Day 3 in Morocco

Here is the last part of my amazing weekend spent in Morocco, Africa! Sunday morning we had another early wakeup time but I didn’t mind because breakfast was tasty. Our tour group boarded the bus and made our way to the last city we would be visiting (and the one I was most excited to see) which was Chefchauen. This city is located in the Rif Mountains and the drive to the city was absolutely spectacular. Despite the fact that it was a cloudy day, the fog made the mountains appear more grand.

We began with a guided tour of the old area of Chefchauen which is a city painted blue because the scent given off from the paint deters mosquitos (who knew? I say we need some of this stuff in Minnesota for the summer months). I could try to explain how beautiful it all was but a picture is worth a thousand words:

Chefchauen is well known for their detailed fabric work. We had the opportunity to learn more about the blanket and rug making process by visiting a local shop.

Another thing that I loved about Morocco was all the small shops and business owners in every place we visited. You come to understand the importance and sense of pride that the owners have for their goods. This is something we don’t have in the U.S. as much.

After site seeing and purchasing a few more goodies to take home we ate at a local lunch buffet before leaving the blue city.

Now, this is where things get interesting again. The original plan was for us to take about a 30 minute ferry out of Ceuta, however a huge storm had come through and this port was to be shut down for 4 days because the waves of the ocean were too much for such a small ferry. Nonetheless, our tour guides informed us that we could drive another hour to a different port to board a larger ferry that could make the voyage.

We ended up getting delayed waiting for this ferry and didn’t end up boarding our ship until around 8:00 PM. Once on the ship, my friends and I thought it would be a good idea to buy something to eat since we would be traveling throughout dinner time. I had just finished eating my bocadillo (sandwich) before the boat departed.

At first things were fine, we were chatting with fellow people we had met on the trip until I noticed that Becca didn’t look like she was feeling well. She informed us that she was definitely sea sick. The ferry was moving up and down a lot because there were some pretty large waves that we were tackling. I got up to get bags for Becca and my other friend Melanie. Once I sat down I knew I too, was going to be sick.

A very sick feeling me

I’ve never gotten sea sick before but let me tell you that it is pretty horrible. The only thing that seemed to help was imagining that I was one with the waves (how cheesy does that sound?) It definitely was an experience and I don’t think I will ever be eating a bocadillo again!

Once off the ferry we were all very happy to be back on land and we made our way back to Sevilla. Our AVE to Madrid didn’t leave until 6:40 AM so when we made it to Sevilla at around 2:30 AM we had some time to kill.

Overall, the weekend in Morocco was one I will never forget. Although the time was short and I didn’t really get to fully integrate into the culture and learn everything there was to know, I am thankful that I had the ability to see what I could.

Until next time my friends.

Worry less and smile more.