October 19, 2024

Tour of CHEFCHAOUEN, MOROCCO

Chefchaouen was founded in 1471 by the Berbers. It's a little over a 2 hours drive inland from Tangiers. A territory surrounded by the Rif Mountains, where the Moors and Jews expelled from Spain by the Catholic Monarchs, took refuge. it is believed the City was painted blue by the Jews fleeing Hitler in 1930. A couple other theories exist, but regards several other countries have copied the idea. The women are the ones who paint it with a white lime wash that has a blue pigment (made from a local plants leaves) mixed in. The women don't use ladders, so there are some interesting breaks in where the color starts and stops. This BLUE CITY of MOROCCO became popular, after a Red Bull commercial filmed there in 2001, showing motor bikes racing up and down the blue streets. We encountered many motor bikes as we climbed up and down the steps throughout the city, crazy on these narrow walkways.


Thirteen of us went by way of Mercedes Mini Bus, for this day tour. The drive there was broken up by a stop for a traditional Moroccan breakfast - mint tea, pancakes & bread and dipping sauces - the ground almond one was delicious. Then we were met by our guide Mohamed, who was recently married, and he walked us through all 5 sections of the city. Oldest to newest. He filled us in on all the wedding details - it's a 3 day affair and he is doing is doctorate studies on the history of the Blue City. So was extremely interesting. 

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  • Main Entry into walled city

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We spent about 3 hours touring and then a brief break for shopping before we had to dead back to Ship to sail out at 6 pm.

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SOMEWHERE IN THE SOUTH CHINA SEA .....

By Pat Patrick • June 1, 2026
Somewhere in the South China Sea, i n a galaxy far, far away ... was the Odyssey and a bunch of fun loving travelers....who had an idea for a fun cocktail party!

CORON, PHILIPPINES

By Pat Patrick • May 30, 2026
Yesterday we joined in with many of our fellow residents to take in some of the many water spots around Coron . We signed up through Get Your Guide, others used Trip Advisor and they both contracted with Psalms Travel Services in Coron. As I've explained before, figuring out our excursions in each port, is a big time suck for me. We prefer to find local venders without having to go through the big agencies (because you usually can get better service, pricing and customization) but sometimes it is just easier to stick with the big guys, when the excursion is super popular. Psalms turned out to be an excellent operator and I laughed when I saw they had used the below images on their Facebook page today. Didn't realize my pink dry bag stood out so much!

CORON, PHILIPPINES

By Pat Patrick • May 30, 2026
We are currently docked at the port of CORON , in the Palawan archipelago islands, of the Philippines . While the port itself is nothing special, and the surrounding town is hardly thriving, the people here are amazingly friendly, joyful and so happy to be around! You can see from below, they have a ton of hotels and restaurants but mostly it's their water actives that attract a fair number of tourist. Known for their crystal clear water, dramatic limestone cliffs and powdery white sand beaches. June is the start of the rainy season, but so far the weather has been good.