Usually, once a year, I have the urge to get away from home, to get as far as I can go, under the pretext that I want to visit and photograph the amateurs, and write about them.  I can’t just say that I need to stay away from my wife, so this excuse is as good as any.
   A couple of years ago this impulse came twice: in the spring I went to Romania (YO) and the Republic of Moldova (ER), and in the fall to Morocco (CN8), Gibraltar (ZB2), Ceuta and Melilla (EA9).  The main goal of the second trip was the Kingdom of Morocco, but while I was in the neighborhood, I dropped in the other three places.  The description of those visits constitutes a separate article.
   So far I have been in more than 95 DX countries.  A friend of mine, who once traveled as far as Pittsburgh, asked me why I travel so much.  It is hard to explain, I told him, but if you knew my wife, you would understand.  I was also asked why I have chosen Morocco.  There were several reasons.  I was there before, and it is an interesting country with very nice people.  It has, at least according to the Callbook, lots of radio amateurs, so I thought that it would be easy to find many active ones.  Last but not least, during my trip to YO and ER lands, I was constantly pressured by hospitable hams to sit down and drink with them, even before I could do the interviews and take their photographs.  Therefore I decided to go to a Muslim country, where consumption of alcohol, at least by the good book, is restricted.
   Talking about alcohol, and this is a true story: my late grandfather, among the many jobs he had in his lifetime, he was once a night watchman in a liquor warehouse.  He was hired because despite his Russian background, he was not drinking.  However during the two years he worked there, the warehouse was robbed six times, and he peacefully slept through all those occasions.
   Preparing for the trip, I went to the public library and borrowed a bunch of books on Morocco and read every page.  I wrote a couple of letters to hams with whom I had QSOs, to A.R.R.A.M. (Association Royale des Radio Amateurs du Maroc), and to a ham who I met many years ago.  Only an American, and A.R.R.A.M. answered and Mustapha CN8MK, the man in charge, even invited me to stay at their headquarters while in Rabat.  I also wrote a letter to King Hassan II, because I heard that he is a radio amateur, asking for a chance to photograph him at his radio station, but received no answer.  I assume my letter did not reach his shack, otherwise sure he would have invited a lovable character like me.
   I wrote to Frank CN8NP because the Callbook listed him with the address of the US Embassy in Rabat.  Frank answered with a long and detailed letter and lots of useful information but he was back in the states.  However he gave me the name and address of another American ham living in Casablanca.
   For A.R.R.A.M.’s library I took a couple of books published by A.R.R.L., such as the Handbook, Antenna Book, Operating Manual, Radio Frequency Interference, and a few amateur radio magazines, all in English.  Many Moroccans are bilingual; they speak both French and Arabic.  Lots of them are even familiar with some of the Berber languages.  The use of English is limited.  The hams usually are able to communicate in English, so I hope some of them will get good use of those books and magazines.

   From New York I took an evening flight on Royal Air Maroc, and the next morning, after about seven hours, I arrived to Casablanca.  For airline tickets I shopped around, because, for the same flight and the same seat, different travel agents charged different prices.  In various newspapers I found cheap prices but when I wanted to order the tickets they were not available; the old bait and switch routine.
   At the airport I exchanged some money.  From the Mohamed V airport, I took a train to the city, changed to another train that took me, in about an hour, to Rabat.  The trains in Morocco are very comfortable, run according to their schedule, and are inexpensive for a foreign traveler.  I got off at Rabat Agdal because that is closer to A.R.R.A.M. than Rabat Ville, the other station.  I called up A.R.R.A.M. and Mustapha CN8MK came by car to pick me up.
   The Royal Association of the Radio Amateurs of Morocco has its own building and its station CN8MC is located on the second floor.  They have an ICOM 735 operating barefoot because the power limit in Morocco is 100 watts.  The maximum power of this rig is 200 watts, but who is checking?  What makes this little station work so well is its antennas.  It has a six-element beam for 10-12-15-17-20-30 meters, made in Germany, on the top of a tower installed on the roof.  A second tower installed on a nearby building has a two-element beam for 40 meters, made by Cushcraft.  The rotators are from Yaesu.  They also have a two-meter rig which is on during office hours, from about 8:30 AM to about 6:30 PM, seven days a week.  It is on 145.500 MHz simplex and is usable from around Casablanca, sometimes all the way to Tanger.  There are no repeaters in Morocco.  The use of citizens’ band transceivers is forbidden.
   The president of A.R.R.A.M. was Housni CN8BE, a general in the gendarmerie, and the secretary general was Said CN8BL, a colonel in the same branch.  Both of these officials were more honorary than active on the air, but they maintained the connections with the higher authorities.
