Tangier: Gateway to Africa

The compound, or kasbah, is the highest of the historic buildings on a tour of the old town (medina), a triangular maze overlooking the sea. Getting lost in the medina is compounded by the street names, written in either Arabic, French or Spanish.

A must is the museum at the bouganvillea-covered villa of the millionaire Malcolm Forbes. He collected 100,000 toy soldiers, including some on Arab steeds, and often arrayed them for battle.

This museum overlooks the long empty beach that may seem inviting, but the Atlantic breakers make it risky. The best sands merge into the Mediterranean approaches to the east of modern Tangier. The long boulevards are for shops, banks and hotels, but the smell of intrigue lingers all over the city. Still gracing the Place du Faro is the Café de Paris where spies traded wartime secrets.

Tangier may not have Casablanca's shops, but it is a good place for bargains in copper, leather and carpets. It has plenty of cafés, complete with croissants, but the preferred drink is mint-tea, although even some Muslims drink the local wines and beers. The favourite meat dish in North Africa is couscous with steamed semolina, while kebab is often served with chips in cheaper eating places.

If you decide to follow Bing Crosby and Bob Hope On The Road to Morocco, the easiest and most alluring gateway is anglophile Tangier.

TANGIER FACTFILE

History: Tangier has been fought over since it was settled in by the ancient Greeks and Phonecians. Among those who have occupied it are the Vandals (5th century), Byzantines (6th), Arabs (8th), Berbers (8th), Fatimids of Tunis (10th), Almoravides (11th), Almohades (12th), Merinids (13th), Portuguese (15-16th), Spanish (16th), British (17th) and French (19th). All of these influences have created a town with a character quite unlike that of other Moroccan cities.

Transport: The bus and railway stations are a short walk from the jetty, all of which make Tangier a useful centre for excursions. There is a ferry to Algeciras, a catamaran to Gibraltar and coach to its counterpart, the Spanish enclave of Ceuta only two hours away. Trains from both the port and town stations go to Fez and the romantic and historic Marrakesh up in the High Atlas.

Accommodation: There is a great range of facilities available to visitors. Lodgings in and around the medina tend to be more basic than some of the newer hotels in the new city.

Top Attractions: The Petit Socco, the focal point of life in the medina, with its cafes and restaurants. It is easy to sit for hours absorbing the atmosphere of an area which was once the sin and sleaze centre of the city.

The kasbah: Built on the highest point of the city. The gate opens on to a large open courtyard that leads to Dar el Makhzen, the former sultan's palace which now serves as a museum. The building boasts some beautifully carved wooden ceilings and a marble courtyard.

Sussex-based John Burke is a former tourist guide and Reuters correspondent. His work has been printed in at least 20 publications and he has contibuted to four travel guide books.

For further information on travel in Africa, visit Travel Africa Magazine

Published in Travel Africa Edition Two: Winter 1997/8. Text is subject to Worldwide Copyright (c)