Day 1 in Tanger
After being able to pass through the Police control in Tanger (wahoo for new stamps in my Passport), we met up with our tour company. We had heard many mixed reviews on Morocco (especially with regards to westernized women in Morocco) and thought it would be best to explore the country as part of a tour – at least on our first trip into the country. I was so glad we chose a tour as soon as we entered the country, because even though it was only a 35 minute ferry ride from Spain, slight culture shock set in for both Matt and I.
Our tour company drove us to our hotel – beachfront hotel with a pool – SWEET! We then learned that it was only Matt, Candra and I on the 3 day tour of Morocco to Tanger and Chefchauhan – so everything for the weekend would essentially be just for us – SWEET again! We also met a local Moroccan named Hicham (aka Chap Chap). He is friends with some people who work for the tour company and so they have this little arrangement where he meets up with people from the tour and offers them additional private tours. He met us and offered us a private tour of Tanger for that very night. We asked him how much and he said free. Hmm….sounds a little fishy to me. He said we only have to pay the Moroccan price for the taxi (€1 each instead of €5 each the drivers charge to tourists) and just give him a small tip at the end. You know the saying, “When something sounds too good to be true, it probably is.” Well, all 3 of us immediately thought this would be the case and we’d end up being ripped off or eaten in an alley (the eaten in the alley would the literally the worst possible case scenario).
We decided to take a chance and we asked him to show us the real Tanger at night. Show us what the Moroccans do – off the beaten path – not just the touristy spots. We all agreed that we would see how the evening tour went before we asked Hicham to take us on any more tours. Hicham agreed and we asked him to pick us up at 9pm.
Once we got to the hotel and checked in, we sat out on our balcony and admired the beachfront view. We quickly noticed that there were ONLY men on the beach - like 99.9% men. The remaining 0.01% were little girls on the beach or mothers dressed in their full traditional outfit watching their kids in the water. We started to play a version of “Where’s Waldo” which entailed spotting women on the beach! After finding very few women on the beach, we headed down to the restaurant for dinner and to watch the sunset.
The view from our room balcony
At 9pm on the dot, Hicham arrived at our hotel and was ready to take us out. The streets of Tanger were packed. Many Moroccan’s from the south come up north to Tanger for the long stretch of white sandy beaches and because it’s cooler than the desert, but it was extra busy because of the crowning of the King that was happening that weekend. Hicham took us to the Kasbah, the Medina and around the downtown centre of Tanger. As promised, he took us where the Moroccan’s go - there was hardly a tourist in sight. If it wasn’t for Hicham being our tour guide, I would have locked myself up in my hotel room and would not even dare to venture out in the dark, even with Matt by my side. The culture is completely different than what I am used to and I would not have felt safe on my own.
Entrance to the Medina
The Medina area was really cool. We saw several Mosques, lots of stray cats, many stores selling handicrafts such as shoes, leather purses, wallets and jewellery, as well as spices, fruits & vegetables, meat, olives, dates and more! I love markets and the Medina area was awesome. Matt had Hicham buy him some olives as they smelled divine. Hicham bought them instead of Matt as Hicham would get the Moroccan price, whereas we would be charged a marked up tourist price. For €0.50, Matt got a bag full of olives that tasted SO GOOD….and for the record, I strongly dislike olives. But the Moroccan olives were incredible. A tad salty, but the flavour was spot on.
Meat market
Loads of fresh fruits and veggies
Olives, olives and more olives! So many varieties to choose from.
The streets of Tanger at night.
Check out the spice display. The scent was incredible.
I had such an amazing and unforgettable experience manoeuvring through the narrow & windy streets of the Medina with Hicham. I never would have done this on my own, especially after sunset. I could have done without some of the comments & looks from the men, but with Hicham as our guide, I saw a side of Morocco that was intriguing and alluring.
Hicham also took us to this carpet & blanket store where all 3 of us (Candra, Matt and I) fell in love with something from the store. Candra and I each bought a handmade silk blanket and Matt purchased a handmade silk rug. The colours were incredible and if you could feel the texture of the blanket and rug, you would have been sold too. Matt says that his rug feels like a kitten. Thank you to my wonderful friend Raj for a generous amount of spending money as I used it towards my silk blanket.
