Morocco from Spain

First, you may want to check .africa for recent postings. I
found Morocco very interesting, but a land of great extremes, the kind
of place one loves on minute and hates the next minute. Since I posted
on the other board, all I'm going to say is that I took a 10 pm bus
from Madrid to Algeciras, which got me there in time to take the 6:30
am ferry to Tanger, but not the 6 am ferry to Ceuta. Tanger is quite
an armpit (I know, I'm being generous) and I wouldn't advise visiting
Tanger for the day and then going back; it would be like visiting
Tijuana for a day in order to day you'd been to Mexico. The time could
probably be better spent. It also helps to be able to speak some
French (which I do).

> Anyone has any information or recent experiences on the wisdom or dangers of
> visiting Morocco (northern part) by ferry from Spain? Is it safe for
> Americans?

ifjed5555 <ifjedm> wrote in message
news:923507df.0307141148.14e8ae77@c om...
> It also helps to be able to speak some
> French (which I do).
>
>
As a matter of interest, I made the same mistake, being used to speaking
French further south (Marra, etc.). In Tangiers English works, otherwise
it's Spanish (due to the north having previously been under Spanish control,
not French and, of course, its proximity). I was asked why a Brit was trying
to speak to them in French!

Surreyman

ifjed5555 <ifjedm> wrote in message
news:923507df.0307170659.57d7c49b@c om...
> > > It also helps to be able to speak some French (which I do).
>
> > it's Spanish (due to the north having previously been under Spanish
control,
> > not French and, of course, its proximity).
>
> Funny, I met a young Moroccan man on the ferry going from Algeciras to
> Tanger and arranged to stay at his home in Marrakech for several days
> and be guided around the city...in French. Later I stayed in Meknes
> and my French came in handy again and again. Then on the train to Fez
> I arranged my stay in that city...again in French. I never once heard
> anyone speaking Spanish...though that, of course, doesn't mean that
> some Moroccans speak it. And the official guides are all multilingual.

That's what I was saying, wasn't it?
Spanish Morocco was only a small coastal strip around Tetuan/Tangiers. (And,
irrelevantly, the old Spanish Sahara etc.). The vast majority of Morocco was
French, including all the towns you mention.

Surreyman