Storyline: Highlights of Morocco
Casablanca is not necessarily a pretty city. As a matter of fact, it is on my list for one of the ugliest cities we’ve visited so far.
And it is extremely dirty. When I posted on Malacca, it was the smelly sewers. Here it is the sheer dirt and garbage thrown on the streets.
Excluding the area of the Hasan II mosque and the promenade south of it, garbage is littered everywhere.
We left drowning Toronto (75mm of rain, 11°C) to arrive in a dry, cool (4°C) Casablanca morning. Having an early arrival time and afternoon hotel check-in, we spent some time exploring the surroundings. Mohammed V International Airport is an interesting airport with 2 attached terminals and connected to the city via a train station in Terminal 2. The two terminals are connected by a short walk on the lower level. It is very easy to get to the centre of the city by train that departs hourly.
Since we were joining a tour, our options were to: be picked up from the airport by a tour-arranged shuttle for CAD 100 each, take a white “grand taxi” for MAD 300 to 350 (about CAD 50) each that leaves when full and takes about an hour, or take the train for MAD 70 (about CAD 10) per person. One can buy tickets from the self-serve machine or from the counter. Credit cards work, both MasterCard and Visa.
The train departs hourly and is in the city (Casa Voyageurs) in about 30 min: Casa Port is ten minutes further on. Although we knew we’d take the train we made the mistake of asking for help at the “information” desk. Later we’d realise that there is no such thing as “tourist information” and we have no idea what information was the clerk giving, but definitely it wasn’t something helpful. So, to the question “What is the best way to get to Hotel Campanile?”, he told us to take the shuttle, just outside where the bus stop is. And off we went out to explore the shuttle option, clueless of the airport design and security. There was nothing like a shuttle option, except those for a couple of high-end hotels. Perhaps the information “officer” was just a random staff member using the chair to relax. We asked around; we asked the drivers of what looked like a shuttle and a driver of a bus to somewhere; we asked random passers-by. “No. No shuttle”.
“Take the taxi”. We’ll take the train, thank you very much. We turned to go back into the terminal just to discover that once you are out you can’t get back in through the same door… So, we asked some uniformed people (two armed soldiers walking with a policeman between them), who pointed to the far end of what seemed to us as a warehouse attached to the airport building. Quite far actually. But once around this corner, we saw a security check point. No, we don’t want to fly, we just want to take the train. “Here! Here!” and the locals point to the line for security screening. Well, let’s try it, at least will be at some terminal and figure it out then… So off we went scanning our luggage and ourselves through security gates. And then made it to the terminal where we saw the train sign. It appeared that one can’t get into the airport without going through security. So there, if you want to take the train, and we think it’s your best option, don’t make the mistake of exiting the terminal. Just follow the signs, go down the escalator and you’ll see the train station.
Exiting a train station, Alex has the habit of take us either from the wrong exit or turns in the wrong direction after exiting. This time he took us to the wrong station (ahem…thanks, Google – A). The nearest station to our hotel is Casa Voyageurs. The next and last station was Casa Port, for which we had the tickets, but it’s only 500 metres further from our hotel.
Anyway, we walked out and this time in the right street and took the right direction. Since we didn’t have a SIM card in the phone, we relied on the GPS and took a long way around on the main road (i.e. least likely that we’d miss a turn – Alex), which aside from being busy, happened to also be under construction.
We walked through construction debris, managed to cross the busy street, and instead of going into the city where my nose (my built-in sense of direction in cities) was telling me, we continued the long way around until we eventually approached our hotel from the north side.
It still was before noon. The staff had prepared our room however, and we were able to check in. By the time we were ready to explore the city, most of the restaurants were closing. Lunch time is from noon to 3pm, but kitchens stop working by 2:30pm.
One of the reception staff recommended “La Squala” restaurant which happened to be near the Casa Port train station, on the same street as the famous Rick’s Café and just off the road that was torn up.
We now followed the city streets away from the main construction area. It was a sunny, about 18°C Sunday afternoon, and the city was bustling with all kinds of people, markets and events. We eventually found the restaurant at the edge of the medina. Nice atmosphere and great food.
Our first impression of Casablanca – the people! In our short 3-hour walk we were stopped at every corner with unsolicited “Thank you for visiting Morocco”. Some helped us crossing busy streets, some wanted to show us their medina or an art exhibition.
People were even friendlier when they learned we were from Canada (many have relatives in Canada, primarily in francophone Quebec). We have traveled a little bit around the world, but have never been stopped by random strangers on the street to thank us for vising their country! In English! That says it all.
Our hotel was on a major street in Centre Ville with a tram that goes to Casa Voyageurs station running by. The street was lined with many cafés having outside tables full of men drinking coffee. Strange, since we think of cafés usually being full of women chatting over a cup of coffee or tea. Each table had a man with a small glass of coffee. They all were staring at the street, not socialising or reading (a newspaper would be appropriate, don’t you think?). Somewhere down the road we noticed one table in front of an ice-cream shop with 2 women socializing over ice cream. I love my coffee, but street cafés in Casablanca looked out of bounds for me.
We had a very relaxed, should I say lazy, Monday morning. Walked to the Hasan II mosque. It is on the water with a beautiful walk south of it, that reminded us of the promenade by the water in Thessaloniki – but better separated from the traffic. There was a winter schedule for visiting inside the mosque, which apparently was different from the summer one we found online. So, we were too late for a tour.
However, it is set beautifully on the rocks and we took lovely photos from outside. Plenty to see around apparently.
We had a late afternoon meal and it was time to get back to the hotel and join our introductory meeting with the group and our tour guide.
If you go… (Travel tips and suggestions)
We’ll have much more on Tips in our general post for Morocco and in our second Casablanca post. Below are some to begin with:
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- From the airport to your hotel: If your hotel is close to either of the two train stations: Casa Voyageurs or Casa Port, we recommend taking the train.
Small taxi You can take the Small (Petit) red taxi from the train station to your hotel. It will be much cheaper. Or just walk. We were told that only the white Grand taxis operate at the airport and we really only saw such and vans.
Out and about - There are many Exchange booths and ATMs at the airport: exchange or withdraw enough money to pay for your transportation to the hotel. No more. The exchange rates of the ATMs are higher there than in the city.
- If you are taking the train, you don’t need to have cash. You can pay by credit card either at the “guichet” (the counter) or at the easy-to-use self-serve machine (if the machine does not accept your card, there’s always the counter). In addition to Arabic, the self-serve machines have French and English options
At the edge of the Medina - If you are taking the train, don’t make our mistake of exiting the terminal, because to re-enter you will have to walk to a departures door and go through security pre-screening.
- Buy first class tickets. The difference in price is minor, but you are guaranteed a seat there.
- Don’t trust the guy sitting behind a table with a sign “Information”. Or at least ask someone with uniform.
- We didn’t buy a SIM card. There are some booths at the airport, but I’ve heard that it’s cheaper to get one in the city.
The lighthouse viewed from the promenade
- From the airport to your hotel: If your hotel is close to either of the two train stations: Casa Voyageurs or Casa Port, we recommend taking the train.
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