Trip to Morocco and Sahara
, Seville
From December 2 to 6 we went on a Morocco trip with the goal of seeing Sahara.
The bus in Sevilla left at night around 1 AM. Before it left I was just waiting in my seat and saw someone walking in who seemed familiar. I have seen that person before in Sevilla. Once in the club where I walked past her. And the second time on the street next to the Plaza de Toros. Each time I was thinking it could be someone I know. I didn’t talk to her at that point because I thought it would be too big of a coincidence to see her randomly in Sevilla. Then she stepped into my bus on the way to Sahara. When she walked by my seat I had to talk to her.
I stopped her and asked where she was from and what her name is. It matched my expectations so I asked her if she recognizes me. At first she said no, but then I told her that we went to the same school and even the same class for one year. That was around six years ago. Now she remembered me. Talking to her made the time pass fast until we arrived at the Algeciras port.
She might as well have taken a different bus so we could have also met randomly in the desert.
From Algeciras we took a ferry to the Tanger Med port in Morocco, Africa. As it was night and no one slept before we were all tired and slept a bit on the uncomfortable seats of the ferry. The ride took approximately 2 hours, but was delayed immensely by the passport we had to get stamped on the ferry. It took hours until everyone had their stamp. In the beginning of the ride the queue didn’t move at all and in the end when we already arrived at the port there was a long time of no progress again.
It must have been around 7 AM when we took a bus from the port to the city of Fes. We got a tour of the city, have seen the Medina (old town), the oldest university in the world, a store that reminded me of a pharmacy with lots of spices and creams and what not, and the Chouara Tannery where leather is processed. There was an incredibly bad smell coming from that for which they gave us mint to smell, so it would be bearable. In the evening, we went on to the hotel.
I also met someone from a not so excellent Munich university.
The hotel experience was cold and the shower could have been cleaner, but of course that’s not what you come for. We were also told not to have any tap water in Morocco or fruits, salads, etc., as that would be washed in that water.
The next morning we continued the bus ride. We spent pretty much the whole day in it. We stopped at a place in the mountains where we could see wild monkeys. That was a first for me. There were also people offering to ride their horses so I rode a horse and at the same time fed a monkey in the tree.
Another stop was at the Ziz valley, a valley full of palm trees. It is a beautiful view when you have palm trees everywhere you look.
We continued the long ride through the Atlas mountain range until we finally arrived in a hotel in Merzouga where we would sleep the next day. Merzouga is a small town right at the beginning of the desert. The buses parked there and we left the big luggage in the bus and only brought a backpack for the desert. By now it was dark and we drove jeeps to the desert where we arrived at a small tent camp. They were tents for six to eight people.
At first we walked out into the desert a bit and enjoyed the experience. We had dinner with music and a dance show. They made some lemon chicken and chickpea curry with rice. Afterwards, there was also a music and dance show next to a bonfire. At some point it turned into a normal party with the same music you can hear anywhere else. We left at that point to go more into the desert again. Unfortunately, the moon was full and bright, so the stars we could see were nothing special. We sat in the sand for a while before we went to sleep.
Apparently the tent next to ours had a big spider in it. Before the trip I forgot to check which animals there are exactly in that region but now afterwards it looks like there actually are dangerous spiders, scorpions, and more. Inside the tents it felt just as cold as outside so we wore lots of layers of clothes and I pulled the thick blanket over my head. With that it was warm. I also forgot to check my shoes for animals the next morning before putting my feet in which would definitely make sense to do. Oops.
This was the best day. I got up when there was only a slight light at the horizon with the stars still fully visible. I enjoyed the quiet atmosphere. Everyone went to see the sunrise on a big dune where I probably don’t need to explain that it’s a view you don’t forget.
We had breakfast and then did a jeep tour. We blasted music and turned it into a party jeep through the desert. There were multiple stops with great views and once also got some sugared mint tea which they had everywhere.
Back in the hotel where we left the rest of the stuff we just relaxed for a while. In the afternoon there was a dromedary ride through the desert. We watched the sunset on a big dune and afterwards slid down on a blanket. By now it was cold again.
For dinner in the hotel we got meat-filled bread. It was not bad but it was another moment I have often where I think damn, maybe I should finally go full-vegan. Afterwards someone said it was dromedary meat :( I’m still not sure if that was a joke but I doubt that person would joke about it.
The hotel also had a pretty nice discoteca where we had a party at night. Next to the pool at like 4 AM I also had a talk about life.
In the morning we started the way back, which means we spent a lot of time in the bus again. There was a stop in Ifrane which was way too short. It’s a cute town that looks a lot like it could be something European with the style of the houses and the tree types.
We stopped again in Fes and stayed the night in the same hotel, the next day had another stop in Meknes with a short tour. For example, we saw a market with weird smells and dead animals openly hanging around. Wasn’t a fan of that.
Our ferry was canceled, and as it was the time of the football world cup, the reason was probably that the game Morocco vs. Spain happened at the time our ferry was supposed to leave so we had to get the one afterwards.
I mostly wanted to see the desert, but the other places we've seen were also interesting. Although you might be a bit uncomfortable at times the trip was worth it to see the desert.