Magical Morocco
Nimue
Thu 4 Nov 2010 09:05
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After
the warm welcome received, we were keen to explore more of Morocco and
learn about its culture.
Nimue
was securely moored in the newly established Bou Regreg Marina, which is located
in Sale across the main river from Rabat.
The marina is made up of 7 main pontoons, all with ramps leading out onto
a wide promenade, which is patrolled 24/7 by security guards. Anyone, other than boat owners are
prohibited from walking near the pontoons and if someone happens to 'stray', the
diligent security guard would continuously blew his whistle (which always made
us jump) until the 'offender' moved away. What excellent security and the
best we’ve seen so far.
We later found out that the King of Morocco owned one of the
pontoons, on which he moored about 5 different types boat
(fishing, luxury power yacht, small speed boat etc), so hence the
reason for the high level of security and police presence.
Apart
from speaking Arabic Moroccan, the other main language spoken is French, so each
time we left the marina the security guard always said Bonjour, with a lovely
smile. I must admit after getting
my head around Spanish, I then found it difficult to get my French hat back on,
hence kept on mixing up my “Oui’s” with
“Si’s”.
Our
first venture out of the marina complex was to the medina (old city,
surrounded red brick ramparts) in Sale, a few minutes walk. First of all we needed to purchase some
Moroccan Dirhams, and after receiving directions, we immediately got lost
in the maze of narrow alleys and we soon started to realise what
a medina is like. Anyway we did
eventually find the Societe Generale Bank, which handed out a few thousand
Dirham (approx. MD130 = £10). Sale is a quiet and traditional place,
where time seems to have stood still.
Not for long though, as a massive project is underway to bring the city
into the 21st century with a new tramway, new bridges and a new development with apartments and
shopping malls. One of the notable
architects is Norman Foster, so the Moroccans are definitely out to impress!
Being in a Muslim country we did make the effort to dress appropriately,
but still got stared at, as we were clearly tourists! The people are noticeably
more conservative in Sale and the dress code a lot tighter than
Rabat.
  Feeling rather more adventureous, we headed across the
bridge of the Oued Bou Regreg (river) and walked a few more
kilometres into Rabat. Its walled medina was quite a contrast from Sale and
is built on an orderly grid, lacking some of the atmosphere, but
nevertheless is easy to walk around and with no aggressive
selling.
The Kasbah
(fortified quarters with all the necessities for living in case of a siege)
occupies the oldest part of Rabat and commands magnificent views over the river
to Sale and the Atlantic Ocean from its cliff-top perch. The Kasbah is now predominately
residential, with tranquil alleys and whitewashed houses and a very picturesque
place to wander around.
        
Views across to Sale
Rabat’s most famous landmark, the towering ‘Le Tour Hassan was absolutely
stunning! The 44m tall
minaret was supposed to be 60m tall and the mosque the second largest of its
time, but the Sultan died before it was finished. The mosque was destroyed by an
earthquake in 1755, and all that remains is a forest of shattered pillars, which
testifies to his grand plans. Near
the tower stands the marble Mausoleum of Mohammed V and is built in traditional
Moroccan style and is elaborately decorated. The present king’s father and
grandfather have been laid to rest here and we were able go into a galleried
area and look down into the tomb.
  
      
 Within a couple of days of arriving in the marina, we had struck up a
good rapport with another 2 yachts, also crossing the Atlantic; ‘Otra Vida’
(Martin & Silvy and Wendy) and ‘Viskus’ (Rene & Paulien). In fact, we joined up over the next few
evenings sampling each other’s culinary delights.
    One
day, whilst the ‘men’ went in search of purchasing beer and wine in
Rabat (not an easy task, as Morocco is a Muslim country!), the girls went window
shopping in Sale. As we wandered
through the alleyways of the Sale medina, we came across a shoemaker in his
little workroom. He
handmade shoes mostly out of raffia and leather, so naturally we all
couldn’t resist placing an order, which the shoemaker promised to complete
within a couple of days and very cheap too!
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