October 29, 2008 Tangier Tour Report

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My family group of 14 pax (originally 16 but 2 pax couldn't make the cruise) booked a private Tangier tour with Said (pronounced "Sayid") Nacir, a licensed tour guide with 18 years of guiding experience. I searched both this and the trip advisor forums for a reliable Tangier tour guide and norrowed my list down to Said Nacir and Aziz Benami. Said answered my email quicker and so I made final arrangment with him after having corresponded by email with one of his past trip advisor customers who did a day trip from Tarifa to Tangier in July 08. Judi from Arlington Heights, Illinois, gave Said a very glowing recommendation.

 

Our ship, Celebrity Century, docked early at Tangier on Oct 29 and cleared immigration by 8:50 am. It was a beautiful warm day, partly cloudy. As we walked out of the ship, there were a few locals offering tour services. As promised, Said was near the port entrance holding a sign with my name for easy identification. Our group walked with him to the outside of the secured port entrance to find our newer model a/c minivan which can seat 15 pax + tour guide + driver (17 pax total).

 

For our group, his price was 28 Euro pp and this included:

- Private transport featuring full-air conditioning (good public announcement system so that everyone in minibus can hear me)

- An included welcome drink by Cape Spartel to enjoy the magnificent view of the Straits of Gibraltar from the farthest westerly point of Africa.

- Camel ride and entries to the monuments.

- My assistance from arrival till departure.

- Lunch and drinks Are NOT included

 

In my several emails with Said, I confirmed with him several times that he would be personally available to take our group.

 

Said was absolutely wonderful and fantastic and we could not possibly have booked a better guide. His English is impeccable and he speaks very clearly. Although Muslim, he was open and liberal on almost all issues which we approached him about, including the new attitudes towards women in the city and the country of Morocco. He was very easy to talk to. To better explain things, Said would use postcards on display at stores; he also pointed to a picture of the royal family affixed to a store front and gave a short commentary of the king; he also asked a Blue Man (desert people) wearing his traditional clothing to come over so that we can see his red hat and his clothings.

 

He explained about the history of the development of the city and pointed out the "old" and the "new" sections of the city. We stopped by at a plaza overlooking the Mediterraean sea and walked to the Gran Cafe de Paris where Julia Stiles (who starred in Bourne Ultimatum) was sitting outside of the cafe with her cell phone on a table. He also explained about the fallacy of Rick's Cafe from the movie "Casablanca". As our driver drove slowly, Said explained about the 4 quarters in the "new" city. We drove through the French and the American quarters and he pointed out the magnificent summer home of the Morrocan King, the home of the governor, sultans, and etc. We ended up at Cape Spartel to view the straits of Gibraltar and where the Mediterranean sea and the Atlantic Ocean merge.

 

Prior to visiting the Hercules Caves, we stopped by at a small, bare, sanded plot of land, facing the Med sea, where we each had our short camel ride - it was so much FUN!! I think our group enjoyed this activity the best:) By the time we reached the Hercules Caves, most of the cruise tours were leaving and towards the end, we had the caves to ourselves.

 

We next visited the Casbah (fortress), and passed through one of the seven gates. He pointed out the nursery school, the communal water well and the communal oven that are still in use, the riads, the nicer homes, and so on and so forth. We also visited the museum (previously the Sultan's Palace in the Casbah) where he explained the use of each rooms and many other things.

 

By about 1:30 pm, we were taken to an exotic restaurant for lunch - the menu had 4 choices of main courses (with price ranging from 15 to 19 Euro each). The choices include Tangine lemon chicken and Beef with prunes. The traditional mint tea was served Moroccan style with a lot of "theater". Music was provided by a local group wearing Moroccan clothing. If you take pictures with them, tip is expected.

 

After lunch, we walked inside the souks where Said took us to the meats and vegetables stands and to the other stores (shoes, scarves, jewelry, etc.) As to be expected, being a guide he has his favorite "haunts" and we did go there but the merchants were not aggressive and when we did decide to purchase something, they welcomed the art of bargaining. We also went inside a carpet co-op store where their staff showed us the different carpets, some made of wool and others of silk, some of different sizes and are reversible. My two sisters each bought a large carpet made of silk with cotton tassels. They bargained it down from 850 to 420 USD. The co-op staff folded and packaged each carpet in a campact size which my sisters placed inside their luggage.

 

It was 4:15 pm by then and Said said that, if we wish, he can continue to guide us until 5:45 pm (ship's departure time was at 6:00 pm). As it was a formal night, we all opted to go back to the ship.

 

The long and short of it... the tour and tour guide were wonderful.