A Day Trip to Tangiers

I was in the Costa Del Sol for the last couple of weeks and while there I decided to take a day excursion to Tangiers in Morocco. Excursions to places like Tangiers, Seville, Cordoba and Granada are readily available and are good value if traveling on one's own. (My wife regarded the prospect of her being absent from the sun lounger for a day with horror so I left her to sizzle by the poolside). The cost of the trip was €62 and for that you get the coach trip to the port of Tarifa near Gibraltar, the fast ferry (35 mins) across to Tangiers, guided tour of Tangiers and lunch. The worst part is the early start (6am) and the numerous stops to pick up passengers all along the coast as far as Estepona.

Tangiers is different and can be a bit of a culture shock coming from the relative prosperity of Spain. That said, Morocco is one of the more liberal Islamic countries and people have freedom here that would be unimaginable in a lot of other countries in the Arab world. Modernity co-exists with more ancient ways of life and you will see people dressed in Western dress as well as traditional Moroccan clothing.

The day trip is not ideal from a photographic perspective. You are brought around the city initially by coach for a sight-seeing tour and the only intermediate stop is the obligatory camel-ride tourist trap. (Many years ago friends of mine arrived at this stop only to see atop a camel a well-known Irish TD. When they greeted him his response was: "Well, lads, I've ridden everything now!").

You are then brought to the ancient heart of the city, the Medina. The streets here are about the width of your outstretched arms and are dark. Vehicular traffic is not possible so you have to walk. This is where the street hawkers  - young and old - descend upon you trying to sell jewelery and such and they are very annoying. The best response is a firm "No!" and keep moving, avoiding eye contact. If you engage them in anything resembling a conversation they will have you marked as a likely prospect and they will follow you, speaking more animatedly than ever. That puts paid to any idea you may have of melting into the background, casually taking Cartier-Bresson like vignettes of the locals. (As if!)

The tour guide herds you to (a) the snake charmer where you pay a few euro to see him coax a Cobra out of a basket by playing music and to have your photo taken handling a few grass snakes (b) a typical (?) Moroccan restaurant for lunch (not good) (c) a carpet shop where you learn more than you ever wanted to know about Moroccan carpets and (d) a pharmacy specialising in natural remedies - and a very hard sell to the tourists. Then it's time to get back to the ferry to Spain.

So, not good for serious photography -  you simply don't have the time nor the freedom to roam. Having a big DSLR around your neck is no help either given that this is a country where locals don't like being photographed by strangers on the street. My advice is to take a compact.

Here are a few snaps I took:

1. A child in Islamic dress. When I took this she seemed to get distressed and ran away.

2. Street Hawkers. They were waiting for us to emerge from a shop.

3. Man in hole.

4. Tile workers.

5. Children in the Medina.