When we strolled off the boat in Tangier, we were greeted with rain. And because it is the North African desert, it wasn't raining cats and dogs. It was raining camels and dingoes (I know that dingoes are in Australia, I just thought it sounded good).
Because it was raining, we pretty much had the place to ourselves.
Tangier was freshly washed and clean. The streets reflected back the buildings.
We wandered around the deserted maze-like little alley ways, finding gems like this arch-way that led to a courtyard beyond it.
We really enjoyed having the streets of Tangier to ourselves. We were able to walk freely and take pictures of whatever we wanted. No snake charmers or enforcers messed with us.
Tangier was founded in the 5th century B.C. Some of the trees were so big they looked original.
After awhile, the rain let up and we were able to wander around Tangier without getting soaked.
We could wander around without getting soaked now, but that also meant that all the locals started coming out too. Around every corner someone would walk up to us and offer to give us a "guided tour," for a price of course. You have to be quite forceful with them. We would tell them flat out that we didn't want a tour and they would still continue to follow us and when we stopped they would tell us some tidbit about the street. I finally yelled at one young man who had been attached to us for 20 minutes, "I'm not going to pay you!" He finally got the message and scuttled away.
Up on the hill above the city of Tangier stands this old, crumbling medieval fort. It was great place to get some views of the beach. And judging from the garbage in it, it is also a great place to drink, have sex, and for homeless men to sleep.
The sun started to come out and we could see blue sky. The ground dried up and we took in views.
When it is clear enough, you can see all the way across the Strait of Gibraltar to Spain. At its narrowest point, Europe and Africa are only 8.9 miles or 14.3 kilometers apart.
Standing on a hill in the sun looking out over the Mediterranean is a great way to spend an afternoon. Trust me on this.
After a (mostly because of the dang "tour guides") relaxing day we found our way back to the boat.
On our way back we still had time to find beautiful little corners of Tangier.
I feel like I really didn't have anything interesting to write about our time in Tangier. But maybe that's a good thing. Maybe it's okay to have easy (read somewhat boring). All the drama from the Mr. Snake Charmer in Marrakech almost ruined the whole day. Yeah, easy days are okay.
Want to read about our first stop in Morocco? Click HERE to read about our time in Marrakech.
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