Yes, it almost inspires a panic attack to think of spending just five days in Morocco when there are so many incredible cats to see! Fortunately, our feline-focused travel experts have mapped out the purrfect itinerary that will scratch and sate that cat-travel itch right behind your fuzzy ears.
Day 1: Marrakech
Start your journey by hopping off the plane and into the heat of the capitol. Make a quick dash across the city to Djemaa El Fna, but don’t get distracted by the chaotic and fascinating main square with its snake charmers, drum circles, restaurants, and acrobats. Instead, with the help of a local guide, make your way through the labyrinthine old city and head to Bab Doukkala, where this authentic Moroccan cat will greet you. Equal parts mysterious and friendly, the Kitta al Place Bab Doukkala is one of Marrakech’s best-kept secrets and provides a perfect introduction to the exotic cats you’ll behold on this trip.
Day 2: Casablanca
Launch down to the apex of commerce by bus or train, but don’t spend too much time visiting the beautiful and enormous Hassan II Mosque when there are so many cats left to see. Though more European and industrialized than some of the country’s other cities, there is still a unique charm to this bustling port. Upon your arrival, you’ll notice that the distinct French Protectorate era architecture provides a fitting backdrop for the new rich who do their best to flaunt their wealth. Just start walking down the main drag or down some side streets. It won’t take you long to find a group of fat cats lounging in/on their newly purchased rides.
Day 3: Tangier
Take the bus or the train up to the city of Tangier, famed in the West for its intriguing history of creativity, espionage, and sleaze. Walk up and down the alleyways and listen to the echoes of William S. Burrough’s footsteps, among others, still resounding off the medieval walls. As evening approaches, be sure to don your formalwear so you can catch the sunset with an expat tuxedo cat. Be prepared to discuss literature and what you miss/hate about home over mint tea, or perhaps a few beers, before being stuck with the bill and a feeling that you’d have rather spent the evening hanging out alone.
Day 4: Chefchaouen
Ready for the mountains and the color blue? Head east to enjoy one of the most breathtaking locales in Morocco, a blue and white town nestled amid mountain streams and peaks. But watch your step! Known for their love of hashish, the cats of Chefchaouen can be found passed out wherever they and their little cardboard beds land. A tip to the wise: these cats are great to chill with, but remember that the use of hashish in Morocco is illegal for humans. Though some complain about this double standard, the fact that the cats are too high to reproduce has been found to be a cost-effective substitute for spaying and neutering.
Day 5: Fez
Complete your jaunt around the country by catching a bus to the historically rebellious city of Fez. First, grab a delicious juice at Cremerie la Place, then wander around the old city through the souks and shops until you locate the most voracious of local cats. Known for his insatiable appetite, the Malik al Fez can often be found enjoying a mouthful of mouse along with a substantial helping of greens. Feel free to partake in this sumptuous meal, a great sampling of authentic Moroccan kitty cuisine. Be sure to say shukran for the dinner before travelling back to Marrakech and flying home.
Tags: animals, cats, morocco, travel, zane shetler
Catties!
There are so many gems in here but I think I like “expat tuxedo cat” best.
The nouveau riche cats lounging on their new car!!! <3
I think there was a really a missed opportunity for use of the word “Cat-illac” on Day 2.
This is pretty much the only kind of travel article that should exist. (Dogs are also acceptable.)
several of these cats have the shifty look of time travelers
This is why I should not be allowed to take travel photographs, because then we’ll wind up with a dozen photos of the hotel room and none of the scenic site we took the hotel room to see.
“Don’t you remember? The hotel was arranged all weird? With like, a hallway? And an air conditioner duct-taped into the corner of the room? And the entrance to the room was down an outdoor stairwell and down a random, dark, mysterious hallway with no escape route and a huge mural of the Confederation Bridge?” “Yes, but you have a picture of the ugly bad mural, but no pictures of the ACTUAL Confederation Bridge.” “YEAH BUT THAT HOTEL ROOM THOUGH.”
Every trip I take with my best friend yields about 2,000 photos of dogs, regardless of the destination.
Hey The Toast. I’m not sure how you constantly anticipate exactly what kinds of articles I need/want to read at any moment in time. It is simultaneously creepy and intriguing.
Other places I have found to be excellent for cat tourism:
– Italy: There’s an Roman ruin in Rome which has been given over to a no-kill cat sanctuary. So, like, you’ll suddenly come across this city square with Roman walls and columns in the middle, and it’s goddamn covered in cats.
– Milos: Tiny, sunny Greek Island in the Cyclades, where my husband and I stopped for vacation after a conference. We decided we’d count how many cats we saw. We stopped after we hit something like 30 after the second day.
– Amsterdam: We were having dinner at a restaurant (an indoor one!), and well-fed tabby suddenly hopped up onto the bench next to us and fell asleep.
My housemate (from Chile) always comments on how Dutch cats are so fat.
Italy: There’s an Roman ruin in Rome which has been given over to a no-kill cat sanctuary. So, like, you’ll suddenly come across this city square with Roman walls and columns in the middle, and it’s goddamn covered in cats.
Confirmed. It really does come upon one suddenly!