   His Majesty King Hassan II is CN8MH but he is not active.  His late brother, Prince Abdellah, who passed away about a decade ago, was active as CN8AB.
   The A.R.R.A.M. is run by Mustapha CN8MK; he has three aides; each is on duty on a different day: Kacem CN8LR; Settaf CN8SS; and Said CN8BU.  All four are former gendarmerie staffers.  From my New York home station I had a QSO with Kacem CN8LR when he was operating the club station using a special commemorative call CN16DKH.  The building has a live-in guard, Mohamed, but he is not a ham.  Mustapha CN8MK speaks English fluently.
   I took some photographs of the club station with its various operators and of the antennas.  Faouzi CN8ET, who lives in Casablanca, came to the club to pick up his QSL cards; he climbed the tower supporting the big six-element beam antenna and I took a couple of photos.
   At the club I met many amateurs: one of them was Rik CN8ST with whom I had a QSO from New York and I received his very nice photo QSL card, via his manager K8EFS.  Rik’s wife Nadia CN8YL (ex-CN8AN) was giving birth that day to their first child, but, instead of being with her, Rik came to the club to pick up his QSLs.  Strange sense of priorities have some amateurs and I would do the same thing: if Rik’s wife would again give birth, I would also go and pick up my cards.  Under the circumstances, I could not photograph them, but Rik gave me some photos of Nadia and himself at their radio station.
   At A.R.R.A.M. I met several hams such as Mimoun CN8MM, Mohamed CN8GT, Mike CN8NK, Houssein CN8FD, Said, CN8LI, Adil CN8LL, Mori CN8TM, Santiago CN2SM, Nabil CN8NL, Said CN8NS, Zed CN8NA, and others, some of whom I visited and photographed later.  I also met a couple of future hams who came for information or were preparing to take the licensing test.
   Adil CN8LL lives part of the time in France, where he works as a radio announcer in French and Arabic, and is licensed as F1MGR.  When in Morocco, Adil operates mostly mobile on two meters.
   Mohamed CN8GT from Sale, the sister city of Rabat, did not have a base station at home, so I took his picture in front of the radio club, near his car, using his HT.
   The A.R.R.A.M. runs the Moroccan QSL bureau; its mailing address is P.O.Box 299, Rabat, Morocco (Maroc in French).  It works quite efficiently; Mustapha CN8MK, picks-up the mail in the morning and brings it to the club where the cards are sorted the same day.  The hams have the option of having their cards mailed, if they have self-addressed envelopes at the bureau, or to pick them up personally.  The outgoing QSL service is also working relatively well.  The amateurs can use it paying 25 centimes for each card they mail through the bureau, or they can mail them themselves, what is much more expensive.  If anybody worked a Moroccan station and did not receive a QSL card, that is because that particular CN8 ham does not have cards or is slow in answering them.  To check on this, I asked every amateur I visited to give me one of his cards; some had them readily available, others had to look for them, indicating that they are not that good in QSLing.  Some went through the motions of looking for their cards, knowing well that they didn’t have any.  Thoss, who did not have cards, had instead long and complicated stories explaining the reasons.
   Licenses are issued by the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications after passing a test in basic electronics and operating procedures.  The examination does not include transmitting or receiving the Morse code.  There are not too many CW operators in CN8 land.  Tests are given in Rabat three times a year and there is a single category of license.  A police investigation, which can be quite lengthy, is also required for the operating permit.
   Any licensed amateur, local or foreign, can operate a CN8 station with the approval of the licensee using the station’s callsign and mentioning his or her name and home call.  While in Rabat, I made a couple of thousands of QSOs using the CN8MC call at the club station and giving “QSL via my home call WB2AQC.”  I had nice pileups, both European and American, and when I worked by numbers, the hams generally waited for their turn.  When somebody called out of order, he or she was not necessarily Italian.  Once in a while, in the middle of a pileup with hundreds waiting for a QSO, a smart aleck would ask me to move with him to another band because he badly needed that contact.  The other hams waiting on the frequency to work a new country are not that important, was his philosophy.  I usually told him to QSY and wait for me.  I did that just to test his patience, because I operated only on 20 meters.
   I surprised a couple of Israeli amateurs by calling them and making QSOs with them.  They thought that the CN8 hams can not talk with the 4X4s.  Morocco is perhaps the most liberal of all the Arab countries; they even had a Jewish cabinet minister in their government.
   Through a W2 station I sent a message to my wife Eva WA2BAV, that I found Farima, a Moroccan YL, and I will never return home.  She replied that was okay, and started to move my stuff to the basement.  I was wondering what would have she done if my shack would have been in the basement?  I thought she would implore and beg me to come home; instead I sensed happiness in her answer.  Just to spoil her joy, I decided to return after all.  Besides, I was running out of money.
