We have yet to visit the Premiere restaurant on the ship, Sea & Grass. So today is the day! We go about our normal At Sea Day activities until it comes time for dinner. We thought to make reservations a couple days ago for tonight. We are treated to a SEVEN COURSE DINNER! The food is good and we are grateful for having the knowledge ahead of time that it is chilly inside the restaurant and Elee and I bring sweaters!
Then after dinner I finally get photos of the “Traveling Tilburys”
Tuesday, April 30, 2024, the Souq (Markets of Marakesh)
Soon we find ourselves back outside walking through the souq (market). This souq is even crazier than the souq in Cairo as while walking down the narrow alleys between shops, we had to vie for room to walk with bicycles and even motorcycles! But here you can buy food and trinkets. Would you like an Aladdin’s Lamp? You can get one here! Teapots and other cookware abounds! Running low on spices? How about some potpourri? Never fear, they are here! Maybe something gold and shiny?
We even tour a temple and wealthy homes. The grandeur in the middle of the poor Souq market is a dichotomy in the middle of the desert! But that doesn’t stop our hungry cameras!
Once back in the main marketplace, vendors were setting up the square for the evening with hundreds more vending tents! The shopping here is off the charts! Want some Potpourri? Need clothes? Dried dates? More colorful spices? Oh dear, you must need a basket! And some new bloomers! Maybe something golden again? Perhaps you need a hat to ward off the harsh sun! Oh my! Get me a broom so I can sweep it all away! It is all here, trust me! If only we had suitcases to fill, we could come home with massive treasures!
More shopping ensues and I find a table in a cafe to watch the crowds from afar. Unfortunately there was no beer or wine available. Whiskey was plentiful but I wasn’t ready for that yet. So a cup of mint tea and some crowd watching later and we were ready to walk back to our bus. A man with a monkey poses for a photo. Silly me, he wants money for that photo! I offer him a $5 US Bill and he refuses it! He wants something different. He wants Morrocan Dirhams! All he wanted was 50 Dirham. What he doesn’t realize is that I offered him 500 Dirhams! I walk away. He follows and demands something in Morrocan Arabic. He tries to block my path. I get in his face and tell him in English, “I offered to pay you, you refused! Now go away!” He starts to make a scene but there are too many tourists around. I hold my ground and tell him to go away. I walk rapidly away and he gets the message and leaves me alone! Whew! Had me scared for a minute there!
Back on the bus, we drive a circle around the local mosque for photos. We also see the famous Seven Towers of Marakesh!
Then it’s back off to Casablanca, a three plus hour drive back. Some sleeping is had, some photos of the waning sun over the countryside. My camera even spots a Morrocan Stop sign! Sure glad for international sign shapes and colors! We arrive back in Casablanca for sunset and a quick stop for photos of the Casablanca mosque and photos of “Rick’s Cafe’, a famous landmark in Casablanca. Then it’s back to the ship (I’ve been told to stop calling it a boat, LOL)
We make it up to the buffet restaurant with time to spare for a bite to eat. Then it is back to our cabin for the night after a very long day.
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!
Just an uneventful normal day At Sea! Okay, okay, we do see a double rainbow and have good food in Buckingham!
Day 55, Sunday, April 28, 2024
Today we have the White Party where everyone dresses in white. The party begins on Deck 12 outdoors and is a complete flop as it is windy and a little rainy! Finally, they move the party inside to the Observatory and it becomes a hit! Music and dancing galore! New found friends, Paul and Lynda McGregor dance the night away with us and the world is good!
We finally turn in around midnight and we will see you tomorrow!
A new day and a new Country! Cape Verde it is! As we pull up to the dock, it is hard to even tell we are at a dock! The dock is only 50ish feet wide and then it is all water again! Unless you’re on top looking straight down, all you see is ocean and harbor!
So we prepare for the day, knowing we have to be back on ship by 1:30PM. That’s right, shortly after noon! Sheesh! Who planned this port? But we get our breakfast and get in the cue to leave as soon as it is announced that we can depart. We hop on the shuttles that take us a mile into town and are assured by Franklin, the shuttle guide, that the guys in the yellow vests are our friends!
We get off the shuttle and are the first to approach the guy in the yellow vest, Liam. Liam negotiates with us for $60 USD for a 3 hour taxi. Several times, he tries to get us to join a group, but we know his price won’t go down and for $60, we want our own private driver. Finally, he pairs us up with a taxi driver that speaks English and off we go!
We drive off out of town and onto the island’s tundra. This is pretty much a desert isle and natural growth is rare. But he brings us to a local farm where we walk down into the farm and get to see the plants and vegetables grow. We also see a windmill as it pumps water out of a well. The people here are very self reliant and it is amazing to see how they prosper.
Driving on, we travel along the shore where the contrasting volcanic rock and sand dunes paint a picture with the azure seas and turquoise waters in the background. We arrive at a fishing village and our cameras are assaulted with views of fishermen and their boats and colorful houses. We walk along and come to a sea turtle rehabilitation center and even see a sea turtle with a missing flipper (leg). We are told the flipper will grow back but we wonder how long that will take.
Interesting shore scenes abound as we make our way back to our taxi.. Then it is off to head up the mountain to get some panoramic views. We get about two-thirds way up the mountain and are told the road is closed. (little do we know that other passengers make it to the top) But the views are worth it and our cameras steal the show and go a bit crazy with the views!
We work our way back down and back across the island to where the ship is and all is well. We still have some time to walk about town and we find a local pub where we have a local beer and even a local white wine! We’re told that a volcano wiped out the vineyards in 2014 and had to be replanted. But the wine was better than any on our ship! We even get a taste of Grogue, a local alcohol that turns out to be grain alcohol!
So off it is to find a few souvenirs including a magnet for our map wall in our cabin. Shopping and browsing here was fun and we were not overwhelmed with vendors chasing us like in other ports. We acquire more photos and then it is back to the ship. All in all, a fun day!
Back on board, we take part in some games and trivia, dinner and a show, consisting of random crew showing their talent! Even one security guard performing as Elvis which we have heard about and he definitely stole the show!
Around the World in 80 Trips (Or Less) 