November 6, 2003
Thursday Nov 6: Madrid to Tangier, Morocco, Africa: Never Been Here Before
In the early morning hours of Madrid it was a bit cool, though not wet, and after lugging many pounds of bricks in backpacks, and sweating somewhat, it was great to get to the Atocha Renfe station to catch the train. Departing on sched right to the minute, we pulled out of Atocha at 08:15.
From that point, we could see the terrain change from rather cool and lush to much warmer, drier, and arid, and soon palm trees, orange/lemon groves and cacti were the norm. There were a few mountain ranges to come through as well. By the time we reached Algeciras in the afternoon, about 20 minutes late, we bought the return ferry ticket to Tangier, Morocco, then did the 600 m walk straight to the ferry terminal. No longer in fall-type weather, the walk was very hot and humid. Unfortunately we arrived at 15:00 so missed the ferry that was departing right at that moment. With an hour to spare we had some tapas, then before we knew it, it was time for the 16:00 ferry.
Unlike the train, the ferry was late in departing, probably because they seem to have a huge cargo load and had not yet finished loading it. It was a little unnerving on the boat to see many of the staff in labcoats and walking all over the boat with disinfectant spray, carpet machines all over and ropes blocking off sections of the ferry. This after a boat arriving in Gibraltar was quarantined for the Norwalk virus. Fingers were crossed.
We finally pulled away, and three hours later we could see the lights on the coast of Africa in Morocco. Probably in and around Tangier. The LP Morocoo book warned a lot about the faux guides and 'dangers' present there, so I was rather paranoid and hard-nosed when it came time to catch a taxi to the hotel. But, there were not that many people there due to its being Ramadan and it being time for prayers. The hassles were minimal, the ride to the hotel was brief and inexpensive, and as soon as we got there we met a couple of Americans and a couple of Canadians (from Toronto).
Despite the fears instilled in me by the LP, when we went for our walk around the city, though not into the Medina, we were not bothered. The only (continuous) question was if we wanted to buy drugs. We were looked at by everyone as there seemed to be almost no tourists, but this certainly did lend a feeling of the exotic and non-commonplace. Believe me, this was not a city that could be confused for Toronto, Cochrane or Moonbeam. This was a port city in northern Africa.
Madrid to Algeciras via train; ferry from Algeciras across the Strait of Gibraltar to Tangier.
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