Day 1 of Tour Casablanca
Trip Start
Dec 26, 2005
1
179
289
Trip End
Jan 25, 2009
Casablanca, Morocco
Monday, August 14, 2006
At 6.30pm, I met my tour group that will be my 'family' for the next 14 days. I'm trying to keep an open mind as these tours attract anyone and everyone, but at least all participants have a love of travel and a yearning for adventure.
I have 2 room mates on this tour... alternating nightly through the trip which means that I have a single room every 3rd night (thank god). The first room mate is Thomas, a 35 year old or so from Cologne, Germany. He is a soldier by trade and fixes planes for the German airforce. My second room mate is Tom, a retired accountant from Ohio, USA (yes folks... yet another oldie on this tour). At this stage, all I can say is that I'm glad I will get my own room every 3rd night!
There are 12 people in the group... a father and daughter team (the father works for the UN and is based in Rome, a very interesting and funny person... English). His daughter Chloe is 15 and super intelligent and articulate. Wants to study at Standford after high school. There are 6 Aussies all up, 6 males and 6 females. NO COUPLES! There are 2 groups of friends travelling together... two girls from Melbourne (great value...) and 2 posties from Adelaide who have travelled extensively... in their mid 30s. A couple of independent travellers from London (Maria and Claire) and me! I think that's all. My leader is Summer, initially from LA but has a Moroccan family and travelled extensively throughout South America... Quito, which is my first stop in Ecuador is her favourite city in the world and she is quite envious in that I'm going there in 2 weeks time.
The group appears to be a ok, with a diverse set of personalities. The way I figure it is that I'm happy to switch off from making all the decisions but I will also make a point of finding my own time to escape the time consuming nature and often indecisive nature of groups.
My first impressions of this country are absolutely positive... the people are overly friendly and hospitable. They have also been blessed with exquisite beauty... both genders. If I could wish for one thing, it would be the dark skin of Morocco! The children are so beautiful, I want to adopt a Moroccan kid! Jule, I'm getting clucky again... snap me out of it!
I'm looking forward to tasting the delicacies of this country, roaming busy medinas, seeing some wicked sights and just having a good time with my new travel mates.
