In the fall of 1995 I took a tour of Morocco visiting and photographing amateur radio operators.  While in the neighborhood, I extended my travels to three small places but with great hams: Ceuta, Melilla and Gibraltar.  Little I knew that what looked simple and easy on the map, was complicated and difficult in reality.  My Moroccan visits were described in a separate article.  I will touch on them only in parts connected to this trip.
 

CEUTA

   Preparing the trip I called up the Spanish tourist office in New York and I asked them if they can send me some information on Ceuta and Melilla. Sure, they said, and they sent me a big map of Spain with all the golf courses marked on it, a couple of brochures on Spain but nothing what I asked.  Who needs a map of the Spanish golf courses?  I have no inclination whatsoever to go to Spain and play with little balls and funny looking sticks.
   The tour started in Tanger.  In order to get to Ceuta, I had to take a “grand taxi” which is a regular sized car but squeezes in six passengers: two on the front seat and four in the back.  It was a lot of chaos at the taxi stand, and one had to wait until there were six people going to the same destination.  The ride costs 25 dirhams (about $3.00) per person and the car took us to the last Moroccan village before the border.
   Ceuta, called Sebta by the Moroccans, is located on an isthmus and a peninsula.  On the way, our car got a flat tire and that provided us with free excitement.  In the village a second taxi had to be negotiated to take me to the border.  Not knowing that Ceuta is at walking distance I started the negotiations.  When you are a foreigner and you don’t know the going rates, some taxi drivers are trying to take advantage of you.  The normal fee for that short distance is 3 dirhams but the first driver asked for 30 dirhams.  Finally I found one who took me to the border for 5 dirhams; the whole ride lasted about 3 minutes.  At the border I walked across with hundreds of others.  Ceuta being a Spanish city, even if it is located in Africa, no visa is required for U.S. citizens.  I had to ask the border guard to stamp my passport as a souvenir.  I took a bus to the center of the city and I paid with Moroccan money.  In the city I exchanged some dirhams in pesetas and I caution everybody to shop around before they exchange their money.  The rate varies a lot.  Avoid Caja de Madrid; besides paying the lowest rate it charged a hefty 10% commission.
   I started to look for local amateurs.  To find the first one is always the most difficult.  Once an active ham is found, he or she will take you to the rest.  Ismael CN8CH from Tanger gave me the home phone number of Julio EA9JS.  I called him up and his wife gave me his office number.  Julio EA9JS is a captain in charge of the security of large military hospital.  When I called the hospital the receptionist spoke only Spanish and did not quite understand me.  I asked for Julio Gonzales.  She asked me “Which Julio Gonzales?”  I asked her “How many are there?” and “Give me the first you can find!”  Finally I got the right Julio on the phone, I told him about my project and he agreed to meet me in front of the tourist office after work at 4 PM.
   I had plenty of time so I walked around looking for antennas.  On a tall apartment building on Calle Real I saw a big beam, I inquired to whom it belongs and I knocked on his door.  He was not at home.  Anyway, as I found out later, this was one of the three hams I wrote to from New York, asking for information about finding local hams, and got not answer.  The other two at least had good excuses: they were dead.  It seems to me that often the wrong person keeps on living while the right ones become silent keys.
   I continued my search for hams and in the mean time I was  looking for a hotel room.  The cheap ones had no vacancies and the ones with stars were expensive.  In one half dissent hotel when I told the concierge that the 6,500 pesetas is too much for me he asked ”Why is too much?  Every American is full of money!”  “This is as true as that every Spaniard is either a bullfighter or a bull, which one are you?” I asked him, and retreated quickly.
