Chefprefers BLOG

Our intrepid group met up with our new Moroccan guide in Tangier. We said farewell to Diana, she said that we were one of her best groups. I take that as truth because we all got along pretty well, sure we have our quirky ways. But that was what she mentioned in her goodbyes that some groups don’t get along. I can believe that it would be hard to make people get along for such a long period. Our tour mostly had meals together and the conversation never stopped.

Our new guide, Hassan, took the reins and we off down the highway to a town called Chefchaouen (World tenth prettiest city).

Morocco, every Tom, Dick and Harry wants your money, from the beggars on the street to the financial bankers locked in their buildings. There is a cost for everything, tipping is mandatory. The problem is, knowing how much.

Our Moroccan first visit was at the small city of Chefchaouen pronounced shef-cha-wen. Back in the 11 century, the Medina (fortress) was established and the walled area sits on the side of the local eastern mountain range (jebel lakraa). The range has a narrow ravine which feeds the Medina’s water supply. We toured up to the pumping station which was above (thank god) the washing clothes station (Photo).

Our hotel was situated in the Medina so for us to get there, we had to pay carriers for our luggage and then we stepped about 500m up to the reception. The hotel has very unique circular stairways, terress landings and water drop style doors. The roof top landing provided a gorgeous view of the sunset looking over the distant mountain range.

We had two nights and one full day here. In the morning, our local guide toured us around the Medina and since it was early, we could move freely around the small narrow streets. The guide spoke very good English and a good story teller.

With every populated area, you see urban cats and dogs. Most are very friendly although by their leisurely reperar, they looked well fed. I had a local cat sit under me while eating my lunch, yep he/she got fed. Looks up to you with their quinty little eyes and exhaust a fated meow, who could resist to drop a nibble of my Tagine.

Tagine is a national dish which is a plate full of slow cooked veggies, dried fruit and meat baked in an Tagine covered bowl. Lots of Moroccan spices, such as garlic, coriander and paprika. Yum! Yum!

On our last night, we trekked up to the highest mosque in the city and watched the sunset with 100s of other tourists, obviously it’s the thing to do here.

The hike isn’t for everyone and two from our tour group decided not to go. Matthew who had been crook for most of the trip wanted to hang back, Matt lives in Wollongong and works at the steel works as a chemical engineer which sorts out the mixture of steel to produce things. He’s a self confessed introverted nerd who likes to build computers and plays computer games. He’s pleasant to talk to and I hope he finds the end of the rainbow some day. He came on this trip with his Dad. Graeme, his Dad is retired and lives at Tuross heads on the south coast, he had been living in Canberra most of his life working at the department of agriculture. He looks a little like Bill, the father from Mariel’s wedding with white hair and beard.

The other who didn’t make the trek was Pippa, who was getting over Matt’s virus. Yeah, we had someone on the trip who brought a virus and Yes everybody got it. Although some of us were considerate by wearing a mask on the bus.

The mosque was perched on a spur overlooking the Medina and was quite a climb and I was happy to make it as well. More about that later.

The route up to the mosque has hoards of money wanting dogs. Some were selling and some were asking, although I made it a mission that since the dollar here is far less worth than the Aussie dollar, I handed out the coins like Santa Claus. It was a running joke in the group that I would asked for change with my fellow tour members to get the denomination of money to hand out. My obsession started in France when I gave a beggar some coins and she blessed me. Wow! Oh I needed a bit of luck, so my generosity continued.

In Morocco, unfortunately 99.9% are Muslim, so they don’t bless, they just say Shuk-grun, meaning (Thank you). Our bus trip to Fez was amazing, I also had another obsession, take a photo of a shepherd and their goats. Also It was tricky to trigger since the road was jumpy, and I was in the back seat and also to take shots of the landscape at the right moment when at any time a passing tree or a vehicle would block your scene However I managed (Photos).

Next up, the largest carbon free area vs population in the world.