FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX: Tangier

The Beach where waters of the Atlantic Ocean met those of the Mediterranean Sea

Our private tour was another organised in a hurry at the last minute via Expedia. Despite the initial pick up time confusion, our family had a good time in Tangier. It helped a lot that we didn't read the fine print and "all-included" meant entrance fees, camel rides, cave entrances and lunch was included. Bonus as we weren't aware of this! We did pass on the camel rides as the camels didn't look happy...

Tangier had a completely different feel to Casablanca. The city felt cleaner, and was more pleasant to the eye, perhaps because it was built on hilly slopes full of greenery. We were taken to beautiful viewpoints and given a city driveby tour. Perhaps it was because our guide, Ahmed, was more enthusiastic and relatable. We definitely needed him to navigate the way to the Casbah and then around the souk. We had fun in the stores looking at various goods and given demonstrations. Having done it before in Turkey, we knew how it worked. The Moroccans were just as hospitable as the Turks, and we stocked up on cashmere and argan oil.

Lunch was at a touristy restaurant, complete with music. The food was not bad. For us, it was "free", we were tourists and we had to eat somewhere, so the experience was fun. Understandably, not all the other tourists taken there felt the same way.

Tangier gave us a taste of Morocco. One of the earliest versions of this trip was a land based tour of Morocco complete with desert stays. It evolved into a cruise to accommodate the grandparents and we're glad we came, albeit very briefly. Here is to next time!