Yay! We made it to Morocco! Which in itself was partially a surprise. Getting to the plane and the airport had been quite an ordeal. We could not find aaaannnyyywhere for breakfast – apparently the only flaw in the Spanish lifestyle is that if you want to get up early and start your day it does not serve you well… We finally found a Starbucks but by then we were a smidge behind schedule. The airport bus stop was not the easiest to find – our hostel staff were not super descriptive, they just told us to go back to where we got off the bus, seemed easy enough. However, when we got there (which is a huge round about) there are bus stops on every corner and the one we needed was not where we had disembarked upon arrival. Once we had deciphered the map and were making our way to the correct stop, we saw the bus heading off without us! Thankfully with some pleading waves and rushing movements the bus driver was kind enough to pull over for us! Phew! Feeling like we were now well behind schedule (but excited that we didn’t have to wait another 15/20 minutes for the next bus) we were disheartened when we arrived at the airport, came up the escalators and saw the gigantic lines at all the check in counters (and no staff to speak of to assist anyone in where to go). While we waited in line with fingers crossed Max and I took turns running around trying to see if there was a faster/easier option (come one Madrid, where are your signs???). Finally we found the self-checkin counters and we were off and away! The only thing standing in the way of us and the gate was the hour long stop at the currency exchange counter..I honest do not know why they were so slow. It was mind-numbing.

Landing safely in Morocco (although there was no clapping this time) we were thrilled! Coasting through security and getting our bags with a breeze, we skipped out the door. But where was out ride? Fear struck instantly and though it was probably only a few moments, before we saw him (not very enthusiastically holding a Bus About sign up in the back row of drivers) it was long enough for a small panic attack each. Told we had two more people to wait for, we took a seat in the outdoor waiting room type area. 45 minutes elapsed during which we started trying to guess which two people were for us and trying telepathically to convince each pair we saw to walk over to the driver (clearly becoming more delirious with the heat). Partially doing this to kill the time and partially because our driver did not seem enthused at all and was not holding his sign very visibly. Convinced it was the boy/girl pair on our tour we started judging everyone we came across, would they be fun, would we want them on our tour, could we convince them to be on our tour so we could just get to the hotel already? You know, logical thoughts. Eventually we got a ride to the hotel with 3 lovely girls who were doing the 8 day tour but for some reason were not on any list. No idea what happened to the pair we were waiting on…the guy with the sign stayed behind for them…
Hôtel El Andalous was heaven. So much fancier than we anticipated. Lush double beds each, terrific air conditioning, a terrific looking pool, 3 different dining areas and more. Once we settle in the room we needed some food and went downstairs to ask the concierge. She directed us to this lounge that felt like a huge study. Abundant leather couches, wooden tables and Moroccan tiles and we had it all to ourselves! After chowing down on some food (nomnomnom) we had a swim in the pool which was almost too warm. Not quite yet the Morocco we had expected. 

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​At 6pm we met our tour guide and one of the members of our tour. We wouldn’t meet the last two until tomorrow as they were on a late flight. The pre-departure meeting consisted mainly of an introduction session of each other, our guide Mohamed and the tour, where we would go each day, how it would run, tipping, option extras and a huge talk about water. During his last tour Mohamed had to take someone to hospital for dehydration despite his constant reminders of “drink, drink, drink” and, understandably, was not going to have it happen again. There would be multiple stops each day to purchase water. We were thrilled to have such a caring guide by our side. We had a bit of down-time before our traditional Moroccan meal so we went on a mini adventure, walking to the local shopping center/mall to buy some water. Surprisingly the streets were super clean and we were only asked about 7 times if we wanted a lift! If it wasn’t for the traffic which seemingly had no rules, this place would be easy to navigate! 

Our “traditional Moroccan meal” was not quite what we expected. A hotel buffet with everything from pasta, pizza, meats and veg. Not sure what to think, Mohamed promised us that in the last part of the tour we would become sick of Moroccan food, so we should just enjoy whatever we wanted now. After eating our fill and feeling more acquainted with each other, we trotted off to bed, excited for the tour to official start in the morning!