Morocco: from Tangier going south

Normally one sails from Portugal via Madeira to the Canary ilands. But we were seduced by Morocco and entered this country through the front gate.  Tangier In Tangier we were welcomed in Dutch by a fisherman. Yes, his sister lives in Amsterdam...  But first of all there are the formalities: lots of paperwork with intimidating policemen. You have to be extremely polite and conscious of how it all works. We were given shore passes on which our position on board is included: JW is "capitain", P is "tourist". That's life here. There is also some corruption. Police and custom officers won't bother you much if you offer them some "bakshish", like a packet of cigarettes. But you have to be careful, because you have to present it as a small gift, as a token of appreciation. It is a game, and you can get angry about it but that has no use. PHOTO 1+2 The medina, the traditional Arab town, is extremely picturesque, and you can loose yourself easily in the many narrow streets that are winding up the hill. PHOTO 3 In the soukh (market) the products are fresher than fresh. Beautiful beef, vegetables and great fish. Sardines and dorades of course, but also giant swordfish and shark... Herbs, olives, sticky sweets, it is all irresistible.	Asilah Only 28 miles from Tangier but very calm in comparison to the busy town.  PHOTO 4+5 Very friendly and helpful people, there is no water nor electricity available, and also no gasoil but the head of police arranged this for us.  November was ramadan time. All restaurants and cafés were closed until sunset, and in the villages most shops were closed as well. Those who do not work, just hang around between hours of prayer in the mosque, to which they are called five times a day by an Arab voice over a loudspeaker. But in the evenings the streets are crowded. Moroccan people like to get in touch with other cultures, but they simnple do not have many chances. Thus it happens frequently that someone asks us polite to have a conversation. Hospitality is unlimited. If you ask a Moroccan if he knows a nice restaurant for you, fat chance you'll get invited to his own home and dish!  This happened to us, but as they live at night during the ramadan, dinner would have been served at 0100 AM, and we had to get up early at 0500. Pity.	Mehdia Although entry at night is not recommended, we gave it a try. According to the pilot book, there should be lots of lights and transits, and we have radar. Plus: the tide is high.  But the characters of the harbour lights are not correct, and even worse: we could not find any of the transits. And there are a lot of sandbanks that tend to shift...  Fortunately the pilotage answered our call on VHF and guided us into port (in French) while we were monitored on radar. We moored alongside the Gendarmerie Royale so they could keep an eye on us while they guarded us. The formalities were again extensive but we have the impression that they want to talk to you for a moment, just to see what kind of people you are.  On the fish market we saw a swordfish of two meters long PHOTO 6, which was definitely too big for us. But a nice monkfish made a great dinner! As all villages do, Mehdia consists of two parts: a luxurious neighbourhood for the more wealthy (one of the homes is named “Villa Pays-Bas”) and a kasbah for the common people. Unpaved sandy roads with on either side fruit stalls and bread sellers. In the evening the streets are crowded with people, and men are having coffee in the many cafés. We met two fishermen there, and we talked a lot and afterwards they took us back to the boat; per Mercedes!  We left the next morning and on all fishermen waved farewell.

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