Morocco & Tenerife

Alrighty folks, this is gonna be a long one. I went to Morocco over winter break with Hanna for just shy of two weeks, and had a fantastic time.

I got robbed the day we were leaving, so thank god it was a late bus and I was able to get my shit together before we left.

Tangier

• took the bus to Algeciras which is right next to Gibraltar from Alicante over night

• took the ferry over in the morning which landed us somewhere about a half hour away from the center of the city so we had to get a cab in but it was super cheap because its morocco

• Lots of kitties everywhere

  • in trees

  • in boxes

  • tiny baby ones

  • sniffly ones & itchy ones I probably should not have pet

  • majority very friendly and well fed which was so good

• discovered what a medina is

  • basically a big confusing maze of streets and shops making up the old town, mostly no cars

  • lots of people trying to get you to go into their shop

• weird because you don't really see any women out and about, its mostly just men

  • lots of catcalling

  • mostly they think you are Spanish if they recognize you're a tourist, which is funny

    • Moroccans think I'm Spanish, the Spanish think I'm British, and the brits know I must be American.

• tried moroccan couscous for the first time, that was fantastic

  • freshly cooked veggies and spices on a gigantic bowl of couscous so so good

• met an adorable doggo who I wanted to steal so badly

  • fed her some cheese

• had our first taste of moroccan tea which is so so yummy and sweet and minty

• went to two museums

  • one of contemporary art and one of Tangier's history and such

  • both super cool in fun buildings

  • saw a tiny baby tortoise in the garden

• negotiated with a guy for a camel purse for a long time but am happy with my purchase

• rode horses on the beach one night which was absolutely insane

  • Hanna and I have both been riding for ages so we wanted to go gallop off on our own, but the horses were tired after a day of terrible tourists and they didn't want to go without their owners leading them

  • so, the guys trying to get us to ride put us on and tried to make them go by running up behind us with whips and ropes and yelling

  • Hanna's horse then decided fine we can go gallop

  • mine said no thanks lets buck and rear instead and then he kept making super angry faces at his dad so I was feeling a bit like mmm 'am I gonna fall off here? how embarrassing. also yikes wish I had a helmet.'

  • in the end we both got to gallop for a bit which was nice but felt bad for the ponies

• made dinner at the hostel! tons of pasta yummy yummy

  • nice lady gave us olive oil to add to it, moroccan olive oil is so good

• made friends on the roof with a 70 year old stoner and a girl from north Carolina

Chefchaoen

• took a bus to Chefchaoen, the blue city, from Tangier

  • jam and bread for travel snacks!

• Nice man named Faouzy was our driver for the city

  • he picked us up in his taxi when we tried to find our hostel walking and totally failed, and then gave us his number so we could call when we needed rides

• favorite hostel of the trip alert!!!

  • housing and everything really is super cheap in morocco and we stayed in private rooms a few times because it was still less than half the price we normally paid, including here

    • cute orange room with bathroom included

  • super amazing host who was always offering us free tea and coffee

    • spoke like 7 languages too

  • beautiful terrace roof overlooking the whole blue medina with a big view of the mountains and a mosque up on the hill

  • amazing amazing breakfasts

• met more adorable kitties and puppies

  • friendly kitty insisted on being my best buddy

• explored the medina and I got to be hanna's instagram boyfriend and take cute photos

• I had to buy some tomato bread from a lady's tiny whole in the wall shop because I was getting too hangry. Dinner was vegan pizza which was just pizza without cheese

• Met Zaki, a Moroccan wizard man who was very mystical and set up our trip into the Sahara!

• I offically got sick at this point. had been under the weather since there was a gross coughing guy on our overnight bus to algeciras

• had to go get advil and cough meds from a farmacia but I don't speak french or

• we got Faouzy to drive us on a day trip to Akchour

  • drove through some beautiful fields and mountains

    • Faouzy pulls over and I get suspicious because we're two young girls in a car with a stranger in the middle of nowhere who we can't communicate with

    • he walks across the road into a field

      • "where's he going? is he leaving us? is he going pee? picking up that chicken?" - me and hanna

    • he bends over and grabs something to bring back

    • shows us

    • its a weed plant

    • we were in the weed farming region of Morocco and he showed us that it was good sticky weed lmao

  • beautiful mountain hike up to some waterfalls

  • lots of little tea shops along the way and we brought lunchies to eat at the falls

  • got tea on the way back

  • used an unfathomable number of tissues because I was so sniffly and sick but still had fun

• spent the new year there

  • there's very very little alcohol in Morocco, especially compared to Spain (we have four bottles of wine in my teacher's lounge fridge) because its an islamic country so we didn't drink

  • we went to bed early, before midnight, and woke up to a beautiful morning and huge breakfast on the terrace

    • coffee with spices

    • tea

    • breads of all sorts

    • homemade peanut butter

    • fresh chocolate

    • honey and marmelade

• Went up the hill to see the Spanish mosque which had an amazing view of the whole area!

