Leaving Morocco
25 January 2018 | Agadir
dry/ warm days cool nights
Blog Update Morocco
It is now the 23rd of January, 2018 and we have been in Morocco for only 23 days. We are leaving for Cyprus, a small semi independent country part Greek and part Turkish, but considered outside of the EU for visa purposes (we have to be out of the EU for 3 months). We got a little more comfortable in our new neighborhood in Agadir, daring to walk home in the dark, but not very late, 8pm max. We just give the homeless encampment (close to our apartment) a wide birth as we passed on the other side of the street, with good lighting. We just try to be smart about our surroundings and as I said in our last blog we understand that desperate people can and sometimes will do desperate things. We are reminded how blessed we are when we see people such as these refugees from troubled parts of Africa that are very poor, they have few choices as they are not allowed to work in this country, as is usually the situation for refugees. Our apartment here is roomy and everything we need for $650. however compared to our place in Costa Del Sol, Spain, right on the beach, it is a step down, our view here is of a half completed apartment building with graffiti on the walls of building around us, not to mention the homeless encampment. Agadir has been a little bit of a bust for us as there is not much to see here, the entire city was leveled by an earthquake so no historic architecture is left. There is a very nice tourist beach, but not much else. We did take a trip to a little town called Tiznit. It has an old Medina (old walled inner city) but in comparison with Tanjier it was not much to see. There is a very large souk (old community market) here, one of the biggest in Africa, we spent a few hours wandering around and getting lost there. A few notables about our time here in Morocco. The first thing that hits you is that this a 98% Muslim county so a majority of women, and to a lesser degree men, are wearing the typical Muslim dress (head scarfs, some times full face scarfs and long robes). We feel a little out of place, but also feel it gives us a little insight into how some people in the US may feel a little different being a minority. Tea culture is really big here. You see (mostly men) sitting around little tables drinking Moroccan tea, they call it Morocco whiskey (green tea mixed with mint leaves and lots of sugar) drinking their tea and watching the hustle and bustle of the busy streets. Along with the unmistakable call to prayer blasted via loud speaker across every city. Morocco is a little like Mexico an emerging 2nd world country, with lots of broken sidewalks, pollution and garbage strewn about, but like Mexico it has some cool history and remnants of it's past still survive in the ancient Midina's, along with camels, cobras, exotic spices, music definitely worth the visit. Cyprus in a very ancient place and has many ruins to visit. The apostle Paul was imprisoned there and the ancient Geeks and Romans had a continual presence. We will be learning more about the history when we get there. We have just cleared customs waiting for our plane here in Agadir, which was fairly intense. We will be flying to London and then we will spend the night in a hotel and then reboard for Cyprus in the morning. A little bit of a hassle but not a biggie with what we save on airfare, over $1,000 dollars. Gotta go catch the plane.
We made our way to London and were a little taken aback by the rain and cold, that's why we go south for the winter. The next morning we boarded without issue. Today is day two here in Cyprus our apartment is nice, a bit of a step up from the one in Morocco with two bedrooms, 2 baths and a pool for $700! A taxi met us at the airport (nice) and dropped us off at our new digs. We tossed our gear on the bed and headed out to find something to eat (walking, at night, but looks safe with good lighting). We found a little Greek restaurant about half a mile away that served traditional fare for a great price of $20 for the two of us, with two drinks each! I had roasted pork skewers (not available in Morocco) and Leiann had chicken skewers with fries and salad. Next to the restaurant we found a little store and picked up the basics. Today we walked a mile or so to a large mall that also had a grocery store. We loaded up on food for the next couple weeks and got a taxi back to our place for $10. People said it was expensive here but so far seems about the same as Spain, cheaper than the U.S. We will get started exploring in the next couple days, lots to see since this place has ruins dating back to 6,000 B.C. Check out our photo's in the gallery section and stay tuned for more Chrysalis Adventures!