We were blessed once more, with dazzling blue skies and temps around 20˚. Our drive to catch the ferry from Tarifa to Tangiers was brief and the boat trip aboard the high speed cat was only an hour to cover the 8 kilometres. We met up with another local guide and did a quick bus trip overview of the city which included a stop at a camel – actually dromedary – depot where the tourists could have pics taken of themselves atop the beasts. This was not a highlight with Dawn, who’d had her fill of camels in Egypt years ago.
Then it was off to the Kasba for a walk. To be a Kasba, or protected walled city, there were five essential things required – a Mosque, schools, bakery, Turkish bath and fountain. The fountain is a necessary spot since this is the only appropriate meeting place for young members of the opposite sex. An obligatory stop on the walk, was at the snake charmer – more like snake handler since no charming was done once the cobras were released from their box.
As we walked the narrow winding paths, the numbers and aggressiveness of street vendors increased. Your best bartering skills were required to get the best possible price, mostly for things you didn’t even want. We did go into a nice bazaar with high end rugs and leather and silver products and left some money behind for a leather jacket for Bill.
Our lunch today was in a Moroccan restaurant with quite enjoyable courses of soup, kebab, couscous, mint tea and baklava. We also had a very decent Moroccan red wine - OK for we nonMuslims. Our last visit in the Kasba was a spice store, where we were presented spices that would solve all of the world’s problems – at least that was the spiel.
From this point to the walls of the Kasba, the vendors got even more plentiful and we were glad we were in a tour that kept the pace going and allowed us to shake off at least some of the rascals, only to be greeted by more. And needless to say, they all had pretty much the same product – little wooden camel effigies, fezes, bracelets and tee shirts.
Back in Algeciras, we had an opportunity to wander on our own - unharrassed through the heart of the shopping area, which for a port city was pretty nice. Today ended with another buffet and bridge.
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