Alarm went off at 6:30. Showered and packed our bags. Went downstairs to the buffet breakfast and looked at some very unappetizing scrambled eggs. Coffee was okay. My ankle was still quite swollen but felt much better. By 8:00 the tour leader was phoning our room: Everyone is in the van, we’re all waiting for you! Hurried down. Bags were all stacked in the back of the ‘bus’. Bus? Hardly. It’s a 16 passenger van with our 14 tour members jammed into too small seats. I joined Dave and MaryLou in the back seat. Maybe a bit more legroom for me, but the back of the bus will surely deliver the ‘bumpiest’ ride. I was disappointed. Not quite what I expected from this tour.

The highway going north out of Casablanca was a relatively new divided 4-lane. Casablanca is a big sprawling city. Once we were out of there we were following the Atlantic coastline for a good part of today’s trip. It was surprisingly busy on the road this Saturday morning. Lots of trucks.

We were making pretty good time, when things suddenly crunched to a halt. And I mean CRUNCHED. A small van was in the passing lane to our left, when apparently it got a flat front tire, causing it to careen right in front of our bus. Crunch! It was straddled across the front of our vehicle and we were ‘pushing’ it along ahead of us until we finally came to a stop. I hung on to the seats in front of me so I wouldn’t follow my big backpack, which  had tumbled down the aisle to the front of the bus. When we finally came to a stop we  were surrounded by big trucks and lots of cars all around us; we were lucky that the line of trucks behind us didn’t end up rearranging the back of our van! Traffic had now come to a crawl as everyone merged into the only open lane to get around us.

The crunched van on our grille managed to push off and ended up on the right shoulder, facing oncoming traffic. Our bus now made some significant noises as the driver pulled over to the side of the road. It was probably at least an hour until the police and traffic cops were through with us. And in the meantime the traffic was now backed up and we weren’t sure if our van could even continue. Maybe we’d get a (nicer) big bus to come pick us up and continue the tour? In the end it was determined that our vehicle would be okay to drive, at least for the rest of today’s trip.

And it was during that hourlong wait in the bus that the next crisis occurred. One person in our tour group made a comment and another woman took great offence and scolded her for it. And that developed into a long, angry war of words. And these two women were supposed to share a room for the rest of our trip! Nope. Not gonna happen. Our tour leader tried to smooth things over. The first woman demanded a single room. Both could not see themselves sharing a room for the next 13 nights. We all sat there in awkward silence. Fortunately it was about that time that the two drivers had settled their claims and we could continue our journey. Truce, for now.

We were delayed by over an hour, so when we got to Tangier it was already after 2:00 when we sat down in the Ali Baba restaurant for lunch. (And lunch was terrific. I had a chicken and mushroom tagliatelle, and Naomi had a chicken tajine.) Then off we were to meet another guide who would walk us through the Medina in Tangier.

It was dark at 7:00PM. We’d already been on the road for at least an hour, leaving Tangier, heading for Chefchaouen. The road was winding its way up into the Atlas Mountains. We had a 15-minute rest stop and then continued our journey for another hour. We pulled up to our hotel, which was on the main (narrow, winding) road of Chefchaouen. We handed in our passports in exchange for the keys to our rooms. Ours was on the 3rd floor. Up the winding staircase. Wow! What a weird and interesting hotel.

We dropped off our luggage and then went back down to the lobby for a short talk from our tour guide. Then we bundled up and headed out for a walk up the road. She took us to see where we could find an ATM, supermarket, restaurants. We asked if there was a place where we might have a drink. Muslim countries like Morocco disapprove of alcohol, and it’s hard to find a pub. Our guide asked a security person in a little park where we might find a beer. She then led us to a little doorway that led up some narrow stairs, and voila! A big and busy room filled with smokers and drinkers! About half of the 14 members of our group sat down around a big table and enjoyed the rest of the evening getting more acquainted over Czech and Spanish beers.

It was late by the time we got back to our room. Thankfully, the A/C unit had managed to heat it up nicely. The bed had nice blankets that would keep us warm. It had been a long and interesting day. It didn’t take long for me to fall asleep.