Sunday, December 27th
As I noted in the last post, Europe is separated from Africa by only about 30 miles of water. We knew that since we were so close, we had to go ahead and pop over there for a day and check another continent off our list. Also, to make things easy, our Rick Steves' Spain book had a nice little section on Tangier, Morocco, the city/country just opposite Spain.
A ferry runs every few hours between the continents, and we caught one of the first. Unfortunately, the car ride was through some pretty curvy mountains, and both Sarah and Jenna get car sick. Getting on a big ferry didn't help the sickness situation, and it definitely wasn't helped by the high winds and resulting choppy water. Long story short...I spent the ferry ride standing in a passport line enjoying my book, while Jenna and Sarah spent it sitting in some seats filling up sea-sick bags. 
At both Rick and the Willingham's suggestion, we did hire a guide for the day. Something about wandering the streets of Tangier - which was at one time known as the Tijuana of Spain - all by ourselves just didn't seem prudent. Turns out it is actually very nice and safe, but we were still glad to have the guide, as we didn't have to worry about any planning, got to see a few more things than if we'd been alone, and also got a little more background information. Muhammed was waiting for us as we got off the boat and took us to a van to head outside of the city to see some of the more distant sites.
We stopped at a few non-sites, things like old mansions and some views over the city. Apparently this was a hot spot in the early 1900s, and lots of rich Americans had houses here. That was a long time ago, but they still like to show it off, and not only did we get taken here, but the guide wanted to make sure we took lots of pictures, so I sat there snapping away at stuff none of us really cared about, but felt obligated since the guide basically pointed and told me to "Take pictures!"
The first real stop on the tour was where the Mediterranean meets the Atlantic. This almost fell into the non-site category as it is all just a big body of water - not exactly like there is a border or anything - but the views were pretty magnificent standing on the cliffs looking out over the water from Africa to Europe, so we were glad we'd stopped here.
Next we stopped at a cave that opened up to the ocean. Not much to mention here other than that the opening looks like a mirror image of the continent of Africa, which was somewhat cool.
Our next stop was by far the highlight of Morocco, and maybe the whole trip for me, although I think Sarah would disagree. So outside of the city along the highway, there are guys who own camels and let you take camel quick ride for a couple Euros. We'd mentioned this to Sarah when we first started our trip planning, and she emphatically said she would not go, because for some unexplained reason she hated camels (something to do with the spitting and the long skinny legs/fat bodies). Jenna and I were pretty pumped about it though.
So the guy makes the camel kneel down, then you hop on and it stands up. Jenna and I got on and up with no problem. Both of us and the guide kept telling her that she needed to try it, she was in Africa and needed to experience it, etc. She eventually caved to the peer pressure. The guy called over her camel, and I knew it was trouble from the beginning. It refused to kneel down, and the guy had to hit it a few times before it would go all the way. It sat there and yelled at the trainer and tried to bite him a few times, but did eventually kneel. Sarah got on no problem, but before she could get positioned and grab the ropes, it started standing, then she lost her balance and went tumbling down to the ground.
She'd landed flat on her back, which winded her a little and hurt some too, but there was no other real damage (aside from maybe the ego). She laid there for a while to gain her composure and breathing while the owner and our guide ran up to make sure she was okay. Once we found out she was alright, the local guys were still worried, but Jenna and I burst out laughing. It would have been bad if she'd have been hurt, but since she was fine, it was hilarious. As I'm thinking back on it right now I can't stop laughing. It was really hilarious, especially since she'd said a month before that she hated camels. Needless to say, she didn't take them up on the offer to try another camel, so Jenna and I went on our 5 minute ride along the cliffs, laughing about the situation and enjoying the amazing view of the water while Sarah stayed back and took pictures.
The camels were our last activity outside the city, so next we headed back into Tangier and were dropped off to continue the journey on foot. We were taken all through the city's back alleys and main roads, which was really cool and where we really appreciated the fact that we had a guide to show us everything and explain what stuff was and why it was important. Muhammed's family has lived in the area for 500 years (supposedly), and you could really tell that he loved his city. 
He took us to some required tourist shops for presentations on carpets and organic herbs (he gets a commission if we buy). We politely sat through the presentations but left as soon as we could. He also took us to "his favorite restaurant" which was of course another tourist trap. The food was good, but it was definitely only other tourists in there, and it was the same place a different guide had taken the Willingham's back in the summer, so obviously not just this guy's favorite place (unless it is his favorite because of the commission!!). The food was local fare and pretty delicious. Our favorite was the appetizer of a sweet chicken pastry. It was a flaky pastry crust covered in cinnamon and sugar, but then stuffed with a mix of chicken and spices and sugar. You would never think from the description that it would be good, but it was really delicious!
After seeing a few more things in the city - ornate hotels, interesting market streets, and some great views of the city and water - and popping into a few shops here and there, Muhammed took us back to the port, where we luckily experienced a smooth return journey to Spain. We stopped off at the grocery store for a cheap "picnic" dinner, which we ate in the hotel while Sarah nursed her sore (and bruised) back and while Jenna and I tried not to laugh too hard at her misfortune. 
All in all it was a great day in Africa. Jenna and I had originally hoped to take a longer trip to Morocco to see more of the country, but unfortunately we couldn't make it work with the timing and the finances, so we had to forgo the trip and settle for this instead. It was a great substitute as we felt that we got to see a really cool new country and have some fun and memorable experiences.
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