On Saturday we got up to eat a continental breakfast of bread at 9 AM so we could hit the beach early. We found a horse-drawn platform to take us to Paradise Beach for a cheap price, and the hour-long journey was very scenic and rural. The beach itself was also a beautiful sight - clear water and smooth sand. We set up camp under an umbrella and enjoyed the sun for the next 5 hours, only stopping to grab a lunch of fish tagine at a nearby cafe. The ocean was a little cold but very refreshing, and it was enjoyable just being there. We headed back around 5:30 PM, grabbed showers, then walked to a hotel to grab a couple of drinks and watch the first half of the third place World Cup game. Dinner was at a different restaurant but we got more seafood - this time swordfish and calamari. We then went to bed early to wake up early again on Sunday so we could spend a few hours in Tangier.
Tangier is significantly bigger than Asila and also a huge hotspot for tourists. We passed the Grand Mosque in a Petit Taxi then trekked to the Casbah where there was an overlook to lands beyond. After that we had just enough time to grab a quick lunch in the middle of the city, where we were surrounded by a bunch of tourists in groups for guided tours, before we ran to catch the train. I’m so glad that we had an opportunity to go to the beach and escape the heat of Meknes.
Chefchaouen, 7/18-20: Sophia, Molly, Brady, and I were lucky enough to join another group from AALIM who were traveling to this city by bus because otherwise we would have had to have gotten creative with transportation! We left right after classes on Friday and got there around 6:30 PM - our first view of “the Blue City” from the road was stunning and we knew this would be an exciting adventure! Our hotel, Dar Terrae, was in the middle of the old city and we passed many little shops and blue buildings on our way to find it. It was also a very stunning blue building, with hospitable employees and a beautiful rooftop terrace where we sat, talked, and enjoyed tea and sweets both nights. On Friday evening, after we settled in during iftar, we shopped a little and ate couscous at a nearby cafe for dinner.
On Saturday, we ate a nice breakfast at the hotel before heading out to a national park to hike with Bilal as our driver. He also offered to be our guide during our trek to “God’s Bridge”, but we thought we could handle it ourselves. Wrong! The hike to this natural monument was very rocky and somewhat dangerous and we ended up picking up a guide along the way who helped us over the rocks and water. The sight at the end was worth the journey - plus we got to swim a bit to cool off in the stream below!
We returned to Dar Terrae to shower before we grabbed a late lunch and did some shopping. The shopkeepers there weren’t very aggressive and I ended up finding most of my gifts for friends and family that afternoon! Dinner was spent at a hotel restaurant outside the city limits that one of our travel books raved about, and we devoured salad with goat cheese as well as goat and vegetable tagines by candlelight. To end the day we bought some traditional Moroccan sweets upon our return and ate them under the stars.
Sunday’s main event was trekking to Ras al-Ma’, an overlook of the city where we got some stunning pictures of all the blue. Other than that, we shopped a bit more and headed home mid-afternoon. Chefchaouen is my favorite city so far - the people we encountered were very friendly and the sights were beautiful - and sharing these memories with friends made it even better.