The first day was very relaxed. Most of my friends were participating in a self organized trip with a tour guide all over Morocco but I had previously signed up for a 3 day 2 night tour in the city of Marrakech. And that trip didn't leave until the second day.
So, I went with three of my friends to explore the city Casablanca (where the MV Explorer was docked). We walked to the souks or the Moroccan version of a bazaar and shopped around. The Medina, or old city, was full of winding streets and old historical sites, but unlike Istanbul and Dubrovnik, this Medina was much less tourist friendly. It seemed like a place where all the locals shopped for all the random stuff they might need. I saw stores that sold chickens and knock off Louis Vuitton belts… a strange inventory.
After walking around for a long while, we decided to head to the famous Hassan II Mosque. This mosque is the 3rd largest in the world and the largest one in Africa. It has the highest minaret in the world (it's taller than the Washington Monument) and can hold 130,000 Muslim worshippers. We walked around the huge complex for a while and explored. The whole mosque is built on a peninsula that juts out into the Atlantic. The floors in the mosque itself are glass panels and the ocean can be seen running underneath it. Very cool. After sitting around and hanging out with the awesome Atlantic ocean breeze, we decided to head back to the ship to eat and prepare for our departure the following morning.
Unfortunately, my roommate had been sick a few days earlier, and it was the day I was leaving for my camel trek when his virus decided to hit me. I spent all night battling low blood sugars and nausea/vomiting. But, thankfully, I held onto my cookies long enough to get on the bus in time to drive to Marrakech.
The three hours of sleep on the way to Marrakech were glorious. We arrived at our hotel and I immediately took a nap. Then when I woke up, we went to lunch on the way outskirts of town. The restaurant was outside, which really stunk because it was roughly 115 degrees in the sunlight. My stomach was still bothering me so I just nibbled on bread until it was time to go camel riding.
I got a camel affectionally named Martin. We trekked through the palm groves for about an hour and it was awesome. We chanted and walked and continued to walk until we arrived at where we started. The camel's walk was a little rough on my very upset stomach because, believe it or not, camels aren't the most stable form of transport, but I made it. I got some great pictures before riding back to the hotel to shower and clean up for dinner and rest.
The next morning, I slept in and met up with 2 of my friends who were also on the tour and we went into the city center, Jamal El Fna Square, to do some exploring. We walked around the souks and bought a bunch of souvenirs haggling like crazy the whole time. Around sunset, we went to the main square area, watched snake charmers and took pictures with monkeys. The girls got henna and I continued to wander. At sunset we caught a taxi back to the hotel for dinner and sleep.
We spent the next day traveling back to Casablanca and wandering around the city. For dinner we went to Rick's Cafe, from the movie. It was delicious. I ate the best and probably only filet mignon this summer. We just sat and talked and hung out, soaking in the atmosphere and piano music coming from the floor below. We got back to the ship and got a good nights sleep.
Around 11, I ventured out with 3 new friends to go back into the souks of Marrakech. We started with dinner at a great local Moroccan restaurant, McDonalds, haha. Then we walked around for a while buying last minute souvenirs and stocking up on drinks and food for the ride back across the Atlantic. On the way back to the ship, we saw a motorcade and ran to the edge of the street just in time to see the Moroccan king drive by. The Moroccan's really love their king, which is good considering what's been happening all across Northern Africa since April.
We rebounded the ship around 1700 and set sail for Boston, Massachusetts at 2000. We are arriving on Saturday the 20 at 0800. I'm really excited to be home and enjoy some nice Mexican food and drive my car (Which better be in pristine condition, no dents, Mom…. haha)
On board, we've finished finals and now we're all just sitting around catching up and reminiscing. Last night was the Alumni Dinner which was delicious followed by a dance party in the Teacher's lounge, everyone had so much fun and it's going to be really hard to leave all these people.
Semester at Sea has been an incredible experience. I'd go back and do it all over again in a heartbeat. I can't wait to tell you more about it in person.
Thanks for reading…
Robbie
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