My Return To Spain & Morocco Dec 2006

The idea of returning to Spain and Morocco has been growing in my sub-concious since 2004. After my visit to these two countries in 2001 with Badee' and Yusrah, I have been nuturing a desire to return and to share my experiences with like-minded travelers.

Now the opportunity has arrived and the time is upon me to revisit these historically rich destinations, I am as enthusiastic and excited as a schoolboy on his first travel. The past few years I have been traveling in South East Asia, but now it's time to look West again.

We are a travel group of 5, Shamiel & Yasmin, Gabiba & Mymona and myself, Shu'aib.

We are scheduled to depart on 6 December 2006 with British Airways from Cape Town to JHB and from there to Madrid on Iberia Airlines.

Our itinerary is quite tight and filled with action-packed destinations like Casablanca, Marrakech, Seville (where we will visit the 600 year commemoration exhibition of Ibn Khaldun the famous 14th century historian/socioligist), Al Hambra Palace in Granada and the Costa del Sol.

We have pre-booked all the hotels using the internet and hired a van for our travels around Andalucia. We will cross over the Atlantic at Algeciras to Tangiers (EU52.20 pp)and plan to experience the 'Marrakech Express' trains that inspired the song of the same name by Crosby, Stills & Nash in the 1970's.

Currently our passports are with the Spanish Consulate in Cape Town to process our Shengen visa. The cost is R340.00 per traveler.

Back in Cape Town, the weather is beautiful today, my mind is constantly going over the mechanics of the journey - from Cape Town to Madrid, on to Casablanca - taxi to hotel. Three days later take early morning taxi to catch 0905 train to Tangiers and then 1600 ferry to Tarifa where we will take bus to Algeciras and then on to Marbella, where our hotel is. I will collect rental van at 1700 from Fuengerola, then we will be mobile! All hotels in Adalucia is booked and confirmed.

We return by ferry to Tangiers on 18 Dec and leave for Marrakech 3 days later by train. We have to purchase our train tickets in Tangiers at the station. We will probably go via Casablanca.

In Marrakech we will visit the Atlas Mountains and the famous Al Fna souk. We travel by train to Casablanca after 3 days, stay at Al Mounia Hotel for one night and fly to Madrid where we taxi to the hotel, Gran Atlanta for 2 nights. On 26 Dec we fly back to Cape Town to arrive at 1700 on 27 December.

I'm counting the days...