Tuesday, April 30, 2024

So where do we find our intrepid travelers today? We look out our window and watch as the ship comes into Casablanca, Morocco! A place I have only dreamed about since childhood. We have an early tour scheduled so we find ourselves in the buffet restaurant by 7;15AM.

Back in our room, we load up with the essentials, such as sunscreen, money, passports, cameras, phones and extra batteries. Our pockets laden with our daily necessities and nothing in our back pockets, we head for our meeting point outside of the Paladium Theatre to collect our bus tickets.

What? We’re not on the list? There must be some mistake! We booked this excursion back in February! But no, we are seemingly not on the list. You must be able to find room for us?! Have a seat and wait over there, we are told. Well, over there is out of sight of the organizers and that doesn’t sit well with us. So we hang out just off to the side to keep sight of the goings on.

There are 3 busses scheduled for the tour. We watch, dejected as the first two bus loads head off ship. Then the last straw drops as the third bus load heads off ship. Talk about disappointment? This excursion means more to me than most as it is a bucket list item since childhood! There is some commotion among the organizers and suddenly we are approached and offered two seats on bus three! Yippee! We made it after all!

We hurry off the ship and we have to walk almost 800 yards to the busses. That’s eight football fields away! But we get to the bus and surprisingly, the third row of seats are open. So we take our seats and soon the bus drives away on the excursion of a lifetime! We are off to see the Souq at Marakesh, otherwise known as the Markets of Marakesh! We are giving up the chance to visit the Casbah of Casablanca in order to see Marakesh! The first 20 minutes we at least get to see some sights in Casablanca as our bus leaves town!

Now, for reference, we have a three to three and a half hour drive each way today. Marakesh is inland. We get to see Morocco and the farms of the Western Sahara Desert. Very interesting places indeed! Seems impossible that anything grows here but where they apply water, plants grow! The road is a toll road and in excellent condition. The bus is a modern luxury bus and is very comfortable. Sure glad we don’t have to read the road signs!

We stop for a WC break (that would be Water Closet or Toilet) called a Winston Churchill by our guide, LOL. At the WC stop, there is a Mexican Food Truck, ‘Carmen’s’. Who’d have expected that here? Then it is only two more hours to Marakesh. More farms and desert scenery and then we arrive at buildings and more buildings. Soon, the hustle and bustle of throngs of people slow our bus to a crawl. We disembark the bus and are told to make sure we have what we need for several hours because we won’t see the bus again until it’s time to return to Casablanca.

It is now close to 1PM and it is time for lunch. Our guide leads us through narrow alleys and by many shops to a doorway where we enter and it opens into a very large restaurant room. We sit at tables around the sides and Moroccan breads are served along with plates full of spreads for the bread. Spreads of Aubergine (Also called Zaalouk (eggplant)) and many other spreads are served to us. There is wine on the tables that we partake of.

Then, large tagines of chicken and lamb arrive with sauces both spicy and mild. The food is fabulous and our table soon polishes off the food. Then a large woman comes out dancing to the Moroccan music and she is balancing a large plate on her head that is about a yard (meter) across and on it are lit candles in a chandelier formation. She dances and the candles flicker but not once does the chandelier falter or fall.

Next, a belly dancer comes out and dances with a cloak of blue lights resembling wings. After a bit, she takes off the cloak of blue lights and dances as any belly dancer does for tips and a few patrons dance with her. I even approach her and dance, fitting a couple dollars into her garment to the cheers of the crowd.

I will leave you here until tomorrow when we will finish this day!