ALGIERS & CASABLANCA – 21-23 October 2026
I had very high expectations for both these cities. Something about the colonial era that had been romanticised in old movies like Casablanca and Lawrence of Arabia (although I can barely remember either movie). So, I was keen for both of these shore excursions.
Algiers – 21 October
This is the photo of Algiers on the front of our Viking Daily handout. The write up was “Known as ‘Alger la Blanche’ for its white buildings gleaming on the Mediterranean, Algiers is a heady mix of ancient and modern. Today’s bustling city hugs the shore and boasts many gracious French accents from colonial days such as the Grand Poste and generous wide boulevards and gardens. Districts from the city’s pre-colonial Ottoman past rise from the coast upon the slopes of the hillside beyond. The city’s pinnacle of historic splendor, Algiers’ casbah, crowns this hilltop. It’s maze of stone warrens offers an ideal setting in which to pause for mint tea and kebabs.”
We did consider hiring a private driver/car but for some reason that I cannot recall, we decided against that option and went with our “included” shore excursions “The Gardens of Algiers“. We had a very nice guide – who was multi-lingual and a university professor (I’d hazard a guess that most people in Algiers have a second job if they can get one). Our first stop was the Botanical Garden Hamma (Jardin d’essai du Hamma) a 32-hectare botanical garden established in 1832 during the French colonisation. The garden’s principal activity back then was to provide trees to public organisations and to European settlers.
Given that by the 1950s the French no longer had Algiers as a colony and that there was an “Algerian war” from 1954–1962 I was surprised that the garden has survived for all this time. This is one of the many avenues (Dragon Trees) – they were experimenting with particular species to see how they would tolerate to the Algiers climate.
A nice avenue of palm trees.
Not sure what this avenue was, but when we first arrived there was an avenue with massive Morten Bay Figs – they were at least 200 years old.
A nice duck bond, could do with a good clean out, looks like the same water’s been there for 200 years.
A charming bridge over the duck pond (closed to public, must need repairs).
This is called the “Tarzan Tree” – it’s a Ficus retusa and it’s been nicknamed the Tarzan tree because it was used in the opening scenes of the 1932 Tarzan film.
A nice group of palms.
I was captivated by this beautiful tree a Chorisia speciosa (now classified as Ceiba speciosa), it’s a South American deciduous tree known for its spiny green trunk, large pink hibiscus‑like flowers, and pods filled with silky floss used similarly to kapok.
This is an avenue of Platanus occidentalis an American sycamore.
This part of the park was very well cared for, where as the rest of the park was not as well cared for. This is probably due to the fact that the promenade leads to the Maqam Echahid (the Martyr’s Memorial) a huge monument commemorating the Algerian War and Algeria’s independence. I think most Algerians visit the park to see the monument.
The fountain – looked really good and it leads up to the monument.
It was a nice walk in the garden, but Viking must have been hard pressed for a “tourist” experience in Algiers. Having said that, I’m happy to have visited the garden, I guess my take-away was the fact that it was built by the French over 200 years ago, and it was a surprise that it hasn’t been bulldozed for highrises over the years as it’s close to the city and prime real estate. Mind you now that the monument is there (if not on the park land, then pretty close), the park’s survival is guaranteed.
We were then taken on a drive around the “French Quarter” and some of the buildings from that era.
The post office that the French built – no longer a post office but a museum. Would have been nice to visit it.
Another apartment building with French architecture.
And another one.
I guess the saddest thing for me was that all of these beautiful buildings from the colonial era were in a sad state of disrepair. I wanted to take a gerni to the buildings. So, my overall impression of Algiers was “disrepair”; but, the streets were amazingly trash-free and no graffiti, given that we’d just visited Tunis which had so much trash, Algiers’ cleanliness was glaringly obvious. Would I recommend a special visit to Algiers? Probably not, but for those who would like to visit parts of North Africa with not so many tourists, I would recommend Algeria, it has a rich history dating back to 10,000 BC, but you have to hunt, do some research though and then go way out of town to find it.
Day at Sea – 22 October – spent eating, drinking and doing jigsaws with my new jigsaw friends!
Casablanca – 23 October
This is the photo of Casablanca on the Viking Daily newsletter with the write up “Casablanca lures visitors with its heady mix of neo-Moorish splendor and French influence. Known as ‘Casa’ to locals, its streets exude an atmosphere of bygone days. Made famous by the 1942 eponymous film, today it’s one of Africa’s most important ports. Parisian style boulevards unfold past cafes and colonial buildings. The city’s medina is a maze of warrens pulsing with old-world energy, the hollers of carpet merchants and the fragrance of incense. The most impressive structure is the Hassan Il Mosque, the country’s largest and most magnificent.”
