I’m in Tanger and after a few days with my Moroccan friend, I am on my own again. My welcome to Tanger wasn’t great. Within the first 5 minutes of me walking through the Medina, a man chose to walk as close past me as he could so he could reach for my ass. So I immediately put my guard up. Today I wanted to take a day trip to Cap Spartel and it seemed like nobody wanted to join. When I went down the stairs, two French guys were asking for directions there, so we teamed up.
We went to the shared taxi point, only to find a street with no taxis. We asked a local and together we walked up and down the streets, him asking other locals. Eventually we found it and the three of us hopped into a taxi. We drove through a fancy part of town, where people like the king’s sister and the king of Saudi Arabia have houses. It was pretty bizarre. We drove over the hill, through a forest and arrived at Cap Spartel. There is a beautiful lighthouse, but unfortunately we couldn’t go inside.
From here we walked down the road and over the rocks near the sea. We found the spot where the Mediterranean sea and the Atlantic ocean meet. A big tour bus just stopped and people pushed to the front to take a photo with the sign. We walked and walked and passed many hotels that seemed very new or still in the building process. On the beaches we found men with camels, eager to make some money by taking people on a ride.
Cars rushed past us and many, taxi or no taxi, slowed down to ask if we needed a ride. But walking was so nice. The sun warmed us and the wind was blowing through our hair. We could take photos and eventually reached the cave of Hercules. To my surprise it was a very touristy place. There was a big square with buildings surrounding it. There were some shops and restaurants, so we decided to sit down on a terrace upstairs. After a huge salad and a mint tea, we were ready to see the cave.
The cave itself looks really cool, although not really natural. People used to cut pieces out of the rock here, to make stone wheels. That’s why now you see a wrinkled wall, which looks really pretty. It was busy, also with Moroccan tourists. There were people lending traditional clothes for a small fee to take photos with. It seemed like the cave was full of ‘Berber’ people. A special thing about the cave, is that the opening looks like the outline of Africa, just mirrored.
We had to negotiate hard to get a taxi back to Tanger, but eventually got a deal and a smile from the driver, when I thanked him with a ‘Shukran’. Once back in town, we wandered through the Medina and found our way to café Hafa. Apparently many famous people have been here, but it is mainly a great place to enjoy a tea with a view. It was hard to find a spot, but once we got one, we had some delicious tea with the pastries we’d bought in the bakery before. It was a great ending to a relaxing day.