less direct route to Spain and that involved a night train and many buses and taxis but one of the most compelling reasons to take the cheaper route that allowed us to see an extra city, Chefchaouen, was that we could ferry across the Strait of Gibraltar from Tangier.

Leaving Morocco

Listening to the "TOOOOOOOT" of the boats

I had never left a country by boat but the process was the same as an airport except you take a bus to your specific dock. You enter by the cargo deck with all of the huge semi trucks. It was an easy 1 hour ride that allowed you to walk all around, eat, and watch the waves on the sun deck. We were not expecting it to be as fun as it was.

Hike through Akchour

About a 45 minute drive from Chefchaouen lies the national park of Akchour which has some waterfalls and a natural bridge of rock called the "Bridge of Allah". We did some hiking through the incredible mountains and along the clear, blue streams to see these sites.

Bridge of Allah in the right of the photo

From the corner of my eye I saw something move and thought it was a dog. I was amazed to see that it was a wild monkey. We were astonished and so excited! It was one of those "Yes, this is why we are traveling!" moments. We actually spotted monkeys many times after that.

These monkeys were kissing... or something.

Colin got to ride a donkey but understandably was kinda scared of falling off so it was short lived.

The path to the waterfalls was always pretty make-shift and we did a lot of rock hopping, Indiana Jones style, over the water... yes, with a baby strapped on our backs.

Unfortunately people told us different lengths of time that it would take to get to the huge waterfall. We didn't have enough time to walk as far as it actually was (at least 2 hours) and never made it. I was pretty bummed. I had to just enjoy the journey anyway. Visiting a huge waterfall will have to stay unchecked on my list of things to accomplish.

This was our last day in Morocco and we were so impressed by the natural beauty. Morocco has not let us down. Chokrane for a beautiful 5 weeks!

Chefchaouen

Upon leaving Essaouira, we took a bus, then a night train to Tangiers, then a taxi to get to Chefchaouen, the blue city in the Rif mountains of northern Morocco. Amazing! We cannot explain how much we loved the feeling of that city. Highly recommended.

First, about the voyage there. The night train was awkward and cramped but a cool adventure that we had to try. You share a small compartment of 4 single beds and hardly any room for all of our luggage. I shared a single bed with Colin and then Andrew was NOT in the bed next to me but rather above the bed next to me. Two random Moroccan men slept in it with us. Granted, I did not have the best sleep of my life since I was constantly awoken by the man snoring next to me or on guard, thinking that maybe he was trying to touch me or steal something from our luggage. One of the men got in two hours into the voyage and made lots of noise settling in.

We arrived in Tangier and then took a shared taxi 2 1/2 hours to Chefchaouen. We got the back seat and then the taxi driver picked people up on the way. Shared taxis are the way things are done here and it is much cheaper than a private one. Sometimes you see a taxi with 7 people in it.

We took a hike to see the full scope of the city from the outskirts. It was a gorgeous valley.

From the mosque pictured later, we off-roaded it and hiked down this mountain to check out the cemetery below. We stumbled upon people doing mourning chants. It was beautiful to stop and listen to them chant over their loved-ones grave. It will be very interesting to see the cemeteries and how people deal with death in some of the cultures we experience.

A little selfie from our hike

A woman washing and drying her clothes in the mountains.

An abandoned Spanish mosque from 1311. 

These ares various photos taken around the medina. The blue was added in the 30's. I loved the uneven walls that seem to look almost wave like and bulge out at times. Some of the pictures are huge and I really don't know how to fix that. Sorry.

Our riad was just as blue as the city

These are the views from the top of the terrace of our riad. 

Instead of hearing the call to prayer at 5:30 a.m., we were greeted every morning by the roosters that were all around us. We ended up calling it the "Cocklarmclock" . . . gets funnier every time you say it.

Moroccans LOVE giving Colin free food. Sometimes it was a healthy treat like clementines but mostly it was fries and cookies and evil treats that were already in his mouth by the time they asked, if they even asked at all. In case you were wondering, we have not been good at keeping up with our real foods, gluten-free diet in this bread-based culture. This is my major fail and I am really trying my best to do better in Europe, where my goal is to have more access to supermarkets and kitchens (especially since we can in no way afford eating out like we could in Morocco).  I already prepared myself for this challenge of traveling, knowing that our selection is sometimes limited and eating healthy food can be way too much work. If anything, this little while has shown me how much I miss that healthier diet.

Chefchaouen was an absolutely magical town that spoke more Spanish than French. I was not prepared for that but French still served me well. Every city we have been to has gotten less and less intrusive in regards to merchants. The shop keepers were so nice and not pushy. They hardly made a a peep when we walked by. We finally decided to actually buy something from a shop keeper knowing it would be so unique and less expensive here. We replaced a carry on with a bigger and better travel bag that is blue carpet and leather, with a shoulder strap. The blue reminds us of this colorful country.

