While we were in Spain, we figured that since we were so close to Africa and the Straits of Gibraltar that we should just go there for a day trip to say we had been to another continent. We had other sources who had studied in Morocco as well as doing plenty of research on a tour that we ended up using so we felt completely safe to do this for a life experience. I was extremely excited mainly because of the nature of my job, which has to do with trading oil tankers. Not only do I manage ships that transit these Straits in and out of the Mediterranean, but I also have shipments of oil that occasionally go into Atlantic Morocco. If we got lucky, I also had one of my ships that would be passing through the Straits of Gibraltar later that afternoon. You had such a fun time on this trip, but it was a LONG day!
Love,
Daddy
Our tour bus picked us up very early in the morning and took us to Tarifa, Spain to catch one of the high speed ferries that cross over to Tangier, Morocco. Tarifa is slightly west of the Rock of Gibraltar and closer to the city we were going to. The picture below captures the site we had along with mountains in the distance, which is Africa.
The Strait of Gibraltar (Arabic: مضيق جبل طارق, Spanish: Estrecho de Gibraltar) is a narrow strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea and separates Spain in Europe from Morocco in Africa. The name comes from Gibraltar, which in turn originates from the Arabic Jebel Tariq (meaning "Tariq's mountain"), albeit the Arab name for the Strait is Bab el-Zakat or "Gate of Charity". It is also known as the Straits of Gibraltar, or STROG (Strait Of Gibraltar), in naval use and as "Pillars of Hercules" (Greek: Ηράκλειες Στήλες) in the ancient world.
The inside of the ferry was very well done and high tech. We had a very comfortable ride across the Straits and you enjoyed your breakfast while we were sitting.
I absolutely love this picture because we were able to watch the sun coming up over Africa that morning and I think we caught a great moment on camera.
What many people don't know is that the Rock of Gibraltar is controlled by Great Britain and that the south side of the Straits in Tangier, Morocco is an international city. We may have had the first World War over 100 years ago if the south part of the Straits did not become an international city because if Great Britain controlled the north and south side, they would have controlled all imports and exports out of the Mediterranean from the Atlantic. They stood down and war was averted. The U.S had its first embassy located in Tangier back in 1777 so we know it's extremely important.
This is a shot of the Straits from Tangier looking back at Southern Spain....beautiful.
We didn't have a clear view of the Rock of Gibraltar until we were on our way home. This was the snap shot I was able to take, which shows all of the cranes surrounding the base. This area is a major hub for ships to come in and receive fuel, stores, and anything else they might need before entering the Med, or leaving across the Atlantic Ocean.
In the picture below you can see the two main highest points of the Straits. The Jebel Musa in Africa, which is claimed to have been raised up by Hercules himself, and on the right is the Rock of Gibraltar. We were in a moving bus so the two rocks are on the right side of the tree line and to the left of the red road sign.
When I came back into the office, I immediately looked up the report from the BRITISH HAZEL and it looks like I missed seeing the ship by only 30 minutes. The ferry ride home was delayed by about that same amount of time......so if it wasn't late, this could have been the shot I would have had to post for everyone.
I'm sure everyone is waiting to see the pictures from Morocco, but you'll just have to wait and see a little later.
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