  • also call to prayer is crazy!! it goes off five times a day (swear it felt like more some days) and just all the mosques at once set off these big megaphones over the city for prayer in Arabic. really interesting.

• Faouzy picked us up and took us to the bus station where we were taking the tickets Zaki bought us to get to Fez, where we would go to the Desert from.

Fez

• we were only in Fez for a little while because we changed plans from Casablanca to go there

• got there in the afternoon and got picked up by a driver at the bus station

  • who wrote Hanna Kingston and Grahill Bland on the sign, which cracked me up

  • he had a super difficult time finding the Riad we were going to which was supposedly owned by Zaki's sister and cousin

    • started yelling on the phone and causing backups in the street and going in circles a lot

    • some guy just hopped into our car from the street and we were like what the fuck but it turns out the driver knew him and he took us to the hostel

      • Eunice was his name, he ended up being our buddy and walked us to the Riad

• In the Riad we just walk in, are not at all introduced to the cousin or the sister and don't really know where we are. They asked us for money for the room which was supposed to be included so I got super suspicious

  • at this point I am sick and grumpy and not about to be taken advantage of so I'm like no sorry we don't owe you more money, talk to Zaki

    • ended up not having to pay more! yay!

• Found out the guy asking for money was in fact his cousin, so that was reassuring and calmed my suspicions

• after we got settled in the hostel in a cute private room, we went adventuring in the medina in search of more couscous

  • found a yummy cheap dinner of couscous eventually

• medina was so crowded and overwhelming. much bigger than chefchaoen.

• bought some nuts from a nut guy and fruit from a fruit guy after dinner for the desert journey, and got some extra breads

• packed into a smaller bag for the desert trip and went to bed nice and early because we had to be up at 7!

Sahara

• We got up early and we're led by Eunice to the car that is going to drive us to the Sahara

  • driven by yet another stranger unrelated to Zaki

• We get in and meet a Russian guy and a Chinese guy who are both headed to the desert too

  • They do not know Zaki at all, we asked

  • We start heading off on the long drive out to the desert!

• Stopped for coffee on the way and got to know our co-travelers a bit.

  • Interesting conversation about freedom and personal liberties in our respective home countries.

• First sightseeing stop was at a place they called the little Switzerland. For some reason it was a town completely designed like a Swiss ski village in the middle of Morocco. It was not exciting and the group all decided to get back on the road ASAP.

• Second stop was to see some adorable monkeys! They lived in this wooded area and people go to feed them peanuts. They were very excited about the peanuts.

• We also stopped for lunch where a very sweet kitty fell in love with Hanna and kept climbing onto her lap

• Later we stopped to see a beautiful canyon, like Grand Canyon beautiful. It was so so cool.

  • Also got to pee. Sometimes toilets in Morocco are just holes in the ground that you squat over.

    • I'm a really bad squat-peer.

• We eventually drive up to the side of the road and can see the sand dunes in the distance!! They look just like the photos no joke people.

• Our driver pulls the Russian guy out of the car and hands him off to some other folks. We didn't know them at all. We had assumed we were all one little travel group together but nope

• Next the Chinese guy gets plucked off, and then me and Hanna get sat in a big comfy truck. Starts driving us into the desert!!

• We stop before the biggest dunes and see SO MANY CAMELS. Camels as far as the eye can see. All folded up sitting on the ground

  • I cannot emphasize enough how strange looking camels are. They look absurd. They have crazy legs and funky feet and weirdo lips and make noises like aliens pooping

• Eventually they walk us to OUR camels.

  • We leave our bags in the sand to hopefully be picked up by someone who knows where to put them!

  • We sit on our camels while they are still folded up on the ground and then our guide tells them to get up and they do this jerky movement with a biiiig groan and suddenly you're riding a camel!

• I sat on front camel, my camel's name was Tajine (typicaly moroccan dish) and Hanna named hers Couscous (same). They were potentially brothers but our camel guide did not speak very much English so we didn't really know what he meant. Tajine did not like face pets but Couscous felt neutral about them.

  • Riding camels was so weird feeling. Nothing like horses. Big and awkward and unstable. They were roped one to the other, and our guide led us on foot.

• By now the sun was starting to set, so we hopped off and took some beautiful sunset photos and played in the dunes for a bit.

  • It was absolutely gorgeous. Breathtaking. Spectacular. All the words.

• Our camel ride in total was about 2 hours until we got to our camp. It was pretty empty but set up like a big horseshoe glamping village

  • It was so cold but they had nice beds and a big dinner tent and we got hospitality tea like we did almost everywhere in Morocco

  • There were three other tourists there, they were Polish and kept to themselves mostly

    • our bags were magically there!! no idea how!! amazing!

