3. Travel tips

Telephone / Internet:

Calls from Morocco can be made from “Teleboutiques” which are to be found in all but the most remote places. From here you can make reverse charge calls and cabins are always supervised if you need any help. Cybercafés can be found in most large towns, but never in villages. Prices are normally very reasonable at about 50p/0.70EURO (7-8 dirhams) per hour.

Camera Film and photography:

Morocco is as photogenic a place as you will find, with clear light, beautiful landscapes and plenty of character. However, photographic representations of people are extremely uncommon in Islam and are usually reserved for passport and administrative pictures. Please do not take photos of people without prior permission and if someone is clearly not happy to be your subject do not persist.

Print film (Kodak,Fuji) is widely available (from 200 ASA up), but slide film of 100 ASA or less can be very difficult to find. Slide film of 50 ASA is highly recommended for Moroccan light and high colour saturation.

Electricity:

Electricity supply in Morocco is 220V, 50Hz and you will need an adaptor for the European two round pin system which is used in Morocco.

Time:

Morocco is on GMT – Greenwich Mean Time – year round. That means during winter as per the UK and in summer an hour behind.

Tipping, shopping and haggling:

Tipping in Morocco is discretional and usually amounts to about 10% of your bill. That goes for bars, cafes and restaurants. Taxi drivers will accept a tip if offered but do not feel obliged as Moroccans will rarely leave a tip.

After your trek it is customary to tip your Moroccan guide, driver(s), and/or muleteer(s) provided you feel you have received good treatment. There’s no set amount as this often depends on group size, but as a guideline around €30 (or 300 Dirhams) should cover your share of all tips for a week’s trip.

When shopping for souvenirs in the souq (markets) it is normal to haggle. Don’t be alarmed by the shopkeeper’s inflated starting price as you can usually hope to finish up at about half of this. It can be a frustrating experience but it always pays off to stay calm and good humoured and the general idea is to come away feeling that you got good value for your purchase. In other words there’s no right or wrong price, just a price that suits both parties and everyone goes away happy. In up market boutiques haggling is not appropriate.

Food :

Morocco has one of the world’s most celebrated cuisines. Typical dishes include meat tajines (spiced lamb or beef stew often incorporating fruit), couscous, spiced kebabs, briouats (flakey pastry parcels of s bowl in the centre of the table. Berber houses don’t even possess western cutlery, although even the lowest grade of restaurants will have a stock should any foreigners drop in. Note that when eating from a communal bowl it is only appropriate to use your right hand.

Moroccan food is generally heavily meat-orientated and vegetarians may find that their options are rather uninspiring and very limited. bowl in the centre of the table. Berber houses don’t even possess western cutlery, although even the lowest grade of restaurants will have a stock should any foreigners drop in. Note that when eating from a communal bowl it is only appropriate to use your right hand.

Moroccan food is generally heavily meat-orientated and vegetarians may find that their options are rather uninspiring and very limited.

Alcohol in Morocco:

Alcohol is not widely available in Morocco, although larger hotels, foreign-owned auberges and up-market restaurants sell it. Marrakech, Agadir and Casablanca are well-endowed with bars (usually of the fairly expensive variety) but small towns usually have no bars and no off-licenses. Many of the hotels we use on our tours are not licensed to serve alcohol, although we can buy wine/beer in large towns or prior to departure as you are often permitted to “bring your own”.

Dress:

No specific dress-code exists in Morocco but it is recommended that you dress conservatively and adhere to a few basic rules. Marrakech and the big cities are cosmopolitan places and you can wear pretty much what you like, although women are recommended to cover up shoulders and legs above the knee. In rural communities, vest tops and short shorts (above the knee) are regarded as underwear and may cause offence. We therefore recommend t-shirts, cotton shirts, long shorts or long lightweight trousers. Clearly, in uninhabited areas there is no particular dress code.

Security and Crime:

Morocco is generally a very safe place to visit. Criminal activity is rare and violent crime extremely rare. That said, always look after your valuables as theft from cars and hotels is not unheard of. We recommend wearing a money belt as a good way to keep your valuables on you at all times.

Hammams:

A traditional hammam (steam bath) is the perfect remedy for those seeking a truly invigorating Moroccan experience. The hammam is traditionally a place for men or womento meet (separately) and chat whilst being scrubbed clean and massaged. Hammams are a hive of activity and noise, and many exhibit fine examples of Moroccan architecture, with vaulted ceilings, tadelakt (clay) walls and elaborately tiled floors.

After spending as much time as you can bear in the steam room you proceed to a cooler room for a scrub with a coarse glove and black soap before being manipulated by a masseur or masseuse. Then it’s time for some quiet contemplation in the “salle de repos” (rest room). Be advised that at hammams males and females are strictly segregated and in female sections women usually go naked, but you can bring along a swimming costume if you prefer not to. Nudity in the male world is taboo, so men keep their trunks on! All Moroccan towns have hammams as do many hotels and auberges.

