Flying to Casablanca, start of tour

Trip Start Feb 07, 2009
1
22
41
Trip End Mar 19, 2009


Loading Map
Map your own trip!
Map Options
Show trip route
Hide lines
shadow

Flag of Morocco  ,
Monday, March 2, 2009

Alarm went off at 4am and we got up, showered, dressed, packed and were picked up in the bus and dropped at the airport. We had to show our passports and tickets so many times it was crazy! Finally checked in and headed upstairs to the food court for a cappuccino at Starbucks for me. Another bus to get out to the plane on the tarmac, then we had to wait in the bus about 15 mins as they were still cleaning the plane. We were about 30 mins late taking off. As we headed west out of Cairo, I got a look at the Pyramids from the air and was surprised how small they looked from so high up.
 
The flight went out into the Mediterranean at one point but most of the time we were flying over desert as far as you could see. We got breakfast and drinks but there were no movies to watch which made it a very long flight. About half way through we passed a mountain range covered in snow Yummo, strawberries!
Yummo, strawberries!
 . We filled in the time doing some puzzles and napping (Mike did, I didn't).
 
As we started flying over Morocco, the thing that stood out was the green fields - I had expected only desert.  We arrived in Casablanca, finally got through several passport and customs checks and headed out to find a taxi. The ones that leave from the airport are big, old, dirty Mercedes and we found one easily and negotiated the fare 250dhs into the city. Mike sat in front and chatted to the driver - he found that Moroccan Arabic is quite different and some words were totally different. But they managed to have a conversation and the driver pointed out things along the way and told him things about Casablanca which Mike translated for me. We passed fields with crops and cattle, then large walled villas, slum areas and finally reached our hotel in the city centre.
 
We dropped our stuff in our room and headed out to explore (even though the guy at reception warned us not to - he was only trying to get us to pay for a tour). We walked and managed to find the central markets and wandered through them. I loved all the things here - gorgeous pottery, timber boxes, ornate mirrors and frames, silver jewellery and plenty of leather bags and jackets. We decided not to buy anything yet as it would mean carrying it with us for the next 2 weeks.
 
We found our hotel again, had a shower, change and rest, then went down and found an internet cafe. At 6pm we met our tour leader Abdul and the rest of our group - 7 of us in total (1 Canadian, 4 Aussie and 2 English). 3 of the 4 guys are called Michael! After a briefing of what would be happening on our tour and introductions, we headed out for dinner. Mike and I decided not to stay with them, we wanted a simpler meal and to just enjoy our first night by ourselves. Found a cafe and had schwarma and seafood and fresh juice - orange for me and avocado for Mike.
Slideshow Print this entry Casablanca hotels