Sounds great doesn’t it? We’d decided to hire our own guide and car because just the sound of visiting Casablanca was captivating. So, we met up with the guide and off we went, just in time to visit the mosque before the lunch-time prayers. I thought we’d have our own English-speaking guide in the Hassan Il Mosque but turns out we were in a group of about 20 tourists (English-speaking) and there were other guides for Spanish, German, you name it they had a guide that spoke the language (and a couple of hundred tourists).
The outside of the mosque is truly impressive. And the size of the promenade is enormous. It’s worth reading the Wiki overview of the mosque, it was built in a very short period of time.
This is a secondary block on the edge of the courtyard, might be for pilgrims that come to the mosque.
These inlets were all around the mosque with water flowing into pools.
This is the view from the mosque.
There were quite a few fountains around too.
Inside the mosque, it’s inspiring. Check out the chandeliers.
The wooden ceiling actually opens up so that in the summer there’s plenty of air and sunlight.
I thought that these doors were also for fresh air but it turns out that they are glass, does let a lot of light in.
Another view of inside, an aide had put out prayer rugs in preparation for the noon prayers, there were probably only 20 or 30 put out so not a great crowd expected.
The women’s prayer area – they don’t mix with the men for prayers.
Another view of inside.
Part of going to pray, all Muslims must first do the ablutions, ie washing their hands and face. The bottom level of the mosque (which you can look down at from above through glass sections of the floor of the mosque) is where the washing has done. These pedestals have water flowing out of them and our guide explained the ablution process, very interesting. When there is a big crowd, there are recessed areas of the floor above to accommodate those who cannot fit downstairs. The women have their own ablution area on the women’s floor.
(For some images of the museum (artifacts from old mosques) go to be bottom of the blog.)
I found the deep dive into the mosque and the prayer times very interesting.
The guide picked us up and took us on a “tour” of Casablanca and it was less than impressive.
We drove to what he referred to as the private beaches. In other words, those with money could go to a walled off area usually with a pool to enjoy the sun, and bar. We walked for about 500m checking out these private areas. It looked like a huge retaining wall would be put up and then filled in. The waves were crashing against the retaining walls so I don’t hold out hope that the infrastructure will be there indefinitely. It will probably eventually fall apart and the ruins will just be left there. This was probably the “nicest” pool area.
This was one of the walls between two private beaches, shades of the Philippines. My guess is that there would be quite a few ruffians breaking into the bars.
We were then driven to a “Cathedral” built by the French back in the 1950s. We got there too late and it was closed, but we did get to see the man-made grotto, and the large family of cats that were resident here.
We then drove around checking out colonial arcitecture.
This one had some military personnel guarding the entrance.
This area was a bit more like what I’d imagined.
Another “highlight” was the pigeon park, he asked if we wanted to get out, but we were happy just to take a photo from the car.
We then drove to a tourist shop and when we exited the car, there was a street food kitchen with a man looking after these targine pots (with small flame below) – I felt I was getting a quick look at the “real” Casablanca. The highlight of the day for me!
We then went to a Berbers shop where we were shown beautiful carpets that had been made by Berbers (a lot different to Turkish carpets that I was familiar with).
The city has got a lot of high-rise buildings, this one caught my attention as there was a sunken area, maybe for open markets or just people congregating.
And this old wall also caught my attention, who knows what or when it was built.
And this decrepit wall from the colonial era.
Our last stop was Rick’s Cafe – made famous in the film Casablanca and Humphrey Bogart’s words “play it again Sam”. I was keen to see inside the Cafe but before going, we discovered that there was never a real Rick’s Cafe, it was just a set in Hollywood. The “cafe” was opened March 1, 2004 the brainchild of a wealth resident who saw an opportunity to make some money LOL.
So, would I recommend anyone going to Casablanca – definitely not. I was so disappointed in the whole experience – mainly because I had such high expectations.
Overall though, I did learn a lot about these two Muslem countries. Both countries appear to be quite liberal. For instance in Casablanca I asked if it was an alcohol free state and our guide said that it’s ok to drink alcohol at home or in a bar, but in public places it is against the law. The women in both countries had a multitude of different clothing choices from Niqab (face veil and black robe – in the whole time only saw one woman dressed this way) to Abaya & Jilbab (long loose fitting outer garment and scarf) and Hijab (just the headscarf) – and the vast majority were just wearing western clothing. It was all free-choice.
Looking forward to Cadiz tomorrow.
Mosque Museum items:
