Hello from Marrakech. The places we've been staying in Morocco have so far not been great with the wi-fi, hence the lack of communication.
We made it through the grueling travel day from Granada and took the ferry across the Strait of Gibraltar from Tarifa to Tangier, as planned. The ferry ride was hugely rocky, which was fun for me because I don't get seasick, but much of the boat was vomiting for the 25-minute ride.
We've accumulated a lot of souvenirs, so between the couple of Gaudí sculptures I bought and my Mom's additions to her ceramic collection we're almost literally hauling bricks. Therefore, we decided not to take the train from Tangier to Fes and then Fes to Marrakech, and instead have been driven between the cities. It probably made for a more scenic journey anyway. We had one night in Tangier and then a brief tour in the morning before driving to Fes. We stayed at a traditional 3-room riad in Fes, right in the old city which was really neat, although I couldn't stand up in the room because the ceiling was about 5'10" from the floor. Still it was very cool.
Yesterday, we were driven the 8 hours from Fes to Marrakech. It's only ~450km but more than half of the ride is 1 lane mountain roads through the Middle Atlas. Morocco's landscape is so far nothing like I had pictured it would be. Verdant hills all over the place and one town we went through could have been in Switzerland -- even the houses looked Swiss.
Today we started out with a tour guide in the morning but he constantly walked ahead of us, talking on his cellphone and saying nothing about anything. He was just awful. So we made a minor scene and fired him. Tomorrow we're gonna try Marrakech again with a different guide. Then, day after tomorrow, we head out into the desert to spend a night in a tent near the border with Algeria. I think it's a 7-hour 4x4 ride through the High Atlas followed by a 3hr camel ride to get there. Pretty hardcore of my Mom to do it.
From what I've seen so far, I'd say Fes is the most historically interesting bit of Morocco, but I haven't seen much of the real historical sites in Marrakech yet.
Some pics:
The ferry from Tarifa to Tangier.
Proud fish-seller in Tangier.
Ram's brain, anyone? (In Tangier.)
Good produce in Tangier.
The American Legation in Tangier. Fun fact -- Morocco was the first country to recognize the U.S. as a country after we declared independence.
Inside our little riad in Fes.
The tannery in Fes.
Down in the tannery in Fes.
The pet cat that lived in our riad in Fes.
Does this look like Morocco to you? Ifram, on the way from Fes to Marrakech.
An olive crusher for olive oil on the way from Fes to Marrakech.
On the way from Fes to Marrakech.
Stuff for sale in one of the souks in Marrakech.