   It was still two hours till 4 PM and I did not want to waste time, so I called up again Julio’s house to see if I can get some phone numbers of other hams.  His daughter told me that Julio and his wife Conchi went to meet me.  I completely forgot that there is a two hour time difference between Morocco and Ceuta and while my watch was showing 2 o’clock, it was already 4 o’clock local time.  So I went to the tourist office wearing my cap and tag with “George WB2AQC.”  I was waiting for about 15 minutes and nobody came.  There was a couple, I took them as German tourists, waiting for the tourist office to open after siesta time, but nobody else came.  After a while I got closer to them and the man looked at my cap and told me that he is Julio EA9JS.  Then he said that he even brought with him, in an large envelope, a Spanish amateur radio magazine so I can recognize him.  “I am very sorry - I told him - it is my fault, I did not look in your envelope.”
   We all went to their house and I found out that Julio’s wife Conchi is also an active amateur radio operator having the call EA9RL.  I asked Julio to put on his military uniform and he did.  I photographed them together, then one by one.  They operate a very good station with a linear amplifier and lots of accessories.  Besides a vertical antenna they have a tower with a four element tribander, a Yagi for the 6 meter band and one for 2 meter.  Both Julio and Conchi have and use QSL cards.  In their radio shack I saw a QSL card and a photograph of Juan-Carlos EA0JC, the king of Spain.  They told me that the Spanish monarch is quite popular on the bands and is a good QSLer.  Julio EA9JS also mentioned that Carlos Saul Menem, the president of Argentina is LU1SM, and I told him that Hassan II, the king of Morocco, is inactive but is CN8MH.  Of course everybody knows about the very active and amicable king Hussein of Jordan, JY1.
   After the photo session we went to a big hotel and in the lobby we met a couple of other amateurs.  One of them was Santiago, a Spanish diplomat, the commercial counselor of the Spanish Embassy in Rabat, Morocco.  Santiago was visiting Ceuta, he has the CN2SM call in Morocco, EA4EII in Spain, F5RAY in France,  and while stationed in Lima, Peru, he was active as OA4BJ.  His wife Ana still has her Peruvian call OA4GM.  I met them again a couple of days later in Rabat when I photographed Santiago as CN2SM.
   The other amateurs we met there were: Henry or Enrique EA9KB, Tony EA9JM, and two brothers, Joe or Jose EA9AD and Javi EA9CW.  I took a group photo of them in front of a church and then we went to see their home stations.  First to visit was Henry EA9KB.  He is the director of a rehabilitation center for the handicapped.  Henry has a beautiful three element beam for 10-15-20 meter, a two element beam for 40 meters, and a very nice station equipped with a computer.  He does have a QSL card and is a good QSLer.  He operated a couple of times on DXpeditions in Morocco where he used the CN2GB call.
   We also visited Tony EB9JM.  Tony is an electrician, a high voltage installer.  He also has a nice antenna and an active station with various pieces of equipment and a computer, but no QSL card.  As his callsign shows, Henry has a novice class license.
   Both of the two brothers, Joe EA9AD and Javi EA9CW, are big, really big.  Joe EA9AD is the president of the local U.R.E, the Spanish amateur radio association.  He is a clerk at the National Institute for Health Care.  Javi EA9CW, even if is younger than his brother Joe, is bigger than him.  Javi is a nurse.  They have a very good station and both use EXPO 92 type standard QSL card on which each applies with a rubber stamp, his name, call, and address.
   Last we visited other two brothers, much smaller this time: Dayal EA9AF and Bhagwani EA9AG.  They have a computerized little station but it seems that their children, like in many families, handle better the computers than their parents do.  Dayal and Bhagwani are of East Indian origin but born and raised in Ceuta.  They jointly own three stores with electronics, video cassettes, audio tapes and all kind of souvenirs.  Both were licensed in 1993 and it seems that Dayal EA9AF is more active on the air than Bhagwani EA9AG.
   It was getting late and dark and I still did not find a hotel room.  Julio and Conchi invited me to stay over.  First it was a big dinner and Santiago CN2SM and his wife Ana OA4GM, Tony EB9JM and his spouse, as well as the big brothers Joe EA9AD and Javi EA9CW were all invited.  The party broke up after 1 AM and I went to sleep.
   The next morning we got up early.  Julio drove me to the port where I took the Transmediterranea hydrofoil and for 3,000 pesetas, it took me in less than two hours from Ceuta, North Africa, to Algeciras in Spain, on my way to Gibraltar.
 
