Roadtrip through Morocco

Beautiful riads, souks and a dreamlike desert landscape. Everything that we have experienced on our road trip we want to tell you more about and show you our fantastic pictures.

Casablanca

On the way from Paris-Casablanca we had to check our ticket twice because the airplane was almost full of Chinese people, and we were thinking to ourselves & is this flight really going to Casablanca?

Yes, it was! Casablanca is a big industrial city and the Chinese are investing a lot there. In terms of the economy, Casablanca is the most important city in Morocco. Honestly, there is not so much to see in Casablanca, but there is one of the biggest mosques in the world, in the city. Because it belongs to the classic tourist route, we also visited the big mosque. Both the inside and outside are really pretty.

Hassan-II.-Mosque – Details

Fes – the biggest medina in north africa

Fes is a quite strange city and you really have to get used to it. Everything is quite old and looks like it’s from the middle-ages. The older locals wear their traditional religious clothing at all times. Before we walked through the narrow alleys we wanted to visit a huge cemetery located in the city. It’s seldom that you can see a cemetery that big.

Fés

Fés

Camel head

In the middle ages the medina in Fes, which is around 2800 square meters, was a place where you could buy everything that you needed. It is built like a labyrinth. If you want to buy tea, herbs, fish, meat, shoes or home accessories. There is really nothing that you can’t find here if you know where to look.

But it might happen that you pass a hanging camel head or that they are butchering a chicken. Or that you can smell the really horrible smell from the sheep skin drying. Yes, you can get all of these experiences at the market in Fes!

If you don’t want to get lost you should take a guide to take you through the medina!

Choura Tannery

Leather products are typical souvenirs from Morocco, but you have to know, that for the people who work in the tannery, it is hard work to make these products.

leather goods

Choura tannery quarter view

Choura tannery quarter

We looked for a man standing by a door like a security guard, holding a bush of mint. We had read that these men would show you the best area to observe the tanners working.

There were a set of stairs that lead up to a small boutique where you could buy bags, shoes and a lot of other leather products. From the balcony of this shop you have the best view of the Choura tannery. It is incredible to see how much effort and energy the people are putting in to their work, and you can see that they are still dying the leather using traditional methods. The workers were softening the leather by stomping on it while it was soaking in cow urine.  They told us that the oldest worker is 80 years old.

Merzouga desert tour

We were especially looking forward to visiting Merzouga. We really love to stay overnight in unique places, that&s what makes traveling specially for us. In the desert there a lot of different types of accommodation, from really basic tents to large luxury tents. We picked a normal tent, somewhere between basic and luxury.

Caravan

Derster nomad – portrait

Our guide wrapped turbans on our head to protect us the sun and sand and everybody got their own camel. Us being experienced horse riders we thought that it would be easy to ride a camel. To get on a camel, it lies in down and you climb on its back. Then it gets up with back let’s first and then the front. It’s then you realize how high up you are. And don´t forget that camels can be aggressive, sometimes they like to bite and spit at people.

In a private caravan, we rode for 45 min through the deserts sand dunes. The wavy lines on the sand dunes reflected the light at sunset beautifully and we experienced an amazing sunset on camel back.

Our tents were great, they were equipped with a big double bed and even a small bathroom. Perfect for one night. The evening was so beautiful and also the 3-course menu we ate was very delicious. We had chicken with rice and a great sauce as well as fruits and bread. One tip from us, don´t underestimate the desert, it got very dark and very cold quickly after dinner. But we had a lot blankets and enjoyed a cup of tea under the starry night sky.

Desert landscape Merzouga

Marrakech a city that never sleeps

Soothsayers and Snake Charmers during the day and in the evening all restaurants and bars are very busy.

In this city, you can really see every type of person. We spent 3 days in our small but very nice riad. But we did not know where we were, because our riad was located inside a labyrinth. The city of Marrakech was little bit disappointing for us because the city was too crowded.

Small boys were following us all the time. At the beginning, we were giving them a little bit of money for bringing us to the riad. But on the second day it was a bit too much, the boys wanted more money and they were extremely rude. They were always shouting that the money was not enough and they were spitting on the ground near us. The situation was not pleasant.

The alleys are loud, dirty and crowded…

The Djemaa El-Fna, one of the main attractions which since 2008 is a world heritage site, was extremely crowded. During the day when we walked through the crowded streets, the people were pushing from all sides. (photo subjects) Marrakech is a great place for taking beautiful photos. But we did not like it much. Maybe we picked the wrong time.

Orange Bar

some spices

Before we drove back to Casablanca we got a guide, he was great, and we can highly recommend him. He showed us the most important things in Marrakech, for example, the palace in Bahia and the graves of Saadier.

Conclusion 

In general, Morocco was very interesting. Our personal highlight was the desert tour, on a camel, during the sunset. Morroco, for us, was a very interesting experience, but not one that we would do a second time.

Some impressions…

Goats on a argan tree

Power couple

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Infobox

Visa:

visa-free 90 days

Currency:

Dirham (MAD)
The current course you can look up at Oanda

Language

Arabic
English
Spanish

Local time

You can read the local times here

High Season

The best time for Morocco here

Health:

The vaccination passport should be checked by a doctor and refresher courses such as tetanus, yellow fever and hepatitis A, B, C may be performed.

You can read more about this here.

Embassies

For US Embassy: link
For UK Embassy: link
For AUS Embassy: link