• We had a massive dinner, like four courses and I was full by the second. It was so delicious and fresh cooked.

• Then we went outside to listen to some music and chat by the fire which was lovely. They did some typicial Berber (desert communities & cultures) drumming and singing.

  • Hanna and I attempted to drum and were awful. We tried both Enchanted by Taylor Swift (which is our song) and the US national anthem. Neither has a drum part but we realized that too late

• The poles were not into drumming much at all. So I think our hosts got a bit like 'oh gosh what do we do with these people?' so they took us to the luxury camp nearby

  • they had fairy lights and heating and fancy treats with their tea. It was nice but still like... you're in the desert man... why you wanna be fancy??

  • this time Hanna and I had a fantastic time dancing to the drums and no one else danced but we were spinning and clapping and inventing moves it was fantastic

    • very mystical spiritual moment dancing to a drum circle with my best friend in the Sahara desert I won't lie

• Eventually we went back to our camp and Hanna and I laid out under the sky for a bit. It was not super clear so we couldn't see all the stars, but still more than normal.

  • We had very deep convos and decided that night was our personal new years, so we set our resolutions and talked about what we want from our lives. It was lovely.

• We went to bed under lots of blankets and fell asleep so fast. It was lovely.

• We woke up before sunrise to a clear sky and tons of stars. We grabbed our things, had some breakfast in the big tent, and pet a fluffy desert kitty.

• We hopped back on our camels for another 2 hour trek back out of the desert. We were freezing but the sun came up slowly over the dunes and it was so beautiful. What a day

• Finally we got out of the desert and back to the edge of the dunes where the hotels and cars are. We got put in the back of a pickup truck with the disgruntled Poles and zoomed out to the big road. There we waited for some random bus to pick us up.

• Eventually a complete stranger was like okay here's your ride! We got put in two middle seats between some very chatty Spanish women for an eleven hour ride to Marrakech.

  • Honestly, it was horrible. Worst mini bus ride of my life. The rest was filled by a tour group with a rude lady and we stopped way too many times

  • Couldn't sleep because middle seats and Spanish ladies.

  • Cannot emphasize enough how fed up I was by the end of it

  • Overall 1/10. But it got us to Marrakech so that was good.

Marrakech

• Got in late to the hostel, and were a bit worried bc we weren't sure they'd take us because we missed a night of our reservation but it was totally fine

• It was a super cute fun hostel, but I was so tired and ready for bed and we were in a twelve person dorm so that was a little rough

• Went to bed really quick after a shower and such

  • showers in Morocco (and plumbing in general) are very very stinky so bathrooms are generally unpleasant because the stink rises up from the pipes. You have to cover your drain when not using it or the whole room stinks.

• Woke up to a beautiful breakfast in the hostel lobby which was lovely and had trees and a converted hot tub

• Explored the city for a while!

  • Wandered the Medina

  • Pet dogs including adorable tiny puppy we named puddles

  • Are couscous and Tajine

  • Bought too many souvenirs and some sunglasses

  • Avoided men and their catcalling

  • Went to a museum!! Beautiful!! Saw the tombs and picked out where we would want to be buried

  • Saw snake charmers with real cobras and vipers!

  • Hanna got scared but I got to hold a snake which was fun but I did not like how he was being treated he was clearly too warm and probably very ill or drugged :'(

  • Got some fresh juice which was insanely amazing

  • Looked at a cool mosque

• It was a very busy and bustling city so it was kind of a lot to wander around but it was still fun :)

• Had dinner at a beautiful Beatles themed restaurant which had yummy vegan options for me

Agadir

• We took a late night bus from Marrakech to Agadir, which was our last stop in Morocco and was down the coast a ways. Got into our room super late and accidentally woke up our roomies but they ended up being super nice and friendly

• Our hostel was SO CUTE

  • It's in a surf town about 30 mins outside of the city. we woke up and had breakfast with the hostel. It was family style adorable vibes around a cute couch/table. So many hot surfers I literally couldn't deal. Everyone was so friendly and lovely.

• Had a surf lesson!!

  • A puppy who lived on the beach decided we were yummy to snack on and climbed all over us when we were practicing on the sand

  • Surfing was super fun and beautiful, we both got a lot better by the end of it too

  • We made friends with the girls we were surfing which was nice. Two French Canadians and a Portuguese (?) girl

• After surfing we went and got burgers at a place next door because we were starving. Had lots of delicious food and drinks

• Went home and grabbed things to go lay out on the beach for a bit

  • Unfortunately man creepy stared at us openly which pissed me off but otherwise lovely beach evening

• I did sunset yoga on the roof with the French Canadians and a cute hostel staff girl

• Hostel dinner on the terrace which was so so yummy. Tajine and salad and potatoes and veggies. So tasty

• Hung out with the hot surfer gang around a fire on the terrace. Chatted and played tunes. So wonderful.