   Mustapha CN8MK was kind enough to give me a couple of hundreds of CN8MC cards so I can answer my QSOs.  On my return, I found a big pile of QSLs and I had to order 1,000 more cards.  QSL requests with return postage included I answered the day they came; those without postage were answered via bureau.
   Foreign amateurs can obtain licenses to operate in Morocco without taking tests.  They have to write three to four months in advance to A.R.R.A.M. for the latest information.  Their application can be forwarded to the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunication by A.R.R.A.M.  Tourists and visitors can apply for a temporary license to operate an amateur radio station, with their own callsign with CN8 in front of it (such as CN8 / WB2AQC).  They are required to submit the following information: the date and length of time of their stay in Morocco; the address where the operation will take place, or the car’s license number, if it will be a mobile operation; description of equipment, a photocopy of the passport; and a copy of their own license.  How about those who rent there a car and don’t know in advance the license number?  They will figure out something.  Those who expect a longer stay in Morocco, having jobs there, can get licenses with CN8 calls, but sometimes it takes several months to obtain them.
   A.R.R.A.M. issues an award called appropriately “Diplome de l’A.R.R.A.M.” for working 10 Moroccan stations, CN8MC being obligatory, and submitting a log certified by two amateurs, and 15 IRCs (ouch!).
   The first amateur I visited was Ahmed CN8GI.  Mustapha took me there, and we admired his large beam antenna on top of a tall tower installed on the roof of his building.  In Morocco all the roofs are flat, there is no much chance for snow, which are ideal for installing towers and antennas.  Ahmed CN8GI is an oil engineer; he was licensed in 1990 and has an impressive record.  He is active on all bands from 70 cm to 160 meters, and also works on satellites.  What is most important, he does have nice photo QSL cards.  I photographed Ahmed wearing his “djellaba,” the traditional Moroccan robe-like garment that gave the picture a local flavor.
   The next amateur I photographed was the big man himself: Mustapha CN8MK at his home station.  He has a small rig; let’s not forget the 100 watts limit in Morocco.  Mustapha does most of his operating from the club station CN8MC and he is well-known.  While I was operating that station, before I gave my name, many amateurs greeted me with “Hi Mustapha, how are you today?”  Mustapha CN8MK has a nice QSL card and is a good QSLer.
   Said CN8NS was my next amateur to visit.  Licensed in 1989, a system analyst working for the government, Said is quite active on various bands.  His antenna is a Cushcraft R-7; a vertical for seven bands.  He is connected on 14,0943 MHz to a German node DF7KF-9, which is connected on 70 cm with DB0AMU-9 packet cluster.  Said CN8NS is also active on color SSTV.  He has a nice QSL card, which is more than his brother Zed CN8NA can say.  I had a QSO with Zed, sent him my card, but never got his.  On his defense, he was a college student without any income.  They have two more brothers, all hams: Youssef CN8NY, who I met later in Tanger, and Mustapha CN8HR, a teacher near Fes.
   I went to see M’hamed CN8NK, who on the radio uses the name Mike.  His mother is Spanish, father Moroccan.  Mike was in college, studying business administration, I guess he graduated by now.  He was licensed in 1995.  He has a four-element beam for 15 meters and a wire dipole for 20 meters.  He loves amateur radio and is very active.  I had a QSO with him and received his QSL card.  I had to go all way to Rabat to get it, but I got it.
   From Rabat I crossed the bay to get to Sale and visit Houssein CN8FD.  He is a Berber which is different from an Arab.  There are a couple of different languages used by the Berbers and each is completely different from Arabic; however they use the Arab characters for writing.  Houssein works for the government and he received his license in 1986.  He is active on 2-6-10-15-20 meters, on SSB and RTTY.  I had a QSO with him and received his card.
   From Rabat, where I had a comfortable stay at the A.R.R.A.M. headquarters, I went north to Tanger, which I will describe later, then to Gibraltar, the ZB2-land; and to Ceuta and Melilla, the EA9-lands, but eventually I have returned to the capital city.
   Back in Rabat I continued to visit the local amateurs and to operate the club station CN8MC.  I went to see Santiago CN2SM whom I met a couple of days earlier in Ceuta.  Santiago, a career diplomat, was the commercial counselor at the Spanish Embassy.  He was active as CN2SM but was also holding other calls such as EA4EII, OA4BJ, and F5RAY, and was one of the operators of TP2CE, the Council of Europe club station in Strassbourg.  Santiago has a well-stocked station using a three-element tribander made in Germany, and wire dipoles for 40 and 80 meters.  I saw a really big linear amplifier in his shack what seemed strange knowing that the power limit is 100 watts.  He is active on Pactor on 14.079 MHz, and is a very prompt QSLer.  Santiago’s spouse Ana still holds the OA4GM call from the time her husband worked in Lima, Peru.
