Tangier, Morocco and Tarifa, Spain

Today we made a short drive from Seville heading south to the wind-surfing capitol of Spain, Tarifa. Tarifa is the southernmost tip of Spain, and it marks the mouth of the mediterranean, where it opens to the Atlantic. Just a few miles across the strait lies Morocco and the continent of Africa. I couldnt pass up a chance to add not only another country to my list, but also a new continent, so we boarded the fast ferry to Tangier Morocco. Arriving at noon, we had a full five hours to explore Tangier. We soon realized that we had budgeted about 4 hours too many for our visit. I've heard great things about Morocco, and I'm sure that Marrakech and the Atlas mountains are great, but Tangier doesnt have too much to offer the day tourist. Once we fended off the agressive touts at the port, we made our way to the Medina on foot. I felt safe here, though Lindsey was understandably put off by the agressive marketing strategies of the shop owners, and the unabashed stares of the Moroccan men. Having visited Turkey before, I knew to expect this, and actually it was more low pressure than Istanbul. Tangier is however much dirtier and poorer than cosmopolitan Istanbul. We found little of interest to buy in the stores, and no food that tempted us. Lindsey, being the only un-headscarved Anglo woman in the city, was defenitely the object of attention, and soon we had had enough of walking around. We spent over two hours ensconced in the safety of a tourist class cafe that was devoid of locals due to the prohibitive cost of a $1 cup of coffee or soda. I was looking forward to having a beer after the stress of the Medina, but this being an Islamic country, there was no bud light on the menu.

After a chaotic scene at the port where several "helpers" sent us in different directions in hopes of a tip; we finally got on board our ferry, and were thrilled to be heading back to a First World country.

We had a great evening in Tarifa. We had read that it is considered the "Hawaii of Spain". While it's beaches and scenery can't hold a candle to Maui, the preponderance of surf shops and young, tanned, athletic people did make us feel at home. We had a fun night on the town and appreciated Spain all the more after seeing the other side of the Med.