Will Morocco Be the Next Hot Spot for Oil and Gas?
Angola has emerged as the new oil and gas powerhouse in Africa. Nigeria and Angola are the continent’s leading oil producers, followed by Algeria, Libya and Egypt. These are the five biggest African oil producers which have been enjoying the benefits of accounting for 85% of Africa’s oil production.
Morocco: An Angola in the making?
Several energy companies have turned their attention to Morocco lately, scouring the previously untapped land for precious oil and gas resources. Morocco enjoys political stability and operates under a constitutional monarchy and a democratically elected government. Can Morocco be the new Angola and join the group of top oil-producing African nations?
Morocco is neighboring the gas-rich Algeria and imports more than 90% of its gas and 99% of its oil. However, the country is stepping up its efforts to produce oil locally. The Hydrocarbon Law has been amended to improve terms, and oil and gas royalty rates don’t exceed 10% or 5%, respectively. The new entrants also benefit from a 10-year tax break. All the resources in Morocco are managed by the Office National des Hydrocarbures et des Mines (ONHYM). Through the state-owned ONHYM, Morocco owns 25% of the working interests in oil- and gas-fields development.
Morocco is one of the most under-explored nations with a significantly lower well density versus the global average. Few offshore wells have been drilled so far while the majority of onshore drilling was carried out in the 1960s and 1970s. Morocco has only 1.6 wells per 10,000 square kilometers of licensed offshore acreage, compared to the world average of 51, or 100 in Nigeria, by the same measure, according to research by Sanford C. Bernstein.
The area offshore the Atlantic coast comprises the Morocco Atlantic Margin shelf, which extends more than 3,000 km along the shore line. The exploration and production started in 1929 and increased to reach a peak of production of 8,400 bopd in 1970s.
According to Citigroup, oil companies are planning as many as 10 wells in Moroccan waters through 2014. That’s twice what was drilled in the past decade and represents the fastest pace opening wells since at least 2000.
Be proactive not reactive
Since “the early bird catches the worm”, let’s be proactive by taking a dive into the companies traded on the US markets that own significant acreage, gather seismic data, conduct geophysical surveys or are about to start soon their exploration programs in Morocco:
1) Vermilion Energy (TSX: VET) was recently granted an initial 12-month onshore exploration authorization and hopes to establish an early entry position in Morocco’s emerging resources plays. This is an exploration permit for