   To photograph the home station of Kacem CN8LR, who works at A.R.R.A.M., I had to go again to Sale.  Kacem has an old and modest Heathkit but is most active from the club station CN8MC.
   Next to visit was Nabil CN8NL, a pharmaceutical salesman, brother of Faouzi CN8ET, who is in the same business but lives in Casablanca.  Nabil was licensed in 1995, has a nice station but no QSL cards yet.
   Said CN8LI, licensed in 1984, belongs to a family of radio amateurs: his father Ibrahim CN8BC, licensed in 1960, runs his own company; and his brother Mohamed CN8SL, with a ticket from 1993, is the latest arrival to this hobby.  All three are telecommunications specialists and this can be seen in the way their beam is installed on a very tall and well-anchored tower.  Said CN8LI is the most active in this family; I had a QSO with him and I have his QSL card.
   The last to see in Rabat was Othomane CN8LU, who works for the Department of Finance.  He was licensed in 1985 and likes to talk with his friends around the world.  He had a two-element tribander made in France but was in process of moving and intends to install a larger antenna at his new location.  Othomane does have QSL cards.

   From Rabat I took the train to Tanger.  The railway system is excellent, the trains run frequently, they leave and arrive on time.  The cars are in like-new condition and the tickets are inexpensive when one converts dollars into dirhams.  However, twice I noticed the “No Smoking” signs were respected by everybody except the conductors who were checking the tickets.  Well, he is the boss and the rules are made for the little people.
   On the train a met a big game hunter who just returned from a lion hunting safari.  I asked him: “How many lions did you shoot?” “None - admitted the hunter - but I gave a terrible scare to quite many of them!”
   From Rabat Agdal (there is also another station: Rabat Ville) to Tanger Gare (the second station is Tanger Port) the train ride takes about five hours and costs about $10.00.
   In Tanger I checked in at the Auberge de Jeunesse or Youth Hostel, at walking distance from Tanger Gare.  The hostel costs less than $4.00.  The location is good but it was noisy until late night.  It has several bedrooms, separate for men and women, each with about 10 bunk beds, a kitchen, a living room, showers, and toilets.  It is closed during the day for a couple of hours for cleaning.  I bet the late financier Forbes never slept in this hostel when he went to Tanger.
   Before I left New York, a friend provided me with a copy of the CN8 hams listed in the latest Callbook.  The list, as other Callbook lists used on previous trips, proved to be only a starting point in my search for local radio amateurs.  Let’s face it, by the time we get the newest Callbook, it is already out-of-date.  About half of the CN8 hams could not be found as listed.  Some moved to other addresses, to other cities, others left the country, many quit amateur radio, were inactive for years, or passed away a long time ago, which amounts to the same thing.  Many calls were reissued to new hams, although there were plenty of unused calls available.  Even active hams interested to be in the Callbook with their correct mailing addresses do not always inform the Callbook or their national associations when they move.  National societies do not always send updated lists to the Callbook, and the Callbook itself is guilty of not promptly correcting their lists with the received updates.  Fortunately, Mustapha CN8MK from A.R.R.A.M. gave me the latest list of Moroccan hams which upon my return I mailed it to Callbook.
   In Tanger, the first amateur I visited was Omar CN8LE, a radio technician working for the Voice of America.  He came to get me from Tanger Gare and I went to see his station.  Omar’s mother is English, and his father Ahmed CN2AH, is Moroccan.  They were the only father and son team I met and photographed in this country.  Omar CN8LE, licensed in 1982, is very active on the air but “just ran out of QSL cards.”  His father, Ahmed CN2AH, licensed in the 1950s, retired from the same Voice of America broadcast station where his son is working now.  He is less active but he does have QSLs.  While I was in their shack, Omar had a QSO on two-meter simplex, on 145.50 MHz, with Mohamed CN8AT in Casablanca, 230 miles away.  This can happen when the propagation is right.  Remember, there are no repeaters in Morocco.  The Callbook lists under CN8AT another ham who was in Tanger, but who quit the hobby a long time ago.
   Omar took me to Youssef CN8NY, brother of Said CN8NS, whom I visited in Rabat.  Youssef said he is journalist; he reads the news in Arabic at one of the local radio stations.  In the US, we call that a radio announcer.  Youssef’s station is a small two-meter rig but he enjoys talking with friends.  He has no QSL cards but hams on two-meter rarely QSL anyway, unless they work DX.