 

GIBRALTAR

   Before the trip I called up the New York tourist office of Great Britain and asked them if they can send me some information about Gibraltar which belongs to them.  They gave me the phone number of the Gibraltar office located in Washington, D.C.  I called them up, they took my name and address and promised to send me some information.  I did not receive anything from them.  Somebody in Washington is paid to do a job but is not doing it too well.  It is possible quite that there are more people in our capital in the same situation.
   Going from Ceuta, a Spanish city, to Algeciras, another Spanish city, even  if is located on a different continent, one doesn’t have to pass any border formalities but at arrival they check the contents of the bags.  From Algeciras a took a bus to La Linea, the last Spanish town before entering Gibraltar.  At the border, my passport was stamped leaving La Linea.  I walked across the border that is not as dramatic as the old checkpoint Charlie in Berlin used to be, and my passport got another stamp entering Gibraltar.  I took a double-decker bus to the center of the city, paying with Spanish money.  Why not, in Ceuta I paid with Moroccan money.
   Interesting, Spain does not recognize the existence of Gibraltar; they claim that it is Spanish territory and from to time they claim it.  On maps made in Spain one can find the Straits of Gibraltar but not Gibraltar itself.  I could ask how the straits got its name if there is no Gibraltar?  I won’t do that because I don’t want any problems with a nice king like Juan-Carlos EA0JC.
   When I prepared this trip, I wrote to the Gibraltar Amateur Radio Society,  asking their cooperation in finding local amateurs.  I received no answer.  I knew from Alex ZB2JO, with whom I had several QSOs, that the Gib hams meet every Tuesday evening at 8:30 PM at their club, therefore I scheduled my arrival for that day.  In Ceuta, Julio EA9JS made me a copy of the ZB2 page from the Callbook which has a very short list of 55 hams.  First I was looking for an inexpensive hotel.  The local tourist information bureau recommended the Queens Hotel so I took there a room costing 18 English pounds, about $29.00.  The room was OK but not as luxurious as their folder pictured it.  Anyway, for one night I could have survived even a Turkish jail.
   I asked for a telephone directory and using the page from the Callbook I started to make some calls.  The desk clerk was assisting, making a couple of phone calls on my behalf.  First to reach was Ernie ZB2FK.  In my notes I found that I had a QSO with him but we did not exchange cards because he said: “QSL only direct.”  I did not need a ZB2 card that badly to pay two way postage for a chance of getting one.  Ernie ZB2FK was quite helpful giving me other phone numbers however he just finished his 12 hour shift at the airport where he is a meteorologist, and had to go to sleep.
   I found Jim ZB2BL, the president of the Gibraltar Amateur Radio Society, he came to the hotel to talk but was not available for photos.  He said that he is quite well known and doesn’t need the publicity.  That can be true even that I never heard of him before, but I don’t know many celebrities anyway.  I don’t even know the Governor of the state of New York and we share the same name.  I even received some congratulations that really should have gone to him.  I answered all of them explaining the mix-up and made it clear that I don’t shake hands with strangers, I don’t kiss their babies and I don’t give out fat jobs in Albany.  I just hope he did not get some of my QSL cards.  Governor Pataki used to have an amateur radio license but now we have settled it: he won’t compete with me in the pile-ups and I won’t run for his office.
   Mac ZB2CF also came to the hotel; a couple of years ago I had with him a QSO and I received his QSL card.  Manny ZB2CI likewise showed up and I convinced him to let me photograph his station.  Manny was licensed in 1971, is an electronics technician and works for the Navy.  Using good and modern equipment, and a vertical antenna for 10-15-20 meter bands, Manny ZB2CI likes to chat with people.   I had a QSO with Manny and we had exchanged cards.  His son Brian, a mechanical engineer, is also a ham: ZB2HZ.
   I also visited and photographed Wilf ZB2IB.  He got his license in 1985, has a very well stocked station, and is a self-confessed ragchewer.
   I met and took the picture of Bill ZB2IW and his beautiful computerized station.  Bill’s house is high on the side of the rock, climbing up there through several steep streets with endless number of steps was not easy; I wouldn’t do that except for visiting a ham.  Bill works in the local hospital.  I had with Bill ZB2IB a QSO and he promptly sent me his card.  He operates both SSB and CW.
   All the amateurs I visited in Gibraltar have very well equipped stations.  It is not easy to operate from Gibraltar because of the mountain they call rock is making radio communications difficult towards east and south-east.
   At 8:30PM I went to their radio club and found a happy bunch of hams: Lou ZB2IT, Robin ZB2JK (he has a very nice and colorful QSL card), Gerry ZB0F, Manny ZB2CI and his son Brian ZB2HZ, Bill ZB2IW, Jim ZB2BL (the president) and Jill, a young lady almost ready to take the licensing test.
   The club has a station: ZB2BU, and they have a second location for contests on the top of the rock, near the cable car station.  Lately, I heard, they moved their downtown radio club to another, better location.  I asked them if they received my letter.  They did, and the president and the secretary blamed each other for not answering it.  It is always good to have two people doing one man’s job.  Gerry ZB0F, an avid constructor, was reading some radio magazines, others talked about DXs, QSLs, and everything else.
   Jim ZB2BL told me that visiting amateurs from countries who signed the Reciprocal Operating Agreement with the United Kingdom can get without charge a temporary license to operate in Gibraltar using the ZB2 prefix before their own call (like ZB2 / WB2AQC).  Applicants have to write first to the radio club, and when they come to Gib they should bring their original licenses.  Residents, of course, can get permanent licenses with ZB2 calls.
   Electricity is 220 Volts and the plug is of the 3 flat pin type.
   Next morning I took a bus to the border, crossed it on foot, took another bus from La Linea to Algeciras.  There I boarded the ferryboat which is little cheaper and slower than the hydrofoil, and in about two hours I landed in Tanger, Morocco, back in Africa.
 