There are several cat sanctuaries in Rome; one is at Palazzo Spada, the palazzo with the worst art and the best cats. Here is a cat rubbing his head on a centuries-old door.
The old Roman ruin is also the same place where Julius Caesar was murdered!!
There’s a documentary about the feral cats of Rome! Narrated by none other than Sir David Attenborough.
Reykjavik: https://is-is.facebook.com/CatsOfReykjavik
When I was on one of the Cyclades, they were everywhere. It was summer, and I’d be walking around in the late morning and crouch down to greet a cat, whereupon the cat would run around behind me and sit in the shadow I was casting, I’d turn to see the cat, and it would run behind me again, creating a sort of perpetual motion effect.
Japan, home of the cat cafe, is another good place for cat watching. I did not go to any cat cafes in the two weeks I spent there (although I did wave to some cats through the window of one), but I met a number of lovely cats all the same. Should have submitted to the Toast instead of just making a #catsimetinjapan Twitter hashtag.
Ooo, yeah! We ran into a whole buttload of kitties on the Philosopher’s Walk in Kyoto. Including a mama cat and her tiny kittens:
Also seen in Amsterdam: Orange tabby cat snuggled up against the curb between parked cars. He glanced up at us silly tourists dragging our suitcases.
Jerusalem is good for cat tourism, too, especially in the Old City.
Greek islands too, Corfu and Santorini that I particularly remember – in Corfu, “oh, no photographs in the church? No biggie, I wanted to spend 45 minutes trying to take a picture of like 7 cats trying to cram into one tree.”
I lived a block away from that cat sanctuary when I lived in Rome! It’s Largo di Torre Argentina. Here is one of its cats:
The cats of Reykjavik are all curiously similar, as if they all came from the same litter. First day there I’m in the central square of the capitol and people are just chilling out with cats on the lawn. Cat as public utility.
Amsterdam also has the Cat House, a museum devoted to art works of cats. Also, has cats. Just hanging out. Content and fuzzy. You can also visit the Pozenboot, a floating cat shelter in a canal.
In Montreal we stayed in a guest house with a backyard gazebo where we would drink and read into the night. In addition to being surrounded by ten thousand sleepy spiders, we also had a large black momma cat come by for pettings. We later heard she had given birth in the backyard and basically moved her kittens into the house once winter came.
In Hallowell, Maine there exist three gigantic tom cats that live behind the vast and overstuffed antiques shop where I got my desk lamp from. They will not leave you alone unless you pet them. They will FOLLOW YOU until you pet them.
In Dublin, early in the morning, black cats assemble on the quad of Trinity College, like they’re having a kitty office meeting.
In San Antotino Texas, I fell off my bike in the tony the King William’s section. A scruffy orange cat appeared out of nowhere and provided comfort. We called him Pity Cat.
The deli near my house has a fearless slim white cat and will stand outside the door, right on a busy Manhattan sidewalk, like the Deli’s bouncer. She even smell-greets passing dogs.
This has been The Whelk your guide to the world of Public Cats.
*Furiously scribbles notes!*
We actually went to the Cat House in Amsterdam, and it lived up to the advertising. We were somehow not able to find the Pozenboot, though.
Somehow I missed the kitties at Trinity College when I went there like ten years ago. BUT my mother is going to Dublin next week, so I am telling her to look for this.
TBH I only saw the cats congregate there once. Maybe it was the Kitty Sate Of The Union address.
I also had a smilar exprience in an Amsterdam restaurant, a cat that casually wandered through the place, then ran off. In fact, I even took a photo:
Nice!
The tuxedo cat from Tangier looks like he should be hanging out with Tilda Swinton in “Only Lovers Left Alive”.
Did you love that movie or love love that movie?
LOVE LOVE. Planning a trip to Tangier now. Because of that movie.
I thought I was the only person so impressionable- planning a trip as well after seeing it. Now if I can just have Tilda’s amazingly lanky stride to stalk the streets there.
I met several cats in Austria recently, including this dubious individual:
There was also an extremely friendly all-black kitty but he was too antsy and wanting-of-pets to submit to pictures.
Is this where I can put my favorite chat de vacances ?!? ALLO, NOBLE SEACAT OF CASSIS.
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I would 100% read a travel blog rating vacations on their local cat populations.
I went on a riding holiday to Spain and sunbathed by the pool with a cat on my lap.
Thanks for this. I’m going to Morocco for two weeks next week, I’ll be sure to check out the cats.
The Thai mainland is full of dogs, but the islands (at least the ones I went to) are full of cats.
Ahhh! I currently have a Moroccan Arabic language book on CD sitting on my desk (I’ve made it that far! Wait I have to learn now?) and have started a savings account to make it over there (in a year or so). Who’s been? Places/things to see and do? Any tips for solo lady travelers?
Some cute little creepers in Islamabad:
The hotel we stayed at on our honeymoon (on St. Maarten) was LOUSY with cats, and that was AWESOME:
MY PEOPLE.
This post and comments have shown me that I am doing traveling all wrong, as I haven’t really run into any cats.
I loved this post! And the cat on the cardboard! My cats do that 😀
I loved this post! And the cat on the cardboard! My cats do that 😀
At the Montserrat monestary near Barcelona