First Visit impressions of Morocco
By Philip Suter
Having never visited Morocco or even Africa, I was very excited at
the prospect in mid November 2005.
As soon as I boarded the Royal Air Maroc plane at London
Heathrow on a late Saturday afternoon I was in another world.
Announcements and signage in English French and Arabic.
Moroccan stile cuisine and hospitality.
On arrival at the Aeroport Mohammed V after showing you
passport several times I was soon on the motorway to
Casablanca that is the principal city of the country (but not the
capital). It seemed rather like being in France – autoroute
signage, A French chain owned DIY store, but not so once the taxi
had entered Casablanca itself. Here there were people walking
out in front of cars, cars just about avoiding other ones and I
was\very pleased I was not actually doing the driving, particularly
with the lack of seat belts (or even one that worked!).
There is a great French influence in the country – it was ruled by
the French and Spanish till 1956 and a lot of architecture new and
old is very much of the French influence and even the Post boxes
are the same shape and yellow colour as in France.
November is probably not the best time of year to visit the country,
particularly if you don’t want to get wet. The rainy season is from
October to November and April to May. On my second day I took
the train from Casablanca to Rabat the capital. There is a very
efficient and inexpensive rail network that is mainly in the north of
the country. Unfortunately just before arriving at the station in
Rabat the heavens opened. They had done on the previous day
as I explored Casablanca, but the visit to Rabat only lasted just
over an hour, because this wasn’t rain, it was flash floods and the
roads suddenly took on the appearance of rivers. So much for
exploring Rabat.
The day before in Casablanca was much more successful. I had
spent a while reading a popular traveler's guide book that helped
me understand more about the culture and people. I was not too
surprised with offers by people wanting to help, show and ask for
money. Men holding hands as they walked along or kissing when
they met (like a guard greeting one his passengers) was part of
normal life, it happened because they were friends, not a sexual
relationship as would be thought of in the west. I also knew that I
had to be careful taking photos as many women are not happy
about this.
The city has the Mosquee Hassan II a spectacular site, that is
built with a glass floor on the shore of the Atlantic Ocean. The
minaret is the tallest in the world — 200 hundred meters high.
The roof also opens and shuts.
Unlike a lot of European countries where taxis are modern
vehicles, in Morocco you will find the large “Grand” taxis that
normally travel with as many people legally possible going from
town to city and are usually a Mercedes of the 1980s era that will
be a certain colour depending on the town or city they are based
in. Each town will also have its own coloured “Petit Taxi”. Theses
are normally Peugeots and Fiats (colour coded for each town or
city) that most likely started life in the 1980’ and 1990s in Europe
and were exported south to start a new lease of life as a
passenger carrying vehicle for four.
Moving onto Marrakesh ( known as Marrakech locally) by train
proved to be very interesting. Paying the additional amount for first
class at least guaranteed a comfortable seat, although my limited
experience in second class did not prove to have any discomfort.
The landscape changes with more and more “dryer fields”, even
cacti being cultivated in places and farmers using ploughs pulled
by horses or donkeys. You can see Atlas Mountains in the
distance as you come into Marrakesh. Many people decide to
stay in the "Ville Nouvelle" where you will find the western style
hotels and even villa complexes a few miles out where you are
enclosed from the outside “real” world. I was staying in a small
Riad in the centre off the Djemaa el Fna – the large city centre
square in the Medina.
A Riad is a type of Guest House that is normally built round a
patio garden. Normally some of the rooms are open plan to the
elements and there is not so much rain there as nearer the
coast. The experience of reaching the destination was varied. A
petit taxi to the edge of the Djemaa el Fna and then because taxi
are not allowed in after midday you have to hire a porter and cart.
The square is full of mobile restaurants, traders, snake charmers
and appears to be very much alive most hours of the day. There
are also several panoramic cafés where you can get a superb
view day or night of the surrounding scene including the
Koutoubia Mosque . If you want to sit there and have a beer or
glass of wine think again. Morocco is an Islamic nation so
alcohol drinking is not a high priority. Although wine and beer are
produced in the country, many cafes and restaurants would only
serve light drinks (Coke, orange, mineral water, coffee etc) or the
national. drink -mint tea. You certainly would not have a problem
in the hotels in the "Ville Nouvelle".
