We took the now familiar GetBus shuttle to the airport.

The custom control officer reminded us that William would need to extend his stay at an SEF office in Braga, which we planned to do after this trip.

We ran into a Chinese traveler, who was on a business trip to Porto but ran into the Portuguese holiday.

The airplane was a little beat-up 738. Well, at least it’s not a Max or the NG, which was also found with issues recently.

We had some best flight meals despite the fact that it was a one and half hour trip. We were seated at the very end of the cabin which was half empty. I guess all passengers bumped from the previous day’s flight were seated around us.

From my window, the farmland below were dotted with villas with walled yards.

We arrived Casablanca around sunset:

Following advice from travel articles, we went to the train station after getting off the plane. We bought two tickets with a credit card to Casa Port. It was total dark after getting off the train. William had a McDonald at the train station.

We walked to a bus stop a block away, but then realized there was no more bus for the day. We read Uber had been pushed out of the city and Uber App confirmed with the message, Uber does not operate in your area.

The Careem

We passed through a prosperous market and some restaurants with heavy traffic. Our hotel is about 28 minutes away if we walk. However, it was getting darker and the street were getting less busy. William noticed there was a ride share option on Google Map. It was an App called Careem.

Setting up was easy and smooth and took us less time than all other ride-share apps, which are a lot, that I had used. The UI was confusing because it asked us to confirm the pick up point first. Soon we would understand why. Our captain came but we couldn’t find him. We then realized the GPS in Morocco was way off where it should be. It’s not the App, it’s the GPS. Possibility the map was not accurate and that were not much auxiliary references that the positioning service could use. Having run out of other options as time goes by, we kept trying the Careem. About five captains canceled on us but one came and found us. It was a different color car and a different license plate, but he had my name on his phone.

The trip was brief and full of excitement. Although we were in a sub-compact car, our captain drove as if he was commanding a tank on a prairie. I rated our captain a five star with a compliment. Based on his current rating of a 4.9, I assumed that was how a trip should be fairly rated for a safely completed ride.

The Hotel

I watched a tour guide looking Chinese received card keys of five rooms from the receptionist. It took a while for the hotel employees to figure out my pre-paid reservation because we missed showing up for the previous night. On our way up on the elevator, we saw Chinese instructions and Chinese menu for the hotel restaurant.

Our room was spacious. William noticed we had a balcony. Getting on the balcony and this was what we saw:

Oh! My!

For a more lively account of our adventure, please refer to the journal of Mr. William.