Morocco

October 27, 2012 – November 07, 2012

The sail took only four days, but they were some pretty rough days. We had midterms for the first three days, but I finished at noon on the third day. The weather was okay until (no exaggeration here) less than an hour after I wrote my last midterm. We then faced gale force winds, the ship was pitching like crazy and there were headwinds of up to 50 knots! We weren’t allowed on the main deck so night watch took place on the aft deck, and I had to be harnessed in for lookout. It was raining and I could hardly see and at one point a huge wave came up and slapped me in the face! Only a few people got seasick though (not me for once) and even the captain said he was surprised. It seems we might finally be getting used to the motion of the ocean!

Due to the bad weather we were a day behind schedule coming into Morocco. We were supposed to come alongside on Halloween, but finally arrived on November 1^st. My first time in Africa! Once we arrived we spent a while a customs before we were allowed on shore leave. The port is so massive that it took half an hour to walk to the gate to catch a taxi. We did eventually make it out to supper then came back to the ship for a Halloween dance! We put up decorations and got to have the dance on the main deck since we were in port!

On November 2^nd we left on the port program that we had all been waiting for! We got up really early (5:45am cleaning stations) and were split into two groups. I was in the first group and we got on a bus and drove for the day. At one point we drove through a valley where the hills were covered in Argan trees, which is where the nuts for Argan oil come from. We stopped in a bunch of small towns on our drive. In one town, many of us bought turbans to wear on our adventure in the Sahara desert! Our next stop was for a short hike through on oasis. We walked past corn fields, and farmers’ fields along a path lined with palm trees with mountains behind us; it was so pretty! 

Hike through the oasis

We then kept driving again until we got to Zagora, a city where we spent our first night in a small hotel. For supper we had tajine, one of Morocco’s national dishes which is cooked in a unique pottery dish that is sort of triangle shaped. 

Tajine

The next morning we had some shore leave time that we spent walking around Zagora before driving to a pottery cooperative in Taragout. They showed us how the pottery was made and I got to try using the pottery wheel! You have to spin in with your foot while forming the clay with your hands. It was so hard to do! We got to buy pottery too; there were so many beautiful things! The real challenge will be getting them home unbroken…

The pottery wheel

Pottery at the co-op

When we left the pottery co-op we drove to where our camel trip would begin! We met up with the other group that we had left the day before and we rode camels into the Sahara Desert. There were only enough camels for half of us (finding 60 camels would be a real challenge!) so we took turns riding and walking. Walking was really nice and we took our shoes off and walked barefoot through the orange sand. Riding the camels however was a really neat experience, though a little uncomfortable. Needless to say everyone was a little sore the next day. I ended up on a camel for a really long time because our camp turned out to be quite far into the desert, farther than Class Afloat has ever gone before! We were actually only 3km from Algeria by the time we reached the camp. 

Riding camels

Sunset in the Sahara

Since we had to go out so far we didn’t get to sit and watch the sunset. Once it got dark though, the stars came out, and since the moon wasn’t out yet, you could see so many! It was incredible! We had a night of good food (tajine again), a bonfire, dancing, and sleeping in a super cool Moroccan tent, and we got up early the next morning to watch the sunrise. We sat and watched the sun come up over the dunes, and did yoga (sun salutations) in the sand. It was amazing!! It was then time to leave on our camels, much too soon for our liking! We took camels and then jeeps out of the desert, having spent a great night in the Sahara. 

Moroccan tent

Jumping off the dunes

Yoga at sunrise

We got back on the bus and drove, making a couple of stops; one at a market and one to play soccer with some Moroccan kids. :) We spent the last night of our port program at a hotel in Taliouini. The next morning, the 5^th of November (remember, remember, the fifth of November – for all of you V for Vendetta fans) we had breakfast at the hotel, which included some delicious, fresh-squeezed Moroccan orange juice, then headed off on a hike. On the hike we waded across shallow rivers with rainbow rocks, passed a saffron plantation where we learnt about the spice (the most expensive in the world), and walked all the way to a caspa, which is a castle like building at the end. 

On the hike

Walking across the river

Once we finished the hike we returned to the hotel where we ate the most delicious tajine for lunch! Yum! It had chicken and tomatoes and egg on top and was served with really good bread (like every meal we had in Morocco). We left directly after lunch and drove back to the ship in Agadir.

On November 6^th we had a full day of shore leave. My shore leave group spent the day at a huge indoor market where we bartered for all kinds of neat things. It was a great day that ended with a nice supper before returning to the ship to get ready for our early morning departure the next day, November 7^th.

Lisbon, Portugal - Parent Port!

October 23, 2012 – October 27, 2012 

Parent port! We had our grand arrival (which wasn’t so grand) on the 23^rd, but my parents didn’t arrive until later that day. Almost all of the other students had left the ship, either with their parents, or in groups, so I was sitting on the boat deck with the people who were gangway when I saw my parents walking down the dock! We went out for lunch at a café overlooking the docks, and then went back to their hotel. It was so nice to get a bit of quiet time after living on a ship with 50 other students! We had a relaxing day, went out for an awesome supper of tapas, and then I had to report back to the ship at midnight. I wish we could have stayed with our parents, but at least they gave us a late curfew to be able to spend some more time with them.

Lisbon

On the second day they picked me up at the ship after colours and cleaning stations, and we went to a market in Lisbon. It was pretty late in the morning at that point, so there wasn’t too much happening at the market, but I got to get some fresh fruit!! Yum! That’s one thing that I really miss because we don’t get much on the ship.

We didn’t do too much touring the whole time I was in Lisbon since it was so nice to just relax and spend time with my parents. We did visit the maritime museum (with lots of model ships, and even one of a ship that one of our officers on board used to sail on!) and the monument of the discoverers which is a huge statue with a map of the world in paving stones below it, which is one of Lisbon’s landmarks.

My mom and I at the monument of the disoverers

On our third day in port we gave a tour of the ship to our families. We rotated through stations where they got to learn about various aspects of ship life, such as cleaning stations, hammocks and bunks, going aloft, watch, etc. It was cool to see everyone’s families on board and to show them around our home for the year. 

Watch 5 deck scrubbing demo

Departure day came next, much too soon. It was so great to be able to see my parents though, and we students waved to our families who stood on the dock as we left Lisbon, and set off on our way to Morocco!