★★★★★Viator review
Not what we expected
Omar_D, October 2026
Not what we expected
On reflection I’m not sure what stereotype we expected but we both both agreed that whatever it was, we were both way off the mark!
As two lost tourists, we bumbled off the boat and made our way through the port to the arrivals hall. A warm, friendly and clearly kindly, older man approached us and asked if we had a tour booked and who with. His face lit up when we said we were booked with Ali’s Tour (Authentic Full Day Private Tour of Tangier). Note that this man reflected the people of Tangier, warm friendly and kindly. This was the welcome we received throughout our visit. There are the undertones of making a few quid along the way, but ultimately they are a good people
We were really looking forward to meeting Ali as any of the reviews we had seen had referenced him and the photos online showed everyone having a great time with Ali. Also, it was Ali who had contacted us 2 days before on WhatsApp to clarify what type of people we were and what we wanted from the trip to ensure it was the best use of our time… that was a class act on their part!!!
With this in mind, I can’t tell you our slight disappointment when Hamza met us outside - oh how wrong were we to feel disappointed!!! What a guy!
Impressed by the blacked out, shiny black mini van which was spotlessly clean inside with incredible air con and bottled water, we focused on the positives and dove straight into the expected tour guide stuff. We were blown away by the modernity and wealth within tangier and quickly realised that while its people had the warmth of our own people at home (were Irish), they had somehow managed to hold on to their morals, something we’ve lost sight of at home
After a quick stop at a mosque, we started to see Hamza’s character. We had not only landed a good guide, but we had a good guy at our disposal. As we sat in Ireland, we knew we were going to have good craic that day
We whistled past unimportant sites but were given their important contribution to the history of Tangier and the jigsaw pieces were starting to fall into place. We passed the king’s residence and the house of the Sheikh of Bahrain and headed out of town to the coast. Where we stopped for breakfast.
All I wanted from the food was authenticity and we got that (throughout) in spades! I had a mixture of different flavours and textures but the eggs cooked in lamb fat instead of oil with a little pulled lamb on top was 9.5/10 easy. While Hamza told me I’d be getting lamb for breakfast, I was about to say that won’t suit my wife, he was already ahead of me and declared that she’d be having Moroccan pancakes with nut butter fruit and goats cheese which we were both exited by (well she wasn’t excited by the goats cheese but in the end neither of us had ever had one so delicate and mild and she loved it). We of course had the famous “Moroccan Whiskey” - aka, mint tea! It was fantastic! Better than I’d always imagined
Off to the to the beach we went for another stunning setting. Not mentioned before was the beautiful views of where the Mediterranean meets the Atlantic through a picture frame naturally carved into a hill top view of Tangier, a stop at a Perdicaris’ park for a dander with a great story and beautiful view of the writers former house, the forest snd the sea, then on to Caps Spartel lighthouse
At this stage we had begun to see the real Hamza starting to shine through and Ali was long forgotten about. When at the beach, he organised 2 camels which neither of us wanted but took them anyway. And whilst we probably would have enjoyed the walk on the beach more, we got an onsite into Hamza and the realities of Morocco as well. Before the camels Hamza softly hinted at tipping but didn’t ask us to or insist on it. Mohammad and his very young son Mohammad guided us on the camels and although none of us could understand each others languages, we understood each other other and we had a fairly reflective time together and plenty of laughs. When we were dropped off and gladly tipped the camel handlers, Hamza came back and on leaving he explained to us just how poor these guys were and how little they were paid. We were so glad we tipped but this was the first time we really saw the real hamza. This was his way of helping his people, but he also respected his duty as a guide and was never going to tell us that story before we tipped. But there was no time to wallow in this… Hamza let that hit home then it was go go go!
We arrived to the caves of Hercules in a few minutes. They were fantastic!!! As we enjoyed the caves, hamza worried about filling our phones with photos while we had a brief look around. He even organised pictures with a monkey, a parrot and some traditional hats - all the while giving us the history of the caves to the back drop of traditional live music. He didn’t waste anytime before we made our way back to old tangier. My wife and I could have spent more time in the caves. On reflection we probably would have skipped the camel track and spent longer here
On our way back to old tangier we seen the new football stadium, whistled past the graveyard for cats and dogs arrived at the Kasbah
Something changed at this time. Hazma felt a little bit more at ease. He was clearly coming into the part on Tangier he was most proud of
We seen the Kasbah, its gates, mosque, walls and its history. Btw, it must be said. Anytime I had a difficult/uncomfortable cultural question, Hazma never shied away from it throughout. He was always happy to answer fully and with great detail, this was very important for me as a person.
As we made our way to the medina we peered through windows and our ears and eyes and noses were saturated in the real Tangier. Everyone knew (and must be said, loved!) Hamza and he knew the people. We were introduced to people of the area as he interacted with everyone. This man loves his Tangier, his Morocco and was proud of his people. This made the trip
One of my requests was that I would taste the real Morocco and hamza brought us to an eatery for the locals, not the tourists. The tangine, salads, beef skewers and the absolutely amazing bowl of fresh orange juice shredded carrot and cinnamon were absolutely immense. Well worth the trip alone! The owner was happy to show me the wood fired range his father built 60yrs prior. Really was a great stop
Having done more than we ever managed, we realised that of all the nuanced requests we made, we hadn’t seen the snake charmer and he had finished in the Kasbah… not to allow us to be too disappointed, Hamza took out his phone and searched up “snake”… he dialled the number and after a very quick dash through the streets of the medina like in an Aladdin chase scene, we made it to an unassuming corner with no shops or open doors… out of nowhere this old man came and opened his sack to produce a black cobra!!!! He proceeded to play with the cobra there and then. The whole experience was as surreal as it was amazing. Here we were on the backstreet (if there’s such a thing) of the medina and there’s an old man playing with a snake on the street just for us. After a bit of arguing, a sec I’d sack came out and we got our photo taken with a different snake wrapped around us… as quick as it began, it was over. I gladly tipped the man and off we went, but not before Hamza also slipped the man some money
This was something noted throughout the medina venture. Hamza seemed to shake a lot of people’s hands, and slip them a bit of money. Although a lot of the time these people offered no services and they looked so happy to have had the handshake. He was very humble and I didn’t want to intrude, but I made the assumption Hamza was helping the people, his people
Unfortunately after a flash by the new marina area being built for the rich and famous, we had our final stop at the gates of the port. We weren’t kicked to the curb though. Hamza made sure we new exactly were to go and what to do to get to the boat
And so ended our time with Hamza. Tangier. And Morocco
Something my wife and I agree on, is that Hamza, Tangier and Morocco will have a piece of us until we meet again. Which hopefully won’t be too long!
Useful information;
-As a rough guide, knock the last zero off anything in Moroccan Dirham (MAD) to give the price in euros
-Don’t worry so much about what you’re wearing as long as it’s comfortable and sits on the shoulder and at the knee, we did see people bathing at the beach in bikinis and Hijabs side by side
-Bring small euros (€5 and €10) for tipping. €5 seems to be well received across the board however we paid the camal guy a bit more as we found out he only earns €20-30 per day via the camal owner. The snake charmer got €10 given he was dragged out of his way for us. The first eatery got €5
-Tangier is far more advanced than parts of Ireland and the UK, so don’t fear for stereotypes that we succumbed to
-The people are amazing. Stop and talk to them or get Hamza to translate. They really are a fantastic people who remain very morally intact. If the smile, smile back, if they say hello say hello back, if they reach out, shake their hand
-If you want to experience Morocco without feeling like a tourist, request Hamza!
-Two words you should know; Salam for hello and Shukran for Thank you
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