Northern Morocco: Casablanca to Chefchaouen

Okay, look at the picture above, and tell me: is that what you imagined Morocco looks like? As we drove from Casablanca to Chefchaouen to start the OAT tour called “Morocco Sahara Odyssey,” I was astonished by and enamored of the rolling green hills. I guess northern Morocco is not exactly the Sahara desert. Which I guess is why this part of the trip is the pre-trip extension, and not part of the main tour.

Anyway, here are a few other impressions from my first full day in Morocco.

Arrival

I flew yesterday from Seville to Casablanca on TAP Air Portugal, with a layover in Lisbon. Arrival in Casablanca and passport control were very quick and easy. Getting from the airport to our hotel in downtown Casablanca was a long slog in nasty traffic. It took over an hour to go about 30 kilometers.

And let me just say it: Casablanca is one ugly city. On our last day in Morocco, we return there and will actually see some sights. Maybe there will be something to change my mind about that.

View from my hotel room at the Radisson Blu

Driving north

With stops it took about seven hours to drive from Casablanca to Chefchaouen. The first part of the drive, getting out of Casablanca and heading up the highway, was quite dull. We stopped for lunch in a town called Souk El Arbaa. The food was not great, but it was so nice to eat at a place where there were no other tourists, and to eat food prepared for locals. We got to meet the owner and learn about his family and the food he serves at his little restaurant.

Ahmed, the owner of the restaurant, cuts a slab of beef to put on the grill. Notice the testicle hanging from the carcass. They keep that there so his customers will know they are eating a male and not a female. Apparently, this matters.

Our group posed with Ahmed (who is also called Haj because he has made a pilgrimage to Mecca). Just six of us on the pre-trip. Michael and Cathy (from Pullman, Washington), Abdellah (our trip leader) and Haj, Ken and Mary (from Minnesota), me, and Ellen (from northern Illinois).

After lunch is when the scenery got more interesting. The mountains of northern Morocco are called the Rif. They are geologically related to the mountains of the southern Iberian peninsula. We drove kind of on the western edge of the Rif, so we didn’t climb very high, but the road did get pretty twisty for a time.

Chefchaouen

Finally we arrived in Chefchaouen, which is nicknamed “The Blue City” for obvious reasons.

That picture, taken from the road just before entering the city, doesn’t even do it justice. It’s much bluer than that (as you can see in the photos below). We are staying right in the middle of the medina, the historic old town of Chefchaouen. No vehicles can enter, as the streets are far too narrow, so we got out of our bus and walked.

After a bit of an orientation walk, we arrived at Riad Casa Hassan, where we were greeted with tea and cookies before heading to our rooms. Then we had a fantastic dinner, and Ellen and I went for a walk and got completely lost in the medina, which is part of the fun of it all.

We are spending three nights here, so I’ll write more about it later, but for now, here are a few photos.