 

4.Background:

Religion and culture:

Much of Moroccan culture revolves around religion and the family. Although fairly liberal by the standards of many Muslim countries, Islam is still a way of life for the majority. Even those who don’t visit the local mosque five times a day (as decreed by the Qu’ran) have strong religious beliefs. Most social events centre around the family, with wedding and birth celebrations going on for days on end. However, the country is changing at a lightning fast pace, with young urban Moroccans taking their cue from French culture, bars and nightclubs opening up in cities, and improving rights for women under the youngforward-thinking King Mohamed VI.

That said, Morocco remains a poor country with a huge proportion of the 32 million strong populations living on fairly limited means. The rich minority continues to pull the strings and the economic gap between the swish modern urban centres and rural communities continues to widen. On our tours through Morocco, this fact will certainly not escape one’s notice.

Moroccans are generally-speaking, warm, friendly, well-mannered and extremely hospitable people who are always pleased to welcome foreign visitors to their country.

History:

• Some important landmarks in the history of Morocco:
• 146AD Volubilis (near Meknes) is established by the Romans
• 714 Berbers embrace Islam after first Arab incursions
• 788 First Arab dynasty established in Morocco
• 807 Idris II founds Fez
• 1062 Marrakech founded by the Almoravid dynasty
• 1062-1669 Series of dynasties take power and drive out Christianity
• 1912 The Treaty of Fez when Morocco becomes a French protectorate
• 1956 Morocco gains independence from France
• 1975 The Green March, where 350,000 Moroccans claim the Western Sahara from Spain
• 1976 – Fate of the disputed territory remains undecided
• 1999 King Hassan II dies and his son Mohamed VI takes power

Geography:

Morocco is the most mountainous country in North Africa and has enormous variations in topography across the country. There are numerous mountain ranges; the most important in terms of land mass are the High Atlas, the Middle Atlas, the Anti-Atlas and the Rif mountains. The Atlas Mountains stretch all the way from the Algerian border to the Atlantic coast and have numerous sub-chains. In the south the volcanic ranges of the Sirwa and the Saghro lie just south of the Atlas and other more minor ranges extend towards the desert.

Marrakech sits on a flat (and quite fertile), plain and much of central Morocco is fairly flat and classified as semi-arid. Morocco has some 3200km of Atlantic and Mediterranean coast, and much of the south of the country is classified as desert. The south of the country in fact borders the Sahara desert.

5.Environment and Wildlife:

Morocco has a wide diversity of flora, from cedar forests in the Middle Atlas, to oak, thuya and pine forests in the High Atlas. Walnut and almond trees are also widespread in the villages of the High Atlas. Coastal areas support more “Mediterranean” vegetation, and the plains around Marrakech are home to mile upon mile of olive groves and citrus orchards. Vegetation peters out as you head into the Deep South, with acacia and date palm trees among the few species to thrive. Spring is a wonderful time to visit the mountain areas of Morocco when snow melt and warm sun spawn great carpets of colourful wild flowers.

Morocco is an interesting and diverse destination for bird watchers. Highlights include one of the last remaining colonies of the bald ibis, on the Atlantic coast, and a huge variety of birds found in mountain habitats. Morocco’s mammals include the Barbary fallow deer, Barbary monkey, Atlas red fox, and wild cats (rarely sighted). Snakes and scorpions are prevalent in desert areas, but rarely cause injury to man!

Climate:

In a country the size of Morocco and in one with such varying topography it is difficult to generalise about climate so is best divided into zones: coastal areas tend to have a less extreme and more temperate climate than the interior, feeling pleasantly warm in winter and not ferociously hot in summer. Most Atlantic regions benefit from a stiff sea breeze which keeps summer temperatures down, and rainfall levels, although not high, are significantly higher than in low lying areas in the interior of the country.

The plains of the interior, for example around Marrakech and Fez show extremes of temperature, from punishingly hot in summer (particularly during July and August) to cold in winter, although the Moroccan sun is always hot, year round. Precipitation levels are very low, and any rain that does fall is most likely in November, February and April.

The Atlas Mountains and their associated sub-ranges are subject to variable climatic conditions with much higher levels of precipitation (falling both as rain and snow in the high mountains), and colder – often sub-zero – conditions. There are significant regional variations, but generally the north side of the mountains is more bearably hot in summer and colder in winter than the south side. Night time winter temperatures can fall as low as -10ºC and daytime summer temperatures can climb into the upper 30sºC.

The south of Morocco is notoriously hot in summer, particularly on the fringes of the Sahara. It’s not the time to visit these regions with burning hot sandstorms regularly flaring up. In winter (particularly December and January), daytime temperatures are very pleasant but there’s a dramatic tailing off by evening time and at night temperatures can drop well below freezing.

The north of Morocco is very lush by comparison as a result of much higher rainfall and temperate conditions.

Please consult your trip dossier for information more specific to your tour.