Maroc 2017

What about Africa for a change?

We spent six weeks in Morocco, a country at the door step of Europe and full of surprises.

We discovered a great people, medieval medinas and modern cities, Roman ruins, colonial relics and breathtaking landscapes, an interesting mix of tradition and modernity.

Full map of all Maroc 2017 pages

Other Things

Thinking of our next destination: Italy and Portugal come to mind, or maybe the time has finally come for a US road trip…

Translate & Share

What's this?
Version française
Deutsche Version

The North and the Rif: Tangier and Chefchaouen

(vero;2018-July-31)

We arrived in Morocco by boat from Tarifa in Spain, disembarking at the city harbour of Tangier, a perfect introduction to the country. From there, we continued to the Rif region and headed to the city of Chefchaouen. Check our blog entry to discover that Chefchaouen has much more to offer than its blue medina.

View of Tangier's city harbour. The town has invested a lot of money in its infrastructure and renovated the whole sea front.

Farmer's wife from the Rif coming to sell her vegetables in the medina. Note the typical headdress.

Interior of the Nahon synagogue. There are around 200 Jews in Tangier today, very few compared to their past numbers. Before the founding of Israel in 1948, there were about 250,000 to 350,000 Jews in Morocco, the largest Jewish community in the Muslim world. Fewer than 2,500 or so remain today. Check this interesting Wikipedia article for more information about the Jews and their history in Morocco.

Inside Tangier's kasbah. It seemed very gentrified to us.

Cactus fruit seller on the Petit Socco. Note his sturdy plastic gloves, well needed when peeling the fruit which is covered with very fine and thorny spikes.

A grocery shop in the medina. Note the barrels with olive oil.

Tangier - sweet shop on rue de la Kasbah opposite the Mendoubia gardens.

Ceiling of the porch of the mosque on Grand Socco.

The Grand Socco in the morning. The arched gateway is the entry to the medina.

The tomb of the world famous Ibn Battuta (1304-1369). Abu Abdullah Muhammad Ibn Battuta was a Moroccan traveller, geographer, botanist and man of the law. He is best known as a traveller and explorer, whose account documents his travels and excursions over a period of almost thirty years, covering some 117,000 km. These journeys covered almost the entirety of the known Islamic world, extending from present-day North and West Africa to Pakistan, India, the Maldives, Sri Lanka, Southeast Asia and China, a distance readily surpassing that of his predecessor and near-contemporary Marco Polo… Visit this website to continue reading. Another website relates in detail the travels of Ibn Battuta, a really interesting resource if you want to know more.

Every morning this man brought loaves of bread to the Petit Socco. He would then sit at the table to the right and wait for shop owners or street sellers to collect and pay for their bread.

Our second stop in Morocco: the blue city of Chefchaouen.

Blue, green and white in Chefchaouen's medina.

Neighbours having a gossip on their door steps.

Man having a rest on Plaza Uta el-Hamman.

Plaza Uta el-Hamman, a great place for people watching.

Babouches (leather slippers) on a blue wall.

The blue porch of a blue mosque in the blue city.

Chefchaouen's kasbah, an oasis of ocre and green amidst the blue houses.

Chefchaouen is celebrating the Muslim New Year with a funfair on the market square in the ville nouvelle.

Families enjoying themselves at the funfair.

Mural on Place Mohammed V in the ville nouvelle.

Go on to The Atlantic Coast: Rabat and Essaouira or go up to Photos