The food is generally excellent and very reasonable as well. The
traditional Moroccan — Tajine (A steam cooked meat stew) and
couscous were tried.
The country has great contrasts of wealth and poverty. There are
numerous developments being built as holiday homes near to
Marrakesh and the three hour drive back to Casablanca to take
the plane back home took in the new prosperous areas and past
little “shanty”town areas of small buildings with corrugated iron
roofs held down with boulders and each having a satellite dish.
The taxi driver made a couple of stops to buy cigarettes. By the
side of the road someone would come out with either packets or
split packets. On each occasion the driver bought 2 cigarettes.
Jobs are very important, the host at the Riad said that a waiter in
a restaurant cannot afford to make mistakes. He knows that there
is another million of unemployed people waiting to take the job.
There are numerous police about. Normally going around in
fours or more. They man roadblocks at the entrances and exits to
most towns. This is probably high security or could be giving the
employed force more to do.
If you are going there on holiday make sure that you spend your
Dirhams before you get to the airport. You won’t be able to
change themback in the departures area or spend them on drink
or tobacco at the Duty Free – they only accept euros.
The country is large – about the of California USA, there is a lot to
see, I would like to visit other cities like Tangier and Fes. Even
though it rained in Casablanca and Rabat it was hot dry and
sunny in Marrakesh and the last night of 17 degrees centigrade
on the roof of the Riad was quite a contrast to 24 hours later back
in the south of England that was undergoing one of the first cold
spells of the winter.
About the Autor
Philip Suter is a Director of JML Property Services, a UK based company
offering Insurance products on line and a holiday home advertising service
http://www.jmlvillas.com/ and management training with in the uk. He is a
very experienced property consultant with over 30 years work in the
Residential letting business and served in the national council of ARLA. He
is a Fellow of the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) and a
Member of The association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA)
By Philip Suter
Having never visited Morocco or even Africa, I was very excited at
the prospect in mid November 2005.
As soon as I boarded the Royal Air Maroc plane at London
Heathrow on a late Saturday afternoon I was in another world.
Announcements and signage in English French and Arabic.
Moroccan stile cuisine and hospitality.
On arrival at the Aeroport Mohammed V after showing you
passport several times I was soon on the motorway to
Casablanca that is the principal city of the country (but not the
capital). It seemed rather like being in France – autoroute
signage, A French chain owned DIY store, but not so once the taxi
had entered Casablanca itself. Here there were people walking
out in front of cars, cars just about avoiding other ones and I
was\very pleased I was not actually doing the driving, particularly
with the lack of seat belts (or even one that worked!).
There is a great French influence in the country – it was ruled by
the French and Spanish till 1956 and a lot of architecture new and
old is very much of the French influence and even the Post boxes
are the same shape and yellow colour as in France.
November is probably not the best time of year to visit the country,
particularly if you don’t want to get wet. The rainy season is from
October to November and April to May. On my second day I took
the train from Casablanca to Rabat the capital. There is a very
efficient and inexpensive rail network that is mainly in the north of
the country. Unfortunately just before arriving at the station in
Rabat the heavens opened. They had done on the previous day
as I explored Casablanca, but the visit to Rabat only lasted just
over an hour, because this wasn’t rain, it was flash floods and the
roads suddenly took on the appearance of rivers. So much for
exploring Rabat.
The day before in Casablanca was much more successful. I had
spent a while reading a popular traveler's guide book that helped
me understand more about the culture and people. I was not too
surprised with offers by people wanting to help, show and ask for
money. Men holding hands as they walked along or kissing when
they met (like a guard greeting one his passengers) was part of
normal life, it happened because they were friends, not a sexual
relationship as would be thought of in the west. I also knew that I
had to be careful taking photos as many women are not happy
about this.
The city has the Mosquee Hassan II a spectacular site, that is
built with a glass floor on the shore of the Atlantic Ocean. The
minaret is the tallest in the world — 200 hundred meters high.
