Casablanca!

16/06/2011

The housesitter was briefed, the rented car was packed, last minute payments were done, I was worn around thick army socks and we were out of Pretoria by 10h10 on the 15^th. The road to the airport was free flowing and we got there a little after 11, our check-in counters were not open yet! From where we dropped the rented car, we practically had to walk to the other end of the airport to find the Qatar Airways check in counters.

We were checked through, all the way to Casablanca; the flight to Doha was not full  - it was very pleasant, the crew was efficient, we also had the row to ourselves. We landed in Doha at 11h40 in the night but the airport was buzzing with activity. I find that it is not as ‘organised’ as the Dubai airport and the duty free shopping is about a tenth the size as the one in Dubai’s airport. Coen did not find all the electronic gadgets he wanted, nor any non-branded sunglasses either.

Finally at 01h05 in the morning, we borded the plane to Casablanca, it did a stop in Tunis too. This flight was rather noisy, with little children all around. But they managed to put in some hours of rest when the lights were dimmed after dinner. In the morning, a rather copious breakfast was served by the same crew who had the same efficiency and smiles as they did when they started the flight.

Flying over Morocco showed a variety of scenery: fields and fields or culture, mountains with forests and desert as well, not forgetting the coast line. It was 32C in Casablanca and Zouhair, the taxi driver was waiting for us sign in hand. We had, by then, drawn some local money and bought a sim card with no hassles whatsoever.

They had agreed to go look for the shipper first and find out if the cars cannot be cleared in Tangiers 7 days earlier than the date given to them. The address given for the shippers was wrong and Zouhair had problems finding the place until we phoned them to ask exactly where they were.

After the shippers Zouhair took us to a small souk near the palace where a ‘bastilla’ was ordered. This is a famous ‘pie’ made of pastry on the outside and a mixture of nuts, raisins, chicken, honey, cinnamon on the inside. While waiting for this creation to be ready we visited the craft market. It was a nice area, quiet compared to the bustle and chaos of city centre. It seemed to have no traffic compared to the city’s roads.

The shops are fully of wonderous wares all very nice and colourful: brass lampshades, tagines, bowls, leatherware, fabrics, furniture and shoes. They talked to the shopkeepers but did not buy anything. They sat eating a pain au chocolat while having tea and freshly pressed orange juice at a café in the souk. It seemed very peaceful after having struggled through the traffic of town to look for the shippers.

Finally we got dropped at the hotel and checked in. The room was not ready and when it was, it stank of bleach and the aircon was not working. So we all got moved to another room which worked better and did not reek of bleach. After sampling the bastilla and a short nap, they left me in the hotel and went walkabout in the city.

I am told that they passed some of the filthiest places. It was not as if it was in some depressed suburb either, this is just perpendicular to one of the main roads. It was rather disgusting,, not even in Bombay had they encountered such garbage. It compares to some of the most ‘laissé pour compte’ areas of Brazzaville.

At the station they enquired about trains to Tangiers and then walked back to the hotel which a stop to have freshly pressed orange juice and buy water. By then it was past 18h00 and the streets around the hotel were bustling with shoppers who looked mainly like housewives.

By 20h00 the activities subsided and the area went quiet.