Tangiers.

Saturday 21 May.

 

When I went up top for our early morning cuppa there was no land in sight yet and the ship was still moving along at a good pace. We were due to get ashore in Tangiers at 9:00 am and that was only in another couple of hours. All was well when we went up later for breakfast the shore was just a short distance to starboard, the white Moroccan buildings were sparklingly in the early morning sunlight with dark hills in the background.

 

We sat at the window in the buffet and watched as Tangiers came into view. When the ship began to manoeuvre in reverse into the harbour to dock we moved outside to the stern and watched her being tied up. We didn't rush to get off as it would just result in a queue to stand in, so waited until after 9:00 am before going to the cabin to collect our gear. When we reached the exit point there was still a queue as there was a delay, until 9:30 am, before we were on the quay. We got off without any difficulty having British passports but those with SA passports had forms to fill in, they also had to have arranged for a visa before leaving SA.

 

All the tour buses were lined up waiting for their passengers but there were a few people walking and doing their own thing like us. One of the tours only took the people to the top of the city to save them a climb up the hill then they had a guided walking tour. It was quite a trek around the dock then over a bridge to exit. Before the exit there were security checks and bags had to go through a x-ray machine. We assumed that it was for the ferry passengers who had come over from Spain, we just by-passed it and nobody bothered.

The wall city of Tangiers.

 

There were the usual rows of taxis as we left the port area touting to take us on a tour and the stalls with the traders and their souvenirs. We managed to avoid them and a made our way to the city. From the ship we could see the minaret of the mosque high on the crest of the hill at the top of the city and we headed in that general direction. We were accosted by some young lads who said they were students and would show us around but still had a friendly smile for us when we rejected their offers. We climbed stairs that took us to what looked like the old city walls but then got lost with a series of dead ends on narrow passageways. There was now a number of people from the cruise wandering aimlessly about and we got together and eventually found the route up to the road that we should probably taken. There was a view point a short distance up this road and we got a beautiful panorama of the port and coast, the Sinfonia was the only large vessel in the harbour the others were the ferries to and from Spain.

Typical narrow lane.

Archway in the walls.

 

There were plenty of touts at the view point but also friendly locals that pointed us in the right direction up the hill to the Kasbah. I thought this was the market area but it was a large square with a small mosque in one corner and it seemed to be used as a carpark. There were more fortifications at the top of the hill and a small cafe, no alcohol here just soft drinks and coffee. There were a group of tourist with their Arab guide outside, we weren't sure if they were from the ship or not. We now followed arrows on the walls directing us to the 'Tombeau d'Ibn Batouta' this was the tomb of a traveller in the 1300's who journey all over the known world at the time and left an account of all his adventures. Luckily the arrows helped us avoid more dead ends but the building holding the tomb wasn't much to look at and it was closed. Some helpful small boys at the tomb now directed us to the Socco or Souk, the market area.

Not very impressive 'Tombeau d'Ibn Batouta'

 

Up until now the streets been very quiet, a few locals but mostly tourists. Now as we approached the markets, stalls and shops the narrow streets and lanes became crowded. Lots of people strolling and shopping, shopkeepers trying to entice you inside to take a 'shufti', (I thought it was a Scottish word but is in fact Arabic), and cars and motor scooters attempting to get through the throng. We did spend some money, they accepted Euros, I got a couple of fridges magnets and two little camels, one for Hollie and the other for Ewan. As we continued along the streets the air was tanged with the smells from the spice shops with their open bags of various condiments and the distinctive odour (according to Moira) of camel leather from shops selling bags, belts and jackets of the material.

Mosque minaret.

Market stall.

 

Eventually we reached a wider street that led to a large square with benches and gardens. The traffic was much busier here and the streets congested. We sat on one of the benches for a rest and had a drink and muffin from our 'picnic' Moira had prepared on the ship. Behind the square was the tall minaret of another mosque and we walked around the outside before going through a park with old canons that were more of the city's ancient fortifications. Our next quest was the Grand Mosque and The Christian church of the Immaculate Conception both close to each other. It was another job finding a route, the names on the map didn't correspond to the street names but we found people again helpful when we asked directions and eventually got there.

Church of the Immaculate Conception.

A Scottish castle in Tangiers ?