The roof also opens and shuts.
Unlike a lot of European countries where taxis are modern
vehicles, in Morocco you will find the large “Grand” taxis that
normally travel with as many people legally possible going from
town to city and are usually a Mercedes of the 1980s era that will
be a certain colour depending on the town or city they are based
in. Each town will also have its own coloured “Petit Taxi”. Theses
are normally Peugeots and Fiats (colour coded for each town or
city) that most likely started life in the 1980’ and 1990s in Europe
and were exported south to start a new lease of life as a
passenger carrying vehicle for four.
Moving onto Marrakesh ( known as Marrakech locally) by train
proved to be very interesting. Paying the additional amount for first
class at least guaranteed a comfortable seat, although my limited
experience in second class did not prove to have any discomfort.
The landscape changes with more and more “dryer fields”, even
cacti being cultivated in places and farmers using ploughs pulled
by horses or donkeys. You can see Atlas Mountains in the
distance as you come into Marrakesh. Many people decide to
stay in the "Ville Nouvelle" where you will find the western style
hotels and even villa complexes a few miles out where you are
enclosed from the outside “real” world. I was staying in a small
Riad in the centre off the Djemaa el Fna – the large city centre
square in the Medina.
A Riad is a type of Guest House that is normally built round a
patio garden. Normally some of the rooms are open plan to the
elements and there is not so much rain there as nearer the
coast. The experience of reaching the destination was varied. A
petit taxi to the edge of the Djemaa el Fna and then because taxi
are not allowed in after midday you have to hire a porter and cart.
The square is full of mobile restaurants, traders, snake charmers
and appears to be very much alive most hours of the day. There
are also several panoramic cafés where you can get a superb
view day or night of the surrounding scene including the
Koutoubia Mosque . If you want to sit there and have a beer or
glass of wine think again. Morocco is an Islamic nation so
alcohol drinking is not a high priority. Although wine and beer are
produced in the country, many cafes and restaurants would only
serve light drinks (Coke, orange, mineral water, coffee etc) or the
national. drink -mint tea. You certainly would not have a problem
in the hotels in the "Ville Nouvelle".
The food is generally excellent and very reasonable as well. The
traditional Moroccan — Tajine (A steam cooked meat stew) and
couscous were tried.
The country has great contrasts of wealth and poverty. There are
numerous developments being built as holiday homes near to
Marrakesh and the three hour drive back to Casablanca to take
the plane back home took in the new prosperous areas and past
little “shanty”town areas of small buildings with corrugated iron
roofs held down with boulders and each having a satellite dish.
The taxi driver made a couple of stops to buy cigarettes. By the
side of the road someone would come out with either packets or
split packets. On each occasion the driver bought 2 cigarettes.
Jobs are very important, the host at the Riad said that a waiter in
a restaurant cannot afford to make mistakes. He knows that there
is another million of unemployed people waiting to take the job.
There are numerous police about. Normally going around in
fours or more. They man roadblocks at the entrances and exits to
most towns. This is probably high security or could be giving the
employed force more to do.
If you are going there on holiday make sure that you spend your
Dirhams before you get to the airport. You won’t be able to
change themback in the departures area or spend them on drink
or tobacco at the Duty Free – they only accept euros.
The country is large – about the of California USA, there is a lot to
see, I would like to visit other cities like Tangier and Fes. Even
though it rained in Casablanca and Rabat it was hot dry and
sunny in Marrakesh and the last night of 17 degrees centigrade
on the roof of the Riad was quite a contrast to 24 hours later back
in the south of England that was undergoing one of the first cold
spells of the winter.
About the Autor
Philip Suter is a Director of JML Property Services, a UK based company
offering Insurance products on line and a holiday home advertising service
http://www.jmlvillas.com/ and management training with in the uk. He is a
very experienced property consultant with over 30 years work in the
Residential letting business and served in the national council of ARLA. He
is a Fellow of the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) and a
Member of The association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA)
MOROCCO HOTELS
MOROCCO TOURS
MOROCCO SHORE EXCURSIONS
MOROCCO TOURS
MOROCCO SHORE EXCURSIONS
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