Tangier & Chaouen
Early morning we arrived to the northern part of Morocco and docked at Tangier. As Morocco became an independent nation in 1956, the city partly lost it international importance. Earlier it was ruled under an international treaty because it had the same strategic importance as Gibraltar, to control the entrance to the Mediterranean Sea. All larger nations had embassies in Tangier, but of course they are now in Rabat.
Our bus took us inland into the high and extremely populated mountains, the Rif. The people who live here are partly very different from those we have encountered earlier. They are berbers and the most significant part of their colorful costumes is probably the straw hats the woman wear. The mountains are very hostile and the agriculture very poor. Herding sheep and cattle have been the main items for generations.
Another huge difference from the previous part of Morocco we visited is that this part was under the Spanish authorities for almost 100 years and in fact the Spanish were not as good at building up the infrastructure as the French. One example we experienced as we were traveling into the mountains was the winding roads.
Significant for Morocco, if you are interested in geology is the huge diversity. Morocco is one of the main producers of phosphate, as we noticed on our visit to Safi. Mining in general is a large activity and many semi-precious stones can be found in the market.
Also in every market you will find a huge number of real but also fake fossils. Steven Jay Gould made a written account, that if all of these fossils were real Morocco would have been leveled to get them. Still with some patience you can find some nice pieces. But you have to be careful not to pay a huge price for a fake. How to tell? Well, look at the picture and make your choice!
Early morning we arrived to the northern part of Morocco and docked at Tangier. As Morocco became an independent nation in 1956, the city partly lost it international importance. Earlier it was ruled under an international treaty because it had the same strategic importance as Gibraltar, to control the entrance to the Mediterranean Sea. All larger nations had embassies in Tangier, but of course they are now in Rabat.
Our bus took us inland into the high and extremely populated mountains, the Rif. The people who live here are partly very different from those we have encountered earlier. They are berbers and the most significant part of their colorful costumes is probably the straw hats the woman wear. The mountains are very hostile and the agriculture very poor. Herding sheep and cattle have been the main items for generations.
Another huge difference from the previous part of Morocco we visited is that this part was under the Spanish authorities for almost 100 years and in fact the Spanish were not as good at building up the infrastructure as the French. One example we experienced as we were traveling into the mountains was the winding roads.
Significant for Morocco, if you are interested in geology is the huge diversity. Morocco is one of the main producers of phosphate, as we noticed on our visit to Safi. Mining in general is a large activity and many semi-precious stones can be found in the market.
Also in every market you will find a huge number of real but also fake fossils. Steven Jay Gould made a written account, that if all of these fossils were real Morocco would have been leveled to get them. Still with some patience you can find some nice pieces. But you have to be careful not to pay a huge price for a fake. How to tell? Well, look at the picture and make your choice!