   Next, Omar CN8LE took me to Ismael CN8CH, a very nice guy who, like Omar, worked for the Voice of America.  Ismail’s father is Turkish, his mother is Spanish, and he is 100% Moroccan; no wonder they say that Tanger is a cosmopolitan city.  His grandfather, fluent in seven languages, was the translator for the late King Mohamed V, father of the present King Hassan II.  Ismael CN8CH, licensed in 1983, is quite active and has a very nice and original QSL card.
   The last ham to see in Tanger was an American: Scotty CN8SW, first licensed in California in 1958 as WV6DNM.  His present home call is AE6U.  Scotty also works for the Voice of America.  From 1990 to 1993 he worked in Belize and operated as V31SW and V31VOA.  His wife Kristin still has the callsign V31YL, but no CN8 call yet.  Scotty has held CN8SW since 1993.  He did not have QSL cards and did not need one, because he had a QSL manager: Cesar I0WDX.
  I was advised to visit Sjoerd CN2AQ, ex-PA0AQ, who has a tremendous station, but he was living outside Tanger and I could not get to him.  I had A QSO with Sjoerd and I have his QSL card on the wall of my shack, so I was sorry to miss him.
   There was a drought in the country; it did not rain for a long time.  Many domestic animals died because of lack of food.  During my 22-day long trip, only once I did see a light sprinkle.  Traveling by bus and by train I saw dead horses, donkeys, and dogs near the road.  Herds of sheep were looking for specks of green on dry and empty fields.  Some pretended that they found some grass and that made certain goats so mad they could climb the trees.  As a matter of fact, some goats do climb the argan trees to get to their olive-like fruits.

   From Tanger I went to Ceuta, Gibraltar, and Melilla, the subject of a different article, then returned to Rabat.  After a couple of days I took a train from Rabat Agdal to Casa Port, one of Casablanca’s main railway stations; the other one is Casa Voyageurs.  The pleasant ride takes about one hour and costs around $3.00.  On the train, a man suddenly jumped up and cried out:
   “Oh, I wish I had my dirty, old jacket on me!”
   “Why?” asked his friend “You look just fine.”
   “Because I left my train tickets in it!” was the desperate anwer.
   At the train station I checked my suitcase at the storage facility and I continued my travels with a handbag.
   I spent my first night at the Youth Hostel because it is very close to Casa Port.  The hostel is in Medina, the old city.  The streets and houses of Medina may look interesting on picture postcards but to live there is not my idea of high life.  There are noisy and, how to put is nicely, the uncollected piles of garbage smell badly.  After a while I got used to the odors but I bet I started to stink.  The setup is similar to the hostel in Tanger; several bedrooms each with about 10 bunk beds, separate for men and women, kitchen, living room, toilets and showers, and off hours in the middle of the day.  However here a night stay costs 40 dirhams, about $5.00 which is relatively expensive, because, for the same price, one can get a hotel room in Medina, with the same noise and smell, but with a single bed in the room, and no restrictions during the day.
   For the rest of my stay in Casablanca, I took a room in a hotel in the center of the city, right near Hotel Sheraton, a five-star establishment where a room with a single bed sets you back 2,200 dirhams, about $258.00.  My hotel had zero stars.  It would be easier to say what my hotel had but I will list what it did not have:  no fancy doorman at the entrance, no information desk, no expensive boutiques and souvenir shops in the lobby, no rent-a-car or sightseeing tour agency, no bell-boy, no elevator (my room was on the fifth floor), no lobby with chairs to rest, not even a lobby without chairs, no complimentary breakfast, no restaurant, no room service, no light fixture in the room; just a lonely 25-watt bulb in a plain socket hanging on two wires from the ceiling, no telephone, no radio, no TV, no reading lamp on the night table, no carpets on the floor, no pictures on the wall, no curtains on the window, no clean bed sheet, no hot water, no toilet (it was at the end of the hall), no shower (they were separate with extra charge for their use), no towel, no soap, no drinking glass, no little mint chocolate on the pillow, and no young, sexy, and smiling cleaning ladies.  Did I miss all these?  Not a bit when I paid only 62 dirhams for the room, about $7.30, a savings of $250.00 per day.  A dollar saved is a dollar earned, and I never earned before $1,000.00 in just four days.
   I slept in a cheap hotel but during the day when I was tired, I rested in the lobbies of the most expensive ones.  They assumed that I belonged there.  Once I was asked if I need anything.  I said that if the ambassador of Great Britain is looking for Sir Charles Cuningham I would appreciate if he will be directed to me.  I did not say that I am Sir Charles and I was sure that the ambassador would not come but, while I was waiting, I was served with a complimentary tray of fine baklava.  That was just perfect, because waiting for imaginary diplomats, always makes me hungry.