 

Neither the church or this mosque, that wasn't so 'Grand', were much to see from the outside and unfortunately we couldn't get into either. The church we just missed it closed from mid-day until 5:00 pm and the mosque we didn't think we were permitted to enter anyway. We were now near the bottom of the hill again and there was an large paved area in front of the mosque where people were sitting on a surrounding wall. We sat there and had the rest of our picnic lunch. There were a lot of people from the ship here and the Sinfonia was clearly visible from where we sat, there was obviously a more direct route to the market area from the ship than the one we had taken. We were sitting beside two women who were getting pestered by the salesmen wandering about with trinkets, kaftans and watches, they couldn't get rid of them. We just say 'No!' and they go but the women's problem was that they were polite and showed an interest in what was being sold, this is fatal as they then think they have a potential sale and won't leave you alone. The women were from Melville in KZN not far up the coast from Umtentweni. They, like us, had prepared a picnic lunch on the ship and Moira said to one of them that she must have Scot's blood in her veins, she said her father came out to SA from Greenock when he was 6 years old! What a small world.

Palm tree lined square.

Ancient fortification and canon.

 

We had seen most of the highlights of the city and after lunch we went for a wander about retracing a lot of our steps. We got back to the square in front of the mosque and decided carry on up the hill to see if there was a way to the docks down the other side. On the way up the hill there were other market areas designated to particular products, meats, vegetables, fabrics and one selling garden plants and flowers. Further up the road side there were artisan's shops where they were welding together metal gates, making barbecues and at one he had slaughtered either goats or sheep and had piles of hoofs, horns and as we passed stuck a spike into an animal's severed head. On the hill crest there was the minaret of yet another mosque next to the steeple of a Catholic church. Both again closed. There didn't appear to be any way to the docks from the other side of the hill so we made our way down again. It was through the park with the canons, over the narrow streets and lanes back to the Kasbah and then all the way round to the area in front of the Grand Mosque. It had been a long circuit to get us back to where we started and now we were becoming quite familiar with the layout of the city, but very tired. It was time to call it a day and head back to the ship.

Panorama of city from dock.

 

I had to put my bag through the x-ray machine at the security check point this time but that was the only check to get onto the dock. There was a cafe and duty free shop and we had a look to see if they sold beer but no luck, the duty free shop didn't even have alcohol only cigarettes. It was 2:30 pm when we got on board again and we made for the stern of the ship to get a good spot to watch us leaving. Everyone was supposed to be back on board by 3:30 pm for departure an hour later, but there were still people, without a care in the world, strolling along the dock at 4:00 pm. Then there was an announcement that sailing was delayed due to immigration problems, we thought that one of the passengers had been arrested or got stranded in town. There were official cars going backwards and forwards but we never discovered what the real problem was.

Leaving Tangier.

 

The snag about leaving late was that we had been due to pass through the Straits of Gibraltar at 6:30 pm and would have got a view of the Rock while it was still light. The last time when we sailed south we went through the Straits after dark now it was touch and go. We decided to have our dinner first but went to the cabin for a glass of wine. When we got to the buffet the lines were just being cast off and we were away again, we delayed dinner and stood out on the stern to watch the departure. We stayed there until the ship turned the point at the edge of the natural harbour protecting Tangier and headed up the coast to the Straits. Moira checked our position using the GPS* and map on her phone and we still had over an hour before the Rock. We had our dinner, then went and sat at a window in the disco lounge to watch until we reached Gibraltar. Moira had a lot of people interested in her GPS and were impressed when she could tell them exactly where we were. The visibility outside was now deteriorating and the Spanish coast that we could make out quite clearly earlier was now hazy. When we did manage to pick out the Rock of Gibraltar it was very faint and just a black shadow on the horizon. I went outside and pointed the camera in the general direction and got a few reasonable pictures. A bit further to the west the sun was setting and there I did get some nice shots.

Glorious sunset.

The Rock of Gibraltar.

 

In a way it had been a bit disappointing, we would have liked a clearer view and if we had got away as planned the conditions may have been brighter. I did get a couple of images of the Rock and was able to enhance them using the editing mode on the computer. We went back to the cabin once we were well past the Rock and into the Mediterranean Sea. I read my book on my iPad but after about half an hour my eyes were closing. Moira woke me when she took my iPad away to put on charge and turned off the lights.

* The app Moira uses on her iPhone for the GPS is called 'maps.me' This function allows you to download Google maps of the countries you are visiting for later use without the need for an internet connection. This is particularly convenient on the ship where the WiFi connection is very expensive.

 

 

 

 

 

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