Hercules, Medinas, and Ferries

Briech – Tangier, Morocco; Tarifa – San Roque, Spain

Diana and I don’t really camp like some of the other bikers we meet. We met a super nice couple from Poland today. They showed us picturesque campsites in the Atlas Mountains where they wild camped. 

That’s why it’s good that we’re in Europe now. Back to the land – like the US and Canada – of campgrounds with showers and toilets. Chile had a few – and they were okay. But, as we noted, many of them were in people’s back yards. You can make it work – but it’s kind of weird. 

We’re more campground campers. We’ll do an occasional “wild” camping night if we need to – but our MO is more about places that have showers and toilets. A place for a campfire and/or a fire grate is a nice bonus for sure, but not wholly necessary. 

Morocco had a few campgrounds as well – but they never really landed where we were planning to stay. The one time there was one that was a little closer to our destination there were only showers for men – no showers for women. Diana wasn’t going to stay there; part of it was that she wanted a shower, and part of it was the principle of the thing. No showers for women? Are you kidding? 

So we just ended up with the two nights in the tent. One in the basement of the gas station/restaurant space (where, by the way, there was that Hammam for men – but none for women . . .). And one right in the middle of the Afriquia gas station parking lot. 

Not super ideal . . . Instead of waking up to some amazing sunrise, we woke up to a semi-trailer revving up about 2 inches from our noses . . .

But today we crossed into Spain – and now we’re camping in a “real” campground. Showers for both men and women. Flush toilets (although on the men’s side there are also pit toilets . . .). And there was even a Thai restaurant on the premises. Not super fancy amenities, but pretty darn nice after thousands of miles of kind of odd camping situations . . .

I don’t want to skip over the “crossed into Spain” part too quickly though. Makes it sound like it was easy and straightforward. 

It wasn’t.

When we left off we were 25 miles away from Tangier and worried about the headwind we would face to get there. Well, it turned out that the headwind wasn’t that bad. We ended up making it to Tangier with time to spare. 

Upon arriving we spent considerable time – and some marital angst – considering whether to catch the ferry, as we were planning – which would have meant heading directly to the dock without spending any real time in Tangier – or spending the night in Tangier and catching the ferry the next morning. 

I guess in the end we made the right decision. Only thing is – what we didn’t realize at the time was that the decision had already been made for us. Turns out that the ferry we were planning to catch doesn’t leave from Tangier at all. It leaves from another port – Tangier Med – which is, confusingly, not in Tangier – and is instead 25 miles further east along the coast. 

Needless to say, that wasn’t happening. We couldn’t have biked 25 miles in an hour if we had wanted to – and especially not with the wind directly in our face . . .

The good news? Thinking that we had to catch the ferry meant we arrived early, so we had the whole day to enjoy Tangier. 

We took in another Medina. It was cool. Lots of narrow winding streets. But there were hucksters around every turn. 

“Do you know where you’re going?”

”Where are you trying to get to?”

Or

”Up here on the right is where King Mohammed V . . .” Before you know it you’re on a “free” tour of the Medina. But the free part? Not so much. Once the tour is complete you are expected to pay for it. And they’ll tell you exactly what they are expecting.

Now, I love to chat with people. Make new acquaintances. Find out where people are from, how many kids they have – all that stuff. 

What I hate is when I feel like I can’t have a conversation with anyone because I’m so afraid they will turn out to be one of these people who are only talking to us because they are trying to scam us. Kind of ruins it for everyone else . . . 

So I think we’re done with Medinas. All part of tourist Morocco anyway – in our eyes just kind of an elaborate show that the Moroccans put on to impress the tourists . . . And there are a lot of them in Tangier – what with huge tour cruises stopping in town on a regular basis. 

But it’s not like we’re not tourists. We had an opportunity to do some more tourist stuff in the afternoon. We ended up on a personalized van tour with a great guide, Kahlid. We were the only ones on the tour – so it was very personalized.

First off, Kahlid. Great guy. He grew up in Tangier but somehow ended up working for the US Embassy in Dubai for four years. They taught him English and he ended up loving Americans. This in contrast to the French and Spanish – both of whom he says are racist against Arabs. I guess Arabs and Africans make their way to Spain in small boats by crossing the Straights of Gibraltar at night. A very similar dynamic to what happens along the border with Mexico. Everyone wants to go where the wages are higher . . . And, like in America, there is resentment . . . 

We also talked to Kahlid about religion. He says he is not religious and neither his wife or his ten year old daughter wears a hijab or anything. Kahlid says that religion is the opium of the masses . . . And that it is mostly the less affluent who are the most religious in Morocco. 

Really good to talk to him! Great perspective on the country. Best part of the tour . . .

Other parts . . .

There’s an overlook where you can see the Atlantic on one side and the Mediterranean Sea on the other. Kind of cool. But really just an arbitrary spot on a map . . . 

We did have a funny story there, though . . . We’re waiting for this big group of Asian tourists to clear out so we can take a picture. They aren’t Chinese – they weren’t speaking Mandarin – and we couldn’t figure out where they were from. Finally I ask one of them where they are from. 

“Vietnam,” comes the reply. And then he adds: “And we beat you Americans in the war.”

Kind of funny. 

The Hercules Caves. Again, kind of cool. There’s a cave that people have been using for various purposes for eons. I guess some really great marketing person decided at some point to connect the caves to the story of Hercules. It’s a little unclear how the caves are connected to this mythical figure from Greece. But it doesn’t matter I guess. Now, all the tourists – including us – must go to the caves.

I mean, if it was just the Tangier Caves, or the Caves by the Mediterranean or something I just don’t think it would make our list. But bring in Hercules and now you’ve got something . . .

Lots of Chinese tourists there – and another funny story. Everyone is trying to take a picture of this hole in the wall that looks out on the ocean. Jostling for position. Diana, who is not bashful in these situations, is jostling her New York way up to a prime spot . . . when a little Chinese woman butt checks her right out of the way. 

It’s not often I see Diana chagrined . . . But she really hasn’t had an opportunity to do her weight workouts since we left – so it’s not entirely her fault . . .

Last, but not least, camel rides. Sabrina and Nadia. Definitely a novel experience. Not as fast as Little Ann and Old Dan. But probably a lot better at crossing the desert . . . 

Okay – one more thing to say about the ferry to Spain. The ferry we finally took – which did leave from Tangier – was a high speed ferry. Didn’t think much about this until we started going. But it turns out that when the sea is rough – like it was today – high speed ferries are kind of crazy. 

I’ll just say this . . . They passed out barf bags after a while – and I’m glad they did . . .

Don’t need to have an experience like that again.

Our ride today in Spain was pretty nice. Kind of mountainous. But so green. And with views of the Mediterranean. Based on the campsite fee ($35) and the cost of dinner ($25 for cashew stir fry) we’re going to have some sticker shock for a few days with European pricing – but what can you do? (Another downside to our president’s policies – the dollar is weaker so the prices are higher . . .)

On towards Barcelona tomorrow. We’re still trying to decide whether to go more inland or cling to the coast. Thoughts from the peanut gallery?