This picture shows some of the Moroccan silk blankets that Candra and I marvelled over. I believe Candra's blanket is the one on the left centre....mine isn't shown as I went through heaps of blankets to find the perfect one for me.
After our expensive purchases, we checked out some gorgeous views of Tanger and then headed to the beach where we saw a brilliant firework display that lasted about 45 minutes – all for the Crowning of the King! While the fireworks were going on, I point blank asked Hicham what the deal was with the tour – there is no such thing as free tours where we only pay €1 for a taxi. He re-assured me that the deal was legitimate and to only provide him with a small tip at the end or buy him dinner/lunch/drink as we tour around – that’s it. I said to him, “Ok, I want to shake your hand to confirm the deal. This sounds too good to be true and I am very cautious about these sort of things. If this is all that you require as payment, then I am good to go. If there turns out to be additional fees not mentioned, I am not giving you any money whatsoever.” He agreed!
After an awesome night (and culture shocking experience) exploring Tanger, a taxi picked us up just after midnight and we were returned to our hotel. It took over an hour (for a 10 minute ride) to get to our hotel as the streets were jam packed with cars due to the fireworks ending. At the hotel we went to pay Hicham for the taxi for the night and he said, “Pay me at the end if you want to continue with private tours.”. Hmm…fishy again! He asked if we wanted to be taken out the following night as well and we said “yes”. So he provided me with his number and I was to call him following our tour in Chefchauhan with the tour company we booked through and he would pick us up.
Day 2 in Tanger
Following our tour in Chefchauhan on the Saturday, I called Hicham at 7pm and asked him to pick us up at 9:30pm for another night tour. Sure enough, he was there at 9:30pm with a private taxi to take us out. I love punctuality.
Hicham provided us with another great tour of Tanger at night. We saw new sights and ventured through other areas of the Medina. I bought a huge batch of Moroccan soap for only €0.50 (Moroccan price, not tourist price – thanks Hicham). We loved our Moroccan experience so much that we asked Hicham whether it was possible to extend our tour by one day and stay somewhere in the Medina area. Hicham recommended a nice hotel where all 3 of us could stay for €8 each – deal! We went to the hotel, asked to see the room and booked it on the spot.
We then continued touring around, checked out some live music and did a lot of people watching. Another great night in Tanger!
Walking through the narrow streets of the Medina
So many people in town!
Checking out a live concert.
Day 3 in Tanger
For our 3rd day in Tanger, we met up with Hicham after our tour company’s tour of Tanger. Let’s just say that I am so glad we hired Hicham as our private tour guide, because if the only part of Tanger I saw was through the actual tour company, I would have been disappointed. We only saw the rich side of Tanger with the tour company and not the real Tanger. I would have left Morocco with a false impression.
On today’s tour with Hicham, we ventured outside of Tanger. We headed to a beach for an hour or so where once again there was 99.9% men. I did see a few more women than the beach that was in front of our hotel, but the women weren’t in the water – just men & boys with a few young girls.
Look at how packed the beaches were - with 99.9% men! We headed a bit further down the coast and found a beach that wasn't quite so busy.
We also went to see a light house and the Grotte d’Hercule.
Lighthouse
At the Grotte d’Hercule (it is supposed to resemble the shape of Africa)
We thought it resembled the side profile of a face!
And finally, this is the view from our hotel room that Hicham hooked us up with for €8/night each. Right in the centre of the photo is the closest Mosque. Before we went to sleep I said to Matt & Candra, "Don't be surprised if we are woken up during the middle of the night to the prayers over the loudspeaker" as Muslims pray 5x a day. Sure enough, twice during the night we jumped out of bed as the prayers were so loud that our walls were vibrating! It was a really cool experience though!
We had an amazing tour and awesome drive seeing the sights outside of Tanger. Once we got dropped off at our hotel, we thanked Hicham and let him know that we would not be requiring his services the following day as we would just be walking around the Medina on our own in the morning before the ferry. We then paid him for the taxi rides and added a generous tip and he was more than thrilled with the money we gave him. Wow – turns out what he said to us was really legitimate!
Thanks Hicham for a wonderful tour and an unforgettable weekend!!
If you ever go to Morocco and are in need of a tour guide for Tanger, let me know and I will hook you up with Hicham’s info!
Next post: Chefchauhan, Morocco
