Casablanca and the Med

Tuesday March 26, 2013 in Casablanca, Morocco
We arrived in Agadir on time despite the late departure from Funchal. Agadir is slightly south and east of Madeira and is on the coast of Africa in the country of Morocco. Morocco has 33 million residents with Agadir having about 680,000. Agadir has a lot of history but all buildings from the past were destroyed by an earthquake in February 1960. The only fortress still standing sits on a hill overlooking the city. The city had been rebuilt by the end of the 60's so it is a very modern city. Education within the public system is free through university, but there are private schools. The country is mainly Islamic but there are Christian, Jewish and other religions that practice their beliefs. I took a trip to Taroudant about a 90 minute drive inland from Agadir. There I saw the walled ancient city and the bus drove through it along narrow streets. An ancient city is called a Medina so I went to the Medina of Taroudant. As population grew the city built up around the old walled city or Medina. If I lived outside the walled city in Taroudant and was going to shop in the old part of the city I would say I was going to the Medina. The trip through the countryside offered views that had I not seen them in person I would think they were photoshopped. The Argan tree has nuts that have oil that is used in cosmetics, but the tree attracts goats that climb the tree for its leaves. I did get a picture of goats 18 feet up and wondered how a 50 pound goat would not break the tree branch. Another interesting observation was that during our drive there were no traffic lights as we know them. Round abouts are used extensively with yield signs, allowing the traffic to move. Now there are back ups during rush hours but I was amazed at how quickly we got around the city. In the late 90`s Morocco invested in some infrastructure and there are no shanty towns. Low income housing was built to accomodate these people and there are miles of apartments side by side near the outskirts of Agadir. Morocco relies on agriculture, fishing and tourism for their GDP. Interestingly Moroccans consume 35 kgs of sugar per person yearly whereas 22 kgs of sugar are consumed per person yearly worldwide.
Thursday March 28th afternoon
As we proceed around the Mediterranean I suspect that I might fall behind in the blogging. I have a number of 12 hour shore excursions coming up and with the cough that seems to just hang on I need to watch how I spend my time. Hopefully during sea days I will be able to catch up. Today though was a sleep in day for me as others headed out to explore the city and countryside of Almeria, Spain. Tomorrow and the following day will be spent at sea. So now I need to go back a few days and fill you in. The day after we left Agadir we arrived in Casablanca and I enjoyed folks talk about the gorgeous Hassan II Grand Mosque. This mosque is reputedly the world's largest with a minaret that stands 689 feet. It took 10,000 workers six years to build it and it has a retractable roof. Others did an overland trip to Marrakech and saw snake charmers and the old city. There is never enough time to thoroughly explore these ports and cities but the day may cause a desire to explore further by returning. We heard about the carpets and the salesmenship. We were corrected in our expectations of the movie "Casablanca". It was not filmed in Casablanca though this city was a staging area for the allies in WW II. Today, however, there is a Rick's Cafe in Casablanca which was opened in 2004 by Kathy Kriger from Oregon. Casablanca is the largest city and the chief seaport of the country of Morocco with a population of 4 million. The emblem of love shown by Northern Moroccans is liver not the heart.
Yesterday we were in Gibraltar. It is about 2 square miles on a penninsula surrounded on most sides by the Mediterranean Sea and on the north to Spain. Gibraltar is a British Colony and has always been contentious because of its strategic location. There are seige tunnels within the limestone Rock of Gibaltar. I took a relaxed ride around the area, through the town, out to Europa Point and saw the lighthouse and a 7 million dollar mosque built on the point. As we drove to see the border crossing which is used by many Spanish to get to Gibraltar for work we had to cross an international landing air strip. It is a dangerous air strip not because of the vehicular traffic but because of the cross winds that occur. There seems to be issues that arise from time to time that cause the Spanish to close the gates and not let anyone into Gibraltar. The Strait of Gibraltar is used by about 70,000 ships per year and is a major fueling station for them both heading east to the Suez and across the Atlantic. So on the east side of the penninsula we met with the Barbary Apes which are found on top of the Rock which is 1,396 feet. They came down to greet us. They are a kind of greeny/brown in color and have no tails. We had been told that they can be aggressive and very inquisative, but the ones we saw stayed away so it was hard to get good close up pictures of them. We stopped for elegant tea at a hotel with a beautiful view of the sea. So far the weather has been very mild, clear and sunny. We are suppose to be heading out from this port of Almeria right now but apparently the wind is blowing quite strongly. The tugs that we need to help get us out into the sea are not powerful enough to fight the wind and push us so we will wait and see if the wind dies down after the sun sets.
Today I did not go ashore though I did take some pictures from the ship of the old fort of Almeria, Spain. Most shops were closed today as it is the Easter holidays. HAL had their usual shore excursions while many just walked around town. One lady told me that McDonald's opened at noon so she had a taste of home. The area looks dry and the mountains have little or no greenery. This area has been used for many film productions: Laurence of Arabia and Patton being just two. Many westerns have also been filmed here. Almeria has a rugged landscape with little fertile soil but with irrigation it has produced oranges and white grapes. Recreational activities abound from water sports to hiking, horseback riding, golf, and paragliding.