• Had to leave this heaven on earth super early in the morning to head to Tenerife!

Tenerife

• Took an early flight from Agadir to Tenerife which is a spanish owned island off the coast of Africa, in the Canary Islands.

  • Tried to rent a car when we landed and then got jerked around for being too young

• Took a bus instead to our hostel, which was on the north side of the island.

• Got off our bus and explored around the main city, which was really cute and sunny

• but it was three king's day which is basically spanish second christmas, so everything was closed!!

• We were super hungry so we grabbed some foods from a cafe that happened to be open

• Hopped back on a second bus to our hostel town

• Adorable small town with quaint vibes and SO. MANY. HILLS. I literally wanted to just not walk to our hostel because I was so done with hills. I hated it. Backpacks + hills + minimal food = terrible

• Once we got settled into our hostel (private room!! Yay!!) we asked the host for some hiking recs.

  • Hanna wanted to do a green Mountainy hike and I wanted to see the volcano.

• From there went out to a lunch at this Italian restaurant

  • Had some amazing gnocchi with pesto and hanna had a big yummy salad

  • accidentally asked for the check super early (on Spanish terms) so we could catch the bus to ur hike and could have offended the waiter but turns out he was so funny and nice so we had a great time

• That evening we set out on an hour or two hike in some green areas nearby. Absolutely beautiful. Moss and trees and beautiful plants everywhere.

• Took the bus back home and got supplies to make some dinner. Had a big rice and chickpea dinner and packed away leftovers for lunch the following day.

• Intended to set out for a big long hike up the third highest peak in Spain the next day, to get a good view of the first highest, the big ole volcano, but when we arrived out in the National park on the bus we realized several things:

  • It was way way too cold up in the snowy icy mountains for what we were prepped for

  • We did not have enough food

  • The gondola which we thought was closed for the winter was open and running to the top of the volcano

• So instead I persuaded Hanna to drop some $$$ on the gondola with me and go up to the very top of the volcano

  • IT WAS SO EPIC

    • You could see the whole volcanic valley and all the lava flows of different ages and colors and all the snow and other mountains I loved it so much

      • I loveeeeee rocks

  • It was chilly as heck up there though

• We came back down and got some warm drinks in the cafe

• Then we headed out on a little hike through the valley on flat, sunny terrain

• I was stoked for Hanna because she'd never hiked in volcanic areas before and it was so so cool looking, reminded me a lot of Hawaii

• We took the bus home and warmed up!

• Went out to the botanical garden to drink some wine and watch the sunset which was beautiful

• Got a little drunkies before heading out to a yummy Chinese food dinner

• After dinner went home, went to bed & headed back to Alicante the next day :)

PHOTOS!!!

So the whole trip was in the end exhausting and jam-packed and beautiful and so amazing and smelly and grumpy and hilarious and smiley and I definitely came home with some weird itchy rashes from not doing laundry.

Let's wrap up this record-length post with some poll results!!

Comments:

• I wanted to start with the ever wise Erica's kind quote "every day is a different set of joys and challenges but overall not too bad" because really, yes, that's it.

• Two thirds of people had seen Avatar!

  • I did not specific Last Airbender, Blue People, or Blue People: Swimming though, so perhaps inaccurate results.

• I was pleasantly surprised to see how detached we are all from reality. It made me feel much more comfortable with my Truman Show Syndrome. Clover though an outlier at 10?? See Graph:

Updates:

• Nebby's phone got stolen too, what the fuck European robbers man.

• Laney and Clover are both genuinely amazing and wonderful <3

• Erica is picking up pottery, being a bad bitch at work putting STEM-y folks in their place, and perusing several amazing options for the year to come, including field work in Mayan Ethnomedicine and graduate schools. Let's all give her a round of applause please and thanks!!

• Apparently it rained a fuckton in LA?? I hope everyone has dried off and is safe and sound.

• Wilder is cold, please bring her a blanket, she's your captain folks!!

• Ashe, no honestly, I really don't think anyone knows anything, including myself. I return to the graph above for comfort <3

Hugs and Love to all!!

PS: Last time I signed off with "Hugs and Cute Bugs" and then listened to an amazing podcast episode of Ologies, my current favorite science-cast. This ep was with awesome herpetologist and macro-photographer, Joseph Saunders, who takes stunning photos of spiders, insects, snakes-- you name it. I promise you his work will make you look at creepy crawly critters differently and I could not more highly recommend. Also an awesome activist and science communicator.

His Website: https://paraherpetologica.com/

Insta/socials: @reelsonwheels if that's more your speed