Rabat, Morocco

We set off on Friday morning from the anchorage at La Linea for Morocco arriving in Rabat the next day. With a considerable Atlantic swell the approach to Rabat was interesting - a river splits Rabat and Salé (where the marina is) and is replete with sandbanks and shallows. Our impeccable timing meant that we arrived just after low tide. After surfing into the narrow entrance of breakwaters, which funnels the waves nicely into the river mouth, we were met by a dinghy from the marina and guided up past the monumental city walls, a stunning sight.

After a preliminary check in on the police pontoon, we moored in the new Bouregreg marina (not quite finished). It is part of an enormous new development taking place here. They are reclaiming 6000 hectares of the river baisin and spending over $2.5 billion on waterfront marinas, commercial and residential areas including a new bridge and tramway to connect Rabat and Salé.

Rabat is a lovely capital city, easy to get around with striking sites to visit and a vibrant medina. The Kasbah is unbelievably picturesque. With the rise of the imperial cities of Fes, Meknes and Marrakesh, Rabat fell in neglect and was resettled by Andalusian refugees in 17th C. It entered into a famous period of international piracy and its corsair fleets, the Sallee Rovers, raided as far afield as Plymouth. Robinson Crusoe began his captivity in Salé in Daniel Defoe’s novel.

For more pics visit http://picasaweb.google.com/Ironylondon/RabatMorocco