Morocco was a trip that I was maybe inordinately excited and nervous for. A whole new continent seemed like a big undertaking, but luckily a company in Madrid offers group trips for students that make it so easy. It was actually really nice to just sit back and relax and let someone else do the planning this time.

Day 1 (Thursday, February 13th): Madrid to Tangier

Late Thursday night we travelled across Madrid to catch our bus. This was yet another 8 hour overnight bus ride, which I was not looking forward to. Regardless, it is the cheapest way to get to Morocco and the way that our group was using. The bus took us to Algeciras, a city at the very southern tip of Spain. From here we boarded a ferry for another hour and a half to Tangier. Although the bus ride maybe wasn’t the greatest, it was definitely worth it.

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Day 2 (Friday, February 14th): Tangier

After all of our traveling, we finally made it to our hotel in Tangier around noon. Our group wasted no time getting started with the planned activities considering we only had limited time in the city. First we took a quick bus tour of the city, on which our incredible (and hilarious) tour guide Youssef explained everything to us and even taught us some basic Arabic. From there we headed to the beach where we were scheduled to ride camels. This was the part of the trip I was most looking forward to, and probably was most nervous about. The camels were huge, and watching the groups in front of us go I saw them drop the ground without any warning to dismount. When it was my turn, I held on tight and was pleasantly surprised that my camel was very calm. He slowly lowered to the ground to let me off, which I couldn’t have been more happy about. There were also a few stray dogs running around the beach, and one of them rolled onto her back to be pet. Of course we couldn’t help but stop and pet her while we waited for everyone else to finish riding the camels. She actually had a tag, it seemed like the city tags it’s strays to keep track of them. Once everyone was done, we headed to Hercules Cave. The cave was incredible, it almost reminded me of the one I saw at Monasterio de Piedra. Apparently the carving in the cave wall was man made, and it was supposed to look vaguely like Africa. Youssef found a spring in the cave and splashed us with some water from it. Finally, we headed to the famous markets. We didn’t have time to stop and shop here, but walking through them was interesting enough. You could smell the spices from a mile away. We did go into a pharmacy, where they sold argan oils and other authentic Moroccan products made in house. They gave us a presentation explaining each of their products. Afterwards we went to another store where they made scarves, blankets, and other knitted objects. They had the only remaining loom in the market, and we got to watch them make a blanket. To finish it all off, we had a traditional Moroccan dinner including Moroccan soup, minced meat kebabs, chicken couscous, and mint tea. I can be kind of a picky eater so I wasn’t sure how I’d feel about some of the food, but I was pleasantly surprised. The kebabs had a great smoky flavor, and I’m still craving the mint tea. After dinner we headed back to the hotel to get some rest before another busy day.

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Day 3 (Saturday, February 15th): Tangier to Chefchaouen

We enjoyed a complimentary breakfast at the hotel (which was filled with delicious pastries and really good coffee) before boarding a bus to head to Chefchaouen, also known as The Blue City. This is because historically a large Jewish population lived in the city, and at one time they would paint their homes blue. Eventually, other residents in the area realized that tourists loved the blue houses and decided to paint most of the city blue. Although it is somewhat of a tourist trap, it was an adorable city with tons of charm. Once we got there, our tour guide took us on about a two hour long walking tour. Part of the tour was a short hike to a vantage point on a mountain with a beautiful view of the city. Afterwards, we grabbed lunch (which included couscous of course) and headed out on our own. We spent the rest of the evening wandering the streets of Chefchaouen and shopping in the markets there. We stopped about halfway through at a highly recommended restaurant called Cafe Clock and grabbed a quick snack. I decided to get a chocolate milkshake, which actually turned out to be cold milk with chocolate mouse mixed into it. Not what I was expecting, but still good. After some more shopping and exploring, we got dinner at a restaurant our group had recommended (couscous again, but I was in Morocco I had too!). After another long but exciting day, we headed back to the hotel to get some much needed sleep.

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Day 4 (Sunday, February 16th): Chefchaouen to Madrid

After a great weekend, we woke up early in the morning to head back to Madrid. Another delicious complimentary breakfast gave us a great way to start the long trip home. We left Chechaouen at 8:30 am and didn’t make it back to Madrid until 1:30 am, but all I could think about was how glad I was that we went to Morocco.

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Morocco was nothing like what I expected, but in pretty much every way it was better. If I ever have the chance, I would 100% go back.

Abbie