MELILLA

   From Tanger I had the choice of returning to Rabat or go Melilla, the other Spanish city in North Africa, with a population of about 77,000.  This is where in 1936, a revolt of the army officers led to the Spanish Civil War.  When I found out how difficult it is to get to Melilla I was tempted to return directly to Rabat.  There I had comfortable lodging at A.R.R.A.M., and I could operate the station whenever I wanted.  However, before I left New York I had a lengthy QSO with Pedro EA9IB from Melilla, I told him about my trip and my intention of coming also to his town.  Pedro was very happy and said that he will find also other amateurs to photograph.  Then I wrote him promising that I will come.  No matter how difficult this detour was, I just had to go there.
   In Tanger I called up Ismael CN8CH, I met him once more, then in the evening I took a 12 hour bus ride east to Nador, near the border with Melilla.  The fare was 162.50 dirhams, about $19.00.  On this route the buses go only during the night to avoid the daytime heat.  It makes a big detour because of the Rif mountains.  The company was C.T.M., probably the best in Morocco, the bus was good, air conditioned, and during the long ride they even showed us a movie on video tape.  We stopped for 15-20 minutes in a couple of towns, people got out, bought food and drinks, used the dirty toilets (no seats, just a hole in the ground) which privilege costs 1 dirham.  At one place, the keeper of the holes, recognizing that I am a foreigner, asked for five dirhams.  I already put a dirham on his plate but seeing how greedy he is, I replaced it with a shiny penny.  Let him figure it out what a good deal he made.
   On the road were several police checkpoints.  Sometimes the bus just slowed down as we pass them, other times we were stopped and a policeman came aboard checking passengers and baggage.
   We got to Nador in the morning and again I had to negotiate a taxi ride to take me to the border, or cross the border and go to the center of Melilla.  After haggling with a couple of drivers, one agreed to take me for 30 dirhams all the way to Melilla.  Otherwise, from the border, I would have had to take another taxi or walk a mile or two.  On the way the taxi driver changed his mind a couple of times and wanted to drop me at the border, however I stuck to our agreement and did not leave the car.  He was complaining that it is a long ride, that he is wasting time with the border formalities and many other things.  As he would have not known all those things when we made the agreement.  I stubbornly asked him to take me to Melilla and finally he did.
   When I got off the taxi I noticed a beam antenna on the top of an apartment building.  I looked for its owner and I found Fernando EA9GH and his wife Loli EA9MF.  They were very gracious, and made a few phone calls trying to find other hams.  Fernando is a retired Port Commissioner,  has a good station but is not very active.  He was licensed in 1984 and Loli got her ticket in 1985.  They have a common QSL card with both of their callsigns.  Their station is modern and well equipped.  Loli took me to the roof of the building and I photographed her near the tower supporting their three element beam antenna.  Later I talked on the phone with Pedro EA9IB and we agreed to meet in the city during siesta time.  I also talked with Rodolfo EA9MM and met him when I met Pedro EA9IB.
   I was still looking for amateurs.  At Fernando’s place I met a young lady who had a boyfriend whose boss is a ham.  Kind of complicated but true.  So we all went to see that boss who turned out to be another Fernando (there is no shortage of Fernandos in Melilla), a novice with the EC9LN callsign.  Fernando works for the gas company.  He was licensed in 1990 and has a standard picture QSL card on which he writes his call.  He has a nice station and a three element tribander.
   Finally the time came and I met Pedro EA9IB.  We went to his house and met his wife Loli EA9RY (the second Loli in this town).  Pedro and Loli have several types of joint QSL cards, some of them with their picture, and occasionally they use various calls.  Pedro is EA9IB, AM9IB, and EH9IB when working on 6 meters.  Loli is EA9RY, AM9RY, and EH9RY on 6 meters.  Pedro was licensed in 1979; Loli in 1984.  They have a nice setup and both are very active on the air.
   Pedro EA9IB and Loli EA9RY live in the same building complex with Fernando EC9LN, just across a courtyard.  I could not get on the roofs of their buildings to photograph their antennas.  Therefore from the window of Pedro I took a picture of Fernando standing on his terrace, and his antenna above him on the roof.  Then from Fernando’s terrace I photographed Pedro and Loli standing in their window and their tower with several antennas above them on the roof.  Where is a will, there is a way.
