The journey began in Casablanca where the group visited the King Hassan II Mosque which has space for 25,000 worshipers, the Cathedral of Notre Dames de Lourdes, the City Hall and Palace, and then continued along the Atlantic coast to Rabat, the capital of Morocco. Mass was celebrated in the Cathedral of St. Pierre and the tour continued to the Rabat City Wall, the Medina (old city), and the Rabat palace. The next morning the group saw the outside of the Mausoleum and Tower of Mohammed V and then began traveling to Fez with several interesting stops along the way, including the 12th century Oudaya Kasbah, Moulay Idriss, a beautiful old city on a hill, and Volubilus, the ancient Roman ruins. Rolling farmland could be seen from the bus. Morocco produces large amounts of vegetables and fruits, most of which are exported to Europe.
Fez is the oldest cultural and spiritual city in Morocco. Mass was celebrated at St. Frances Church and then we toured the Medina where there were many narrow alleys with souks selling everything from clothes to meats and nougat covered with bees. There was also a beautiful mosque and a tannery where a few pilgrims bought leather goods. While in the medina, we had to step aside to allow donkeys loaded with cargo to get by. We walked to the Jewish quarter where there are still some Jewish people living peacefully in Morocco, according to our guide.
The next day we journeyed across the Atlas Mountains, which at times were snow capped, to the desert. We stopped in Ifran, a ski town built by the French in the 1920s. The town looks like a European ski village. We arrived in the desert near Merzouga late in the day and immediately all 19 of us climbed up on camels to ride over the dunes. We had a spectacular view of the desert and climbed to the top of the dunes to watch the sunset. We had to cover our faces because the strong wind was blowing the sand. After the camel ride, we had Mass in a large tent which was followed by entertainment and dinner. We all slept in sandy tents that night and awakened to a beautiful sunrise with the full moon still hanging over our tents.
Our journey then took us through the Todra Gorge to Ouarzazate. The next morning we celebrated Mass at St. Therese’s Church where there was a charming French nun and then visited the Taourirt Kasbah. There had been heavy rain and some of the rivers were flooding, but we were able to get through. We left the desert behind and crossed the Atlas Mountains, again going through the Tiz-in-Tichka Pass and arrived in Marrekesh.
We spent two nights in Marrakesh visiting Saaidian Tombs, the Bahia Palace, which has incredible wood carved ceilings, the Jardin Majorelle (a beautiful garden funded by Yves St. Laurent) and the market in the Medina. We had Mass at the Holy Martyr’s Church where an American Franciscan brother explained the history of the church.
Next we traveled to Essaouria a lovely old city on the Atlantic. On the way there we saw goats in Argan trees. The Argan’s nuts are used to make oils for cooking and cosmetics and we visited an Argan factory where women do all the work by hand to produce the oil for very little pay. In Essaouria we visited an old town market and port and celebrated Mass in Our Lady of Assumption Church.
Our journey was almost over when we traveled along the Atlantic coast back to Casablanca. Along the coast there were many farms hugging the shoreline, but also an ugly plant which produced large amounts of phosphates that are exported. We stopped in El Jadida where there was an old Portuguese Fort, a Portuguese cistern, and a beautiful beach. We arrived in Casablanca and had our farewell dinner and pilgrim theatrical. The next morning we left Morocco with fond memories of the people and country that was quite different from what we had expected.
