Hightlights of Morocco | FindPenguins

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Trip start
October 17, 2024
Hightlights of Morocco Traveler
Montreal in the evening
Oct 17–18, 2024 in Canada ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C
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Hightlights of Morocco Traveler
Old Town Montreal
October 18, 2024 in Canada ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C
We booked a walking tour of the East side Old Montreal. Prior to the tour, we walked to the St. Lawrence waterway and saw the La Grande Roue de Montreal. We met our tour guide in the square outside the Notre Dame Basilica. We toured the Notre Dame Basilica after the walking tour. When in Montreal, it’s important to have poutine, which we were able to do prior leaving to catch our 7 pm flight to Morocco.Read more
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Casablanca
Oct 19–20, 2024 in Morocco ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C
October 19, 2024 Saturday
Our flight arrived in Casablanca around 5:30AM (early), we quickly went through customs (the customs officer looked at our passports and waved us through without saying one work to us.Andrew had pre-purchased an e SIM card, but I hadn’t bought anything so Andrew got a SIM card for $60 that had unlimited data for me while I tried withdrawing some dirhams from the ATM. The first machine didn’t work, so we found another one that did. The airport was extremely quiet. It was only 6 am by this time and it was still dark. We got a cab to the Marriott Hotel where Dean and Heather were staying. We arrived shortly before Dean came down for his morning run. We hung out on the couches in the lobby until Heather was up and dressed and then we went up to the room and showered and got ready for our Morocco adventure to begin.

First stop was the King Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca. We met our tour group (different group from G Adventures) and learned about the massive mosque that was completed in 1993 under King Hassan ll and is built over the Atlantic Ocean. It cost $800 million to build and is one of the few mosques open to the public to visit. 105,000 worshippers can gather together for prayer. 25,000 people inside and 80,000 people outside.

After the Mosque, we took a cab back to the Marriott, grabbed our bags and took another (cab cost 100DIR) cab to the hotel where we met Hicham, our G Adventures guide and the rest of our group. There were several G Adventure tours at the hotel. We got settled in our rooms and went to a room with tables set up in a u-shape and met the other 9 members of our group. We all introduced ourselves, stating how many G Adventure tours we’d been on and what we were looking forward to the most on this tour.

After meeting everyone except Sharon and Gilles (their flight arrived late that night), our group went for dinner to a restaurant that Hicham suggested. We frequently ate as a group.Read more
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Tangier
October 20, 2024 in Morocco ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C
October 20, 2024 Sunday's Agenda
7AM breakfast
7:30 departure in the van
We had a rough sleep and slept in. Our hotel room was stuffy and hot so we had the window wide open. Our neighbours had their window wide open too, however they had friends over and stayed up talking until 2:30 when Andrew knocked on their door and asked them to be quiet. Finally, we went to sleep. The first sleep we'd had since waking up in Montreal 38 hours earlier. We were supposed to meet the group for breakfast at 7AM and leave the hotel at 7:30AM, but Andrew and I sabotaged that plan as our alarms didn't go off and we slept in. Dean and Heather messaged us, but we were sleeping. Fortunately, Andrew woke up at 7:35 and woke me up. We quickly got dressed and packed and ran downstairs to our group who were patiently waiting for us. We felt badly that we kept everyone waiting, especially on the first day, but no one seemed upset.

We met our driver Fouzy and headed to the beautiful port city of Tangier, which is on the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea.

Fouzy dropped us off at the top of a hill where we met our local tour guide and entered the medina (non-European part of an African city). We started at the Kasbah (military stronghold or royal residence) which is situated in the upper part of the medina and then we navigated its steep streets to the oldest part at the bottom of the hill. Amazingly, we saw people on motorbikes weaving their way through the narrow streets that were more like walkways. Everything was clean. The buildings were so white they looked like they'd just been painted. There were all kinds of different doors. Animals are sacred in Morocco and we saw lots of cats.Read more
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Chefchaouen
October 20, 2024 in Morocco ⋅ ☁️ 24 °C
We spent two nights at the Hotel Madrid in Chefchaouen, the Blue City. The hotel was conveniently located by the Medina. Our room was on the 3rd floor with the front balcony. Heather and Dean were beside us.Read more
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Rif Valley Mountains lunch
October 21, 2024 in Morocco ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C
While in Chefchaouen we hiked in the Rif Mountains to a little village and had a traditional Moroccan meal. We saw olive trees, sheep herders, goat herders, a young man plowing a field with a horse pulling the plow, cannabis fields, families with young children in the field picking cannabis, a building filled with cannabis hanging to dry. Apparently cannabis has been grown in the Rif Valley since the 1600’s. Chefchaouen relies on the cannabis crop, not tourism even though it’s illegal. In 2021 the Moroccan government legalized the cultivation of medical and industrial use cannabis. Growing cannabis in Morocco is like growing corn in southern Alberta and cherries in the Okanagan - it’s a popular crop. Legend says the soil has magic qualities and even the vegetables grown in this soil make you feel extra good. Hashish is a popular drug produced in this area.

Saffron is also grown in the Rif Valley and we bought a small jar of Saffron.Read more
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Sunset at the Spanish Mosque Chefchaouen
October 21, 2024 in Morocco ⋅ 🌙 17 °C
Sunset at the Spanish Mosque and a group dinner in Chefchaouen
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Mhaya Village Community Lunch
October 22, 2024 in Morocco ⋅ 🌙 18 °C
Our G Adventure tour stopped at a "shelter" that provides access to education opportunities and health care for rural Moroccan women and children. They serve a delicious meal and serve the traditional mint green tea. The proceeds from the meal go to the foundation. We got to meet some of the women living there.Read more
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Volubilis Roman Ruins
October 22, 2024 in Morocco ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C
The ancient city of Volubilis is now a partly excavated Amazigh-Roman ruin located near the city of Meknes. It is now a UNESCO World Heritage sight because it is exceptionally well preserved remains. Volubilis had a rich and storied history spanning over a millennium. Originating as an Amazigh settlement in the 3rd century BC, it later came under the influence of the proto-Carthaginians before becoming the capital of the Kingdom of Mauretania. Named after the Moors, this ancient territory once encompassed parts of modern-day Morocco and Algeria.

Under Roman rule from the 1st century AD onward, Volubilis experienced a period of rapid growth and expansion, eventually covering an area of around 42 hectares (100 acres) enclosed within defensive walls. The city's prosperity during this Roman era was fuelled largely by its thriving olive cultivation, which enabled the construction of grand public buildings and the development of opulent houses featuring elaborately decorated mosaic floors.

However, Volubilis' remote location on the southwestern edge of the Roman Empire ultimately proved its downfall, as it fell to local tribal forces around 285 AD and was never reclaimed. Though no longer under Roman control, Volubilis continued to be inhabited for centuries, first transitioning into a Latinised Christian community and then an early Islamic settlement.Read more
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Fes Palace and Tile Co-op
October 22, 2024 in Morocco ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C
Fes is located in the northeastern part of Morocco and is often referred to as the country’s cultural capital. It has a walled Medina with Edie Al Marinid architecture, vibrant souks and old-world atmosphere. We started the morning by driving to a lookout to see the city. We stopped at a Tile co-op where we watched talented artisans make beautiful pottery like tajins, bowls and cups. We also saw learned about the many phases of creating mosaic tiles. We watched them cutting the tile and then laying the ornate tile pieces into the beautiful patterns. These were very skilled artists. You could buy the goods there and they would pack them and ship them to your home. I wanted to buy several things, but there are many advantages to traveling with carryon baggage only and one of them is you can’t buy much.Read more
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Trip end
November 10, 2024