Casablanca will be where to kick your journey
Casablanca is where our Intrepid tour kicked off. A natural starting point for people coming in from all over the world but a rather aesthetically unappealing city to start a tour which was in no way a reflection on the rest of a brilliant tour experience!
Moroccan drivers…blah!
Casablanca is, in my opinion, one of the worlds most unattractive cities. After arriving at the airport, I jumped into a ‘taxi’ not knowing what to expect. Asked to go to an ATM to get some Dirham – there wasn’t one at the airport. Yes the drive was very nice and yes he took me to the ATM and to the hotel. All good right? After he dropped me off he stood there shouting in the traffic that I owed him a tip. A few Dirham was all that was required. I had just been to the teller machine and only had 50Dirham notes and he knew it. So I left a $17aus tip instead of $1 which would have been adequate. So my less than amicable relationship began with Casablanca.
The Hassan II Mosque
Thank goodness it has on spectacular redeeming feature – the Hassan II Mosque – the third largest mosque in the world. The minaret is the highest in the world at 200metres. The mosque can hold 80,000 worshipers. The mosaics are simply stunning.
I finally found a restaurant with women in it!
My first Moroccan tagine.
And this was my first real Moroccan meal – vegetarian cous cous. To get to my first meal, I got terribly lost leaving the Hassan II Mosque and simply wanted a drink – not as easy as you might think. Don’t get me wrong, there were lots of cafes but the chairs that lined the front of the cafe were filled with men sipping peppermint tea with no woman to be seen. I didn’t feel safe entering. I walked and walked and walked into areas that I really shouldn’t have walked until I found a restaurant with 4 western women sitting in the front. I asked if I could join them and it turned out that they were on the same Intrepid tour as me.
My room was very ordinary, apart from the leaking air conditioner, this was the view from my window.
Trust me. Once you have seen the Hassan II Mosque, you never need to return to Casablanca.
I didn’t enjoy my stay in Casablanca. That’s OK it was the gateway to one of the most fabulous experiences I had on a small group tour. Just so you know, Intrepid did not know that I would right a review.
This is the tour I took with Intrepid
Just a note that I traveled independently on this tour. Intrepid were unaware that I would write a review of the tip. Ignore the bit about Casablanca, the rest of the trip is fantastic. I thoroughly recommend it!
North Morocco Adventure.