Essaouira

Essaouira is a chill port city about 2 1/2 hours west of Marrakesh. We stayed in a fantastic apartment in the middle of the medina for 2 1/2 weeks and besides the big problem with internet being slow and at times non-existent, it was perfect. 

I really liked seeing the same people everyday and building relationships because we were there for such a long time. I cannot tell you how many times I declined an offer to come into a shop and sit and drink tea or coffee. I honestly became friends with the man who we ordered take home tajine from. We would play with the same kids on our apartment street. We often ate dinner at a restaurant full of locals that served soup and a honey tortilla for 70 cents. When food is that good and cheap, why take the time to cook at home? Everyday, Colin would always get a cookie or ham from the crêperie ladies. I loved going to the same fruit and vegetable stands or seeing the smile of the adorable old man who I bought my eggs from. He spoke limited French so we had fun communicating about how many eggs I wanted. I got to give him a few French lessons and I learned some Arabic sometimes. I heard "mafi mushkila" a lot, which means "no problem." If I didn't have enough money he would just let me pay him next time. 

I kind of dreaded going out to get lunch every day because it meant more guys would talk to me and say things like "very nice" as they walked by me. There is something about walking around with a baby that repels those comments. One time a man found out I was American and told me he was looking for an American wife. I told him I was married and he replied that it wasn't a problem and that I can have multiple husbands. He informed me that he had a house with land and horses. I declined his offer as he told me to think about it.

Anyway...

The city of Essaouira was built in the late 1700's as an international trading post between Saharan Africa and Europe.

It was a big hippy hangout where Bob Marley, Cat Stevens, and Jimi Hendricks often stayed. It is a town of artists and musicians. There was often Rasta music and Gnawa (music of the ancient original inhabitants of north and west africa ) music to be heard on the streets. Colin got to play and learn about a lot of new instruments like the 3 string Gnawa lute called a "Gimbri" and of course the characteristic african drum, the djembe.

The port area was incredible. If it hadn't been for the strong odor of fish, I would have hung out there every day.

Here men are gutting and preparing the fish, while the seagulls circle, waiting for some discarded remains.

Because of the wind patterns here, it is always windy and a great surf spot. The rocky coast was breathtaking. When the weather was bad, the waves got huge and watching them collide with the rocks was incredible. I had never seen such a force of nature and just stared at it for at least 30 minutes. It was kind of terrifying to think about actually being in that water at that time. Of course my mind went directly to how Jesus is our rock and if we are built upon him, nothing can destroy that foundation. Andrew read in Moby Dick about how if you live by a sea, it is inevitable that you will go and just look at it. I thought about how that is so true about the ocean. It is just being and yet I am so drawn to the natural ebb and flow of its movement.

These are the fortified ramparts that give you incredible views of the rocky sea.

The rest of the photos are just from our wanderings around the city.

These are some Moroccan dirhams. 400 dirhams is roughly equivalent to 40 euros.

You could actually go explore the rocks on the coast, so we did some snail hunting.

Look closely at this tile collage for a special Essaouira treat.

The beach area was nice but it was too cold to go in.

Stories

Every day, we were approached by men selling cookies and while they tell you about their "cookies" and you say no, their words drift off as they quickly chime in that they have hashish if you want some. By the time you turn around to see if you really heard what you did, they are gone. It was hilarious to hear people walk up behind you and sometimes just whisper, "Hashish?" and then walk off. What wasn't funny was that many times they guilt trip you if you didn't want to buy a cookie. One guy told us it was like I put a gun to his sister's head and shot her. We are still too polite with people and say "I'm sorry you feel that way" before walking away.

 In being in Morocco, I think I am learning to be more rude to people when they cross lines. I haven't really experienced being pushed to the brink too much in my life so I am not sure how to react. I am also way too nice and understanding of a person. Since I have a lot of encounters with strangers and people trying to get me to buy something, I have found a need to stand up for myself more often and get tough. One time in Marrakesh, a guy tried to get us to eat at his restaurant by picking Colin up and taking him over to his restaurant through a crowded walkway. We were not happy and gave him a firm "no" and look of discontent, but looking back I wish I could have chewed him out for that. There were so many things wrong with that.

Many times we ate the same thing from a take away spot and one day, the meat did not taste as good. That night Colin had thrown up in his crib. the next night I threw up 7-8 times, and then the next night Andrew threw up. Food poisoning took up our last 4 days. I have never experienced that and I remember telling Andrew that being horribly nauseous for 9 hours straight was worse than labor. I will never eat meat that tastes funny again. I think that was a good lesson to learn in the beginning of our travels around the world.

 Essaouira is definitely on our list of places to come back to. The allure of the old fortified medina on the rocky coast is inescapable.