   One early morning I walked in an expensive hotel and asked a nice lady at the front desk if breakfast is included in the price of the room.  “Certainly, Sir!” she answered, eagerly grabbed my arm, pooled me to the hotel’s restaurant, and told the head waiter to serve me a big American breakfast.  Who am I to embarrass a nice lady by telling her that I am not a guest in that hotel.  To save her face, I ate the breakfast.
   Another day as was going to enter one of the most exclusive hotels, a giant of a man, at least seven feet tall and about 400 lb., dressed the fanciest costume only a Hollywood costume designer could dream up, stood right in front of the entrance.  He was the doorman and had his name tag “Ibrahim.”  I wanted to look self assured, I smiled and said as an old acquaintance: “Hi, Ibrahim.”
   He looked for a while at my “George WB2AQC” tag and then with a happy smile he said “Good morning, George.”
   It was late afternoon but that did not bother either of us.  “Ibrahim - I said - while we are on the first name basis, can you tell me where is the bus station to Safi?”
   The giant looked again at my tag and repeated “Good morning, George.”
   I tried a few more times but all I got was morning greetings.  I guess he was trained for the morning shift.  To check if he is making fun of me and also to press a little bit my luck, I said “Ibrahim, you look like three fat ladies in a single dress,” but he kept smiling and even as it was getting dark, he kept wishing me good morning.  Good morning to you, big Ibrahim, any time, and wherever you are!
   The first amateur I visited in Casablanca was Najib CN8RT.  He was licensed in 1993 but was not yet listed in the Callbook.  He is an electronics technician and works as a TV repairman.  Najib CN8RT is active with a nice station and a wire dipole, but has no QSL card.
   The second ham I saw was Abdellatif CN8HJ, also an electronics technician, friend and coworker of Najib, but he installs and maintains parabolic antennas for satellite TV.  Licensed in 1992, he was still not listed in the Callbook.  Abdellatif CN8HJ is active on SSB and color SSTV but, you could have guessed it, has no QSL cards.  He is a licensed private pilot and enjoys defying gravity.  Abdellatif’s wife Amina, a housewife, is CN8YN.
   In 1971, when I first visited Morocco, my wife Eva WA2BAV and I were invited in the house of a local amateur.  With six or seven local hams, we sat in his Moroccan-style living room, with sofas all around the walls, a large but low round table in the center, sipping mint tea and taking about amateur radio.
   At one moment I asked the host if he was married.  He said he was and I asked where his wife was.  He answered that she was in the kitchen with the women.  I asked him why she did not come in and sit down with us.  The host was puzzled by my question and said “Here with the men? It is not possible!”  First I was surprised, but then I started to see the advantages of the system and tried to convince my wife Eva to also go to the kitchen with the women, but she did not budge.
   That was the custom then and in many households still is.  In some cases when I visited an amateur, he proudly showed me his house, introduced all his children, big and small, but I did not see any wife.  Not even one, when the law of the land allows for four of them.  In many other cases, however, the wives showed up, one to a household, even sat down with us for a while.  I did not meet any ham with more than one wife; I guess the cost of a good station is still lower than the expenses of a second marital bedroom, and you can turn off a receiver anytime you want.
   I am from the old European school; we take wives one after another, most of us anyway, instead of several in the same time.  A friend of mine, after his divorce, was consoled by his ex wife:
   “Don’t worry darling, your next wife will be a much better person.”
   “I don’t believe it anymore - said my friend - my wife before you told me the same thing.”
    Personally, I wouldn’t have anything against the three-four wives system if it wouldn’t come with three-four sets of in-laws.  But I shouldn’t complain; I have an ideal situation: I live in New York and my in-laws are in Chicago.
   There are changes in the Moroccan society.  The image of the Arab with his camel is being slowly replaced, at least in some places, with the Arab and his Mercedes.
   Next to meet was Jules CN8CG, an American Engineer working at the US Consulate.  He was recommended by Frank CN8NP, another American who is now back in the states.  Jules was first licensed in 1955 as W1GPY.  Working for the US State Department, he was stationed in various parts of the world and operated as KG4AE, VS6BJ, HS1ALI, DJ1VI, and 5Z4JB.  Now Jules is CN8CG but the latest Callbook lists somebody else with that callsign.  This potentially useful publication is not anymore what it used to be: an accurate and for the most part up-to-date source of information.  Jules CN8CG can often be found on 14.065.04 MHz, using Pactor, lower sideband, as well as on SSB and CW.  He answers QSLs with his original computer-generated cards.  He plays classical guitar and flies private planes.
