After careful consideration, we choose the safe solution and turn our noses towards Casablanca.
Casablanca is also high on the wish list, but when we get there, there isn't much Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman about it.
Unfortunately, the GPS guides us through the city center during rush hour. It is by far the most chaotic city we have ever driven in.
There must be 2 of us to manage our way through. Johnny drives and Sus is CO driver. Always keep an eye on who and when is changing lanes, pedestrians, light signals that are not respected, overtaking inside, zigzag driving on mopeds and general chaos. It's really close and the cars around us emit a veil of smoke that could hide a Scanline's ferry.
There should be many things to see in Casablanca, but we mostly concentrate on surviving and driving straight until we are through the city. That we get through without dents is still a mystery to us.
On the other side of town, there is a large parking lot where we can just drive in and catch our breath. There is also a large town square where we can walk around a bit and make a plan B.
We can see that there is an architectural firm on the square, and choose to go in and see if they can be helpful in recommending a place to spend the night.
The nicest girl works there who wants to help us. She even wants to show us the way and takes a little time off so she can guide us. Her friend is a hotel manager at a relatively newly built hotel not too far away.
Johnny and the nice girl go to the hotel, make an appointment and Sus stays behind to look after the car.
When they come back, Johnny has been given instructions on how to get there by car. However, the car is too high for their parking garage, so we choose to park right by the main entrance. It's a nice hotel so it's a little embarrassing to come and park a dirty 4WD in front of the front door. And since we have been repairing the car for half the night and slept in a rest area, we are not too presentable ourselves either.
But they take it in high spirits. An employee is immediately assigned to guard our car 24 hours a day, and we are told that it is welcome to stay there until we have to leave again.
The manager is very nice and follows us up to show the room.
In the small 4-person elevator where there are 3 of us, he presses the button for the 4th floor and the elevator goes down half a floor and gets stuck...
Uhhmmmm.. it's never happened before, he assures us. We immediately notice that the air conditioning cannot reach to cool the nice little elevator. It will be quite warm…
We try to press ourselves a little against the wall so that our outdoor odeur does not spread too much in the suddenly very small elevator.
After fifteen minutes of phone calls and knocking on elevator doors, we are located and they managed to drive us half a floor up to the lobby again.
We take the stairs to the 4th floor and the hotel insists on offering lunch at their expense.
After a proper walk hauling camera and trip bags up to the hotel room, thorough bathing and renovation of appearance to more decent standard, we go downstairs and have an excellent lunch.
Two summoned technicians step out of the elevator and assure us that it is now error-corrected and we can safely use it. We step in, press the 4th floor and it goes down half a floor and gets stuck...
When we are finally freed, the manager stands with a crooked smile and says that it must have been something we did on purpose. We laugh and then take the stairs.
We walk around the local area a bit before it's time to go to bed.
The next day it is time to drive to the airport from where Sus will fly home. Johnny has been given the trusted task of driving the car home from Morocco.