   Next to meet was a larger family of amateurs: Andres EA9TL, his wife Loli (you could already guess that; the third one in a row) EA9UA, and their daughter Pili EA9UB.  It seems to me that the girls, no matter what names they get at birth, when they grow up they become Lolis.  All three earned their licenses in 1989. Their station is well furnished and they also use a computer.  The antenna is a tribander on the top of a four story building.  Andres EA9TL is a macho police chief but Loli EA9UA is the most active in this family.  I had a QSO with Loli and their card with their three callsigns is on the wall of my radio room.
   I also visited Paulino EA9NP, the president of the Melilla branch of U.R.E., the Spanish Amateur Radio Society.  Paulino, licensed in 1982, is the manager of a clothing store.  When I photographed him, he barely had any cloths on; I wonder what kind of publicity is that for his store.  Or perhaps he is such a good salesman that he even sold the clothes off his back.  His tower installed on the terrace of his house holds 7-8 different antennas.  His station is modern and he is using a computer for packet radio.  He enjoys electronics constructions.  His teenage son Juan-Carlos is studying to take the license examination.
   Rafael EC9AR works in a bank.  He was licensed in 1993 and likes to build electronic equipment.  He is using a standard QSL card on which he applies his callsign.  Rafael operates on SSB as well as amateur color TV and he is the star of his own show.
   Raymond EA9EB, licensed in 1972, is a cold storage and air conditioning technician by profession.  He has an interesting looking QSL card.  His brother-in-law Manuel is EA9EC.  Raymond is also starring in his own amateur color TV show and he exchanges exciting pictures with his friend Rafael EC9AR.  They don’t need commercial TV, they are happy watching each other.
   In Melilla the hams have an excellent radio club in the Rivera building, near the port.  They meet twice a week; every Tuesday and Thursday, from about 7 PM to 10 PM.  If you have a chance, drop in!  There they have a beautiful three element beam antenna, high on a very tall tower, a station with the callsign EA9URM, the Melilla QSL bureau (P.O.Box 52), rooms for classes, meetings, etc.
   Many European countries, including Spain, have some kind of reciprocal operating agreement and amateurs of one country can operate “portable” in the other countries without any formality.  Melilla being part of Spain, the agreement is valid there too, as is in Ceuta.
   In the evening, instead of getting a much needed rest, I returned to Casablanca.  Pedro EA9IB and his wife Loli EA9RY drove me across the border all way to Nador where I boarded a bus for yet another all night ride.  This time I took by mistake a bus of another company, cheaper but not that good.  It had no air conditioning but leaving the window a little open the cool air made it all right.  It was semi-automatic; every half an hour I opened it, and every half an hour the guy sitting next to me closed it.  This performance lasted 11 hours; at least I had something to do.  The bus was loaded with over the border traders (smugglers) and their huge packages.  We were stopped several times by the police, they came aboard, pointed their flash lights at the big bundles,  they opened or checked nothing and they got off.  I don’t see how can they stop smuggling this way.
   About 60 miles before we reached Casablanca was an interesting incident.  Six or seven young men got on the bus but they did not have tickets and did not want to pay the fare.  There was a lot of shouting and pushing.  Besides the man who checks the tickets, the one who loads and unloads the baggage, and even the big bus driver got involved but the young men didn’t pay and didn’t get off.  The passengers, including myself, tired of the delay caused by this event, got up from their seats and joined the bus crew in pushing off the stowaways.  Positioned safely as the rear guard, I was shouting heavy insults in Romanian and Hungarian.  They did not understand them but I want to believe that the tone of my voice made them leave the bus.  It was fun to act so heroic (?).  My performance was so great that I scared the guy who kept closing my window and he moved away from me.
   I spent two sleepless nights on buses but I saved money on two days at the hotel and in my low budget, thrift travel, this was good.
 

CONCLUSION

   I stayed in Casablanca two more days then I took a 747 jumbo jet of the Royal Air Maroc and after a seven and half hour of comfortable flight I was back in New York.  At home a big pile of QSLs was waiting to confirm my operation from the CN8MC club station in Rabat.  I opened the envelopes and right away started to answer them.  I also received lots of bills.  Before I left I hid my wife’s credit cards but she found them and used them ... and abused them.  I did not even look at those bills; why should I spoil a nice vacation?  It was a fun trip but eventually it ended, and I had to return home to my wife.  Life is cruel sometimes.