The OAT group expands (and moves to Rabat)

On Friday morning the additional travellers for the "Moroccan Odyssey" arrived shell-shocked and jet-lagged from the US at around 11:30 am. Though I had been hoping for another mother-daughter pair based on the names we had in our trip materials, what we had are two 40ish cousins by marriage, and a pair of 70ish sisters from Wisconsin. I am very sad to report that I am by far the youngest person on the trip and people have inquired as to whether I am still in college or not. Hah!

It took an hour to get out of Casablanca with the stop and start traffic and unique local traffic laws (lane lines mean absolutely nothing-if 4 cars can fit in 2 lanes, so be it. And if you can get a moped in there as well, all the better). It was another 1.5 hour drive north to Rabat which has been the capital of Morocco since 1956. After being landlocked among the smog and noise of Casablanca, Rabat was a breath of fresh air. Rabat (from "Ribat" meaning fortress-monastery) was settled as far back as the 8th century BC and has been an important settlement for Phonecians, Romans, and several Moroccan dynasties.

We drove straight into town through wide boulevards and avenues, turned onto a road just on the edge of the rocky Atlantic coast, and unpacked our bags at a hotel just across the Oued Bou Regreg Estuary in Rabat's sister city, Sale. After being conditioned to think that oceanfront property is prime real estate worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, it was somewhat strange to see dilapidated houses and tenements lining the road overlooking the sea.

After lunch and settling into our gorgeous new hotel, we all piled into the bus again for a short walk through the city's medina in which we saw butchers with pigs heads, fresh turtles, garland after garland of dried figs, and hundreds of other items hanging from every nook and cranny. We walked through part of the city to see the Reserve Bank and took pictures from the Mohammed V Blvd of a landmark mosque, the Sunna Mesjid. Evening for me was spent mucking around trying to get photos posted, taking a short walk around the hotel, and making friends with the hotel staff. They are the only ones under 40!

On Saturday we have a big day around Rabat, so stay tuned.