Day 16: Rabat

Happy Easter, readers!

Our third day trip started at 7:15 this morning. We piled into a bus with Lla MJ, Si Ron, and all of Si Abdellatif's family. There were no more open seats and it was a tight fit. We then had a 3 hour ride from Fez to Rabat, during which most people chose to catch up on sleep, but I opted to stare out the window the whole time. The clouds were incredible and the pictures I took should reflect that. 

We entered Rabat's city limits just before 11 because we took a lengthy bathroom break on the way.

Our day went as follows:

11 - 1: Rabat National Zoo. We walked around the newly opened zoo for two hours. They have the only remaining Atlas lions in the world, and they are a sense of pride for Moroccan people. Much literature says that the last Atlas lion was killed in the early 20th century, so the genetic build of the lions we saw is questionable, however, these belong to the royal family and they are fairly darker than your run of the mill lions. The zoo was not very big and most of the habitats were very scarce. We saw rhinos, ostriches, birds, giraffes, and all of your typical zoo animals. They also had some funny creatures in their zoo like squirrels (which we hadn't realized that they don't have here!), long horn cattle, and a dairy cow.

1 - 2:30: The Chellah. This is an archeological site that features ruins of from the multiple civilizations that have occupied the Rabat area. There are prehistoric ruins, Roman ruins, Phonecian ruins, and early Moroccan ruins, all on top of each other on the same hill! The site was massive, but our guide showed us around. There were two big take-aways from this. Firstly, none of the ruins here have ropes or railings. You can climb on whatever you want, walk wherever you want, and touch whatever you want. It makes the visits a lot more enjoyable and I have fun climbing and jumping on the ruins. Secondly, there was a pool that had fresh water eels in it. Women used to chant and put pieces of egg white in the water. If an eel ate the egg white, it was a good omen for fertility. this was a fun part of the day, but very hot.

2:30 - 4: the coast. We then drove through the city to the coast. Next to the beach, there was a huge cemetery, large enough that I would not have been surprised if it is the only cemetery in Rabat. It looked right over a beach to the ocean, so funerals must not have been the most somber occasion. We walked through ha walled in neighborhood that looked like it had been picked up in Greece and put in Morocco. Every wall was white and the bottom five feet was bright blue. We visited a women's pottery cooperative and walked around the streets. We went to a big patio that overlooked the beach. Lots of surfers were in the water and people were relaxing on the sunny Sunday. The coolest thing was that a group of 15 to 20 boys had a device that looked like half of a fitness ball on a plastic base. They put this down in the sand and would run, jump on it, and then do huge flips. They were so entertaining to watch and some of them would get like 10 feet up in the air. It was the best street acrobatics show I've ever seen. After some pictures and some ice cream, we walked to a gorgeous cafe that looked out over the river that flows through Rabat with the Mediterranean in the distance. We had tea and cookies before moving on to our final destination.

4 - 4:45: the mausoleum. We went to the royal mausoleum which is in Rabat. In it, are the marble coffins of the past two kings and the elder king's other son. It was gorgeous and mobbed by people. Outside, there was a courtyard with a lot of unfinished columns. Like typical tourists, we climbed on top of the 4 foot columns and took pictures together. It was a lot of fun and an easy way to end the day.

We then began the long drive home. Some people slept, but a big group of us talked and sang songs the whole way home. We got home just after 8, and as we walked home, Joe, Meredith, and Tash stopped by to meet my family. Lotfi was at Cafe Clock with friends, so we went there to get some dinner and milkshakes. I had a spicy camel burger and some incredible french fries. That night, I called my family at home to wish them a Happy Easter and did some reading before bed.