   In Casablanca, or Casa as is often called, I met Norbert CN8AP, a Moroccan with French citizenship and Italian origin.  I visited him in his radio and TV repair shop where he has his station; a very old Heathkit HW-32 with a homemade power supply and a small linear amplifier.  Norbert CN8AP, licensed in 1962, is a contester and a constructor.  He has no QSL cards.  The Callbook lists him at the address of his repair shop.
   At Norbert’s place I met Mohamed CN8AT, licensed in 1995.  A radio technician for the police department, Mohamed works mostly on two meters.  He was the one Omar CN8LE contacted from Tanger when I was visiting him.  Mohamed CN8AT lives in the village of Bouskoura, south of Casablanca on the way toward the Mohamed V airport, and I could not get to his house.
   Also at Norbert’s place I met Ahmed CN8LS, a very enthusiastic radio amateur.  Ahmed works for the railroads and was licensed in 1985.  Before he had his own station, Ahmed used to travel from Casa to Rabat just to operate there the club station CN8MC.  Now he has a beautiful and modern Japanese transceiver and operates only on SSB.  Ahmed CN8LS has a nice QSL card.
   One of the letters I sent from home before the trip was addressed to Michel CN8CC.  I had a QSO with him and I received his card.  The letter was returned stamped “unknown.”  He moved in the meantime and it seems the Moroccan postal service prefers to return the mail than to forward it.  I found him anyway.  He moved to a house that should have landmark status.  A couple of decades ago, there lived and operated a famous amateur radio couple of Hungarian origin (now both silent keys): Eva and Alex, jointly using the CN8MM callsign.  Later in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Eva became PY2PE and Alex PY2PA.
   Michel CN8CC, a French citizen married to a Moroccan lady, is the manager of a computerized printing shop.  He was licensed in 1983.  His station has several transceivers and various computers. and on the flat roof of his house is an antenna farm: a three-element German made tribander, a seven-element beam for six meters on a long boom, wire antennas for 40 and 80 meters, and a couple of others.  Michel CN8CC is a DXer, works on packet, and has a beautiful color photo QSL card portraying his wife wearing a traditional headdress, covering most of her face except the eyes.
   The last ham I visited in Casa was Maurice CN8AL.  Born in 1914 and licensed in 1935, Maurice was the dean of the Moroccan amateurs.  As an electronics technician he is a builder; even made his dynamic microphone from scratch.  He now uses an old Heathkit HW-32 and a wire dipole for 20 meters.  He does not QSL anymore.  Maurice CN8AL is possible the only active local radio amateur of Jewish origin in the Arab world.  He proudly showed me a photograph of his father with the late King Mohamed V and then the very young Hassan, the present monarch.

   Mohamedia is a town about 20 miles north-east of Casa, on the road to Rabat.  At A.R.R.A.M. I was told that there were many hams in Mohamedia and was advised to go there.  Said CN8JS works in a bank in Casa, but lives in Mohamedia.  He invited me to see his station.  I said that I prefer to go where I can find several active hams.  The Callbook indeed lists quite a few amateurs but, as I found out again, what does the Callbook know?  When I asked Said CN8JS how many are those “several,” he said “perhaps five.”  That is a good number, I said to myself, and agreed to go with him at the end of his work day.
   After about a 25-minute ride in Said’s car, we arrived to his house, where he has a beautiful setup, fit for a banker.  He was licensed in 1995 and did not have a QSL card yet.  His house about two houses away from a large water tower in shape of a mushroom but, according to Said, that huge amount of water, virtually next door, does not effect his operation.  He made a few inquiries and found out that some of the local hams on whom he was counting were out of town or inactive.  Okay, I said, instead of five hams, perhaps we will have four.  Perhaps.  More inquiries and the number went down to perhaps three.  I am already in Mohamedia, so let’s go for three.  Perhaps.
   We went to the radio and TV repair shop of Mohamed CN8BA, and then all three of us walked to his house.  Mohamed is a builder and an experimenter.  He is active on most of amateur radio bands from 70 cm up.  He has worked over 20 countries on two meters.  He also operates on six meters.  We climbed to the roof of his house to photograph his antenna used for satellite communications.  Mohamed CN8BA has and uses QSL cards.
   Said CN8JS and I were looking for a third amateur to visit but we found none.  So the number of “perhaps five” went down to a solid two.  I learned that the most often used words around there are the local versions of “perhaps” and “definite maybe.”

   At the A.R.R.A.M. ‘s radio club in Rabat I met Mori CN8TM, a Japanese amateur working in Safi as an electronics teacher in a technical school.  He invited me to stay with him and operate his station CN8TM.  Safi is a city located on the Atlantic coast, about 160 miles south-west of Casablanca.  It is major fishing port and the center of the Moroccan ceramic industry.  It took me almost five hours to get there and the ride was only 60 dirhams, about $7.00.
   Mori was first licensed in 1973, his home is in Toyohashi City, and his home call is JR2ITB.  His Japanese QSL card is a color photo card showing his wife Kagemi JP2ANU.  Mori can not have QSOs with Kagemi because she has only a novice license.  He came to Morocco in 1994 and returned to Japan after two years.  He stayed in a very good neighborhood, is we consider that his house was half a block from a royal palace.
   A royal palace in Safi?  One may ask.  Yes, there are many royal palaces in various cities.  They are surrounded by very high stone walls and I can not even guess what is behind them.  Anyway, buildings without ham antenna do not interest me, even if there are palaces.  I may make an exception if I could visit a harem, even a small one, but so far no invitation was received.
   Mori CN8TM was very active with the best transceiver I ever operated: a JST-245 made by Japan Radio Company.  He also had a big 1.5 kW linear but considering that the legal power limit in CN8-land is 100 watts, I will not talk about it.  For an antenna he had a vertical Cushcraft A7, and started to assemble a TA-341 beam antenna made in Japan by Nagara.
   I operated CN8TM and had nice pileups, both from Europe and the US, but all the QSLing is done by Mori via his home call JR2ITB.  He had CN8TM cards for those who sent him QSLs via the Moroccan QSL bureau.  I photographed Mori dressed like the Blue Men of Sahara with his “djellaba” robe and the “tarbouche” headdress.

   From Safi I returned to Casa, taking again the four-and-half hour bus ride.  The last day in Casablanca I wondered through Medina buying gifts.  I don’t like the slow bargaining customary mostly in the souvenir shops in the old part of the town.  It takes too much time and you can never come out ahead.  I wanted some Tee shirts with Arab lettering.  No matter what words; not too many people can read them anyway in New York, but I wanted Arab writing.  In the large department stores were the prices are fixed and there is no haggling, all the Tee shirts with lettering were in French, Italian or English.  I did not want to return from Morocco with souvenirs saying “Chicago Bulls” or “Harley Davidson,” so I went back to Medina.
   In a store on Hassan II Avenue, which starts right at Casa Port railway station, I found what I wanted,  They were marked for 80 dirhams.  After long bargaining I pushed down the price to 50 dirhams a piece, and I was so proud of myself.  I bought two “Casablanca” shirts and I continued my wandering.  In the next store I saw the same shirts I just bought, priced at 40 dirhams.  Somehow I lost my self-respect (part of it anyway) , I did not bargain anymore, just bought two more Tee shirts and I went to the jewelry section.
   There are about two dozen tiny stores, not bigger than my walk-in-closet.  The streets are narrow and crooked, and once you left a store, chances are you could not find it anymore if you wanted to return.  Here haggling is still the first commandment.  When you make your first counteroffer the merchant will swear on the life of his loved ones that it cost him much more than that, but at the end he will happily settle for less than he allegedly paid.
   On the last day of this 22-day trip, at Casa Port I retrieved my suitcase and there I also had to bargain.  Earlier, to make sure that I’ll have enough dirhams left, I asked the storage clerk how much I will have to pay.  I was told 22 dirhams, but later, when I went to get my suitcase, they asked for 38 dirhams.  I quoted their earlier price and finally we settled for 30 dirhams.  Then I took a 45-minute train ride to the Mohamed V airport, paying 20 dirhams, where I tried to get rid of my leftover Moroccan currency.  The merchandise in the duty free shops were much more expensive than in the city stores.  What duty free?  Most of the merchandise was made in Morocco so anyway they were not subjected to customs duty.  For the rest, the dealer may have gotten them duty free but certainly did not pass the savings to the customers.  I boarded a 747 jumbo jet of the Royal Air Maroc and, after seven and half hours, I was back in New York.
   A friend once asked me: “You are traveling alone so often and so far, don’t you ever desire a pleasant, peaceful, quite family life?”  “Of course I do - I answered - every time I am at home with my family!”  The same guy inquired: “Why don’t you take your wife with you when you travel?” “It’s of no use - I said - I took her once to the heart of Africa but she found her way back.”
   At home I found a pile of QSL cards and a bunch of bills.  I was tired but I opened my mail and answered all the cards, remembering the pileups and some memorable QSOs.  The pileups were not bad, since CN8 is not such a rare DX.  When I worked by numbers, most of the time the amateurs called in order.  It was a fun trip and I met a lot of very nice people.  I am grateful to A.R.R.A.M. and particularly to Mustapha CN8MK for the support and advice I received, and I thank all the amateurs I met for their friendship.