Morocco: High, Low, Unexpected & Learned

Mary Kate gKing
Apr 16
5 min read

One thing I like to do each day I travel is share high, low, unexpected, and learned with my travel companions. Here I'll share my overall highs, lows, unexpecteds, and learnings from the trip. Like this idea for traveling? Try it out for yourself by purchasing this travel journal. Continuing on to the highs of my Morocco trip...

High:

The hospitality of the people at each accommodation was unmatched. It was above and beyond, I joked that they didn’t know the word “no”. If I could compare it to any service, I’d compare it to what we experienced during our luxurious safari trip. Still, the hospitality, especially at the price we paid was quite incredible. We met some pretty incredible people in Morocco that I feel very lucky to have met. Often people just mention the negatives about scams and such in Morocco but I think there needs to be more of an emphasis on the amazing hospitality offered by many people in Morocco. Also, as a woman, I never felt unsafe or had anything inappropriate said to me (I also dressed respectfully the entire trip).
Dar Hnini, Draa Valley

Low:

The sales and the scams that go along with it. In every country, the touristy areas are priced higher with lower quality. I have experienced this in many countries and found Morocco to be the same Morocco. Researching ahead of time and going with reliable guides helped a lot with navigating what was real or fake. This shopping experience and haggling was not unique to Morocco but the intense salesmanship that we also experienced grew old by the end of the trip. I have two examples of some negative shopping experiences. One was during one of our stops out to the Sahara, where we were unexpectedly brought to a place that sells Berber rugs. We were greeted with tea like most places in Morocco. This hospitality is nice when you’ve paid for something, but when given “for free” paired with a heavy sales pitch to buy some rugs, it’s less than enjoyable.
Ailments: It started off with me getting carsick driving through the Atlas Mountains on the way out to Draa Valley. I’ve never gotten motion sick in my life but I think the 3.5hrs of windy roads in a manual car paired with taking notes in my phone was a recipe for disaster. We were also warned by a friend to not have the soup when in Morocco (Often it is prepared with regular water, not bottled water). I only took a few spoonfuls and was fine but my husband was not so lucky. Suffered a long 24 hrs of mild food poisoning. Takeaways is bringing medications for motion sickness & to avoid the soup!
Fes Riad after a 9hr drive battling food poisoning
Local Rug Shop in a Sub Saharan Berber village

Unexpected:

The pure beauty of the country. The cities and countryside are equally mesmerizing. Each Riad we walked into took my breath away. Even the “souks” in the city look like they were built for photographers. The way they display spices, rugs, and other craftsmanship, it’s quite beautiful. I’m not the best photographer and I still felt like I was a professional snapping pics down the streets. I’m truly obsessed with the doors of Morocco. Every city had the most decorative and aesthetically pleasing doors. I knew the Sahara was going to be beautiful but it surpassed my expectations. We did a lot of driving and saw so much of the country. We especially loved Draa Valley with all the date trees. I can’t speak enough about the beauty of Morocco.
Moroccan cuisine - I really enjoyed the food and ate a lot of tagine. I have a pretty sensitive stomach when it comes to spices and was pleasantly surprised about not having any major stomach issues.

Learned:

Sunrise in the Sahara is worth it. The best photos we took from our trip was at sunrise. We got to watch the orange color of the sand transition as the morning went on. After having some amazing photos taken while I was in a bathrobe on the first day, I also learned that dressing cute for the sunrise was a good idea.
Eat the soup at your own risk- or any street food for that matter! Also, you can’t drink the water so plan to buy a lot of water bottles or invest in one of those high-tech purifying water bottles.
Knowing a few Arabic phrases is more helpful than you’d expect. I always love learning at least the basic words like “hello, thank you, goodbye, or please/excuse me” when traveling to new countries. I think it is a sign of respect that you at least made a small effort to communicate with them in their country rather than just expecting them to immediately speak all English. In Morocco, speaking some Arabic is more than just a respectful and friendly tourism gesture. In the souks of all the major cities, there will be people who will come up to you to try to sell you things, give you directions or tour without you asking. If you speak in Arabic they are more likely to leave you alone because they assume you know more about their tricks and have been there before. I had read about potential scams prior to the trip, especially in the very confusing Medinas. When we were exploring the Medina in Marrakech during our first day, I kept trying to remember which direction was back towards the center. We had a random man come up to us and try to say that we were going the wrong way and that it was a dead end. He offered to show us the “right way” back to the Medina center. My husband & I both said no but he was persistent no matter how many times my husband said no. As soon as I started saying”La” (No in Arabic), he left us alone immediately. This interaction was also confirmed to be true in many other instances, even by our hosts in Fes. We even learned a fun Arabic word that is pronounced phonetically “shcone gaIlick” which translates to “who asked you to do this”. I definitely recommend watching some YouTube videos to learn some basic Arabic before you visit Morocco!
Haggling is a part of the culture. While I hate having to haggle, it is apart of the culture. Have a good understanding of common prices of items you might be interested in purchasing (rugs, leather products, art). There are so many shops so if you don't like the price, move along and you'll find a good deal elsewhere.

Chouara Tannery in Fes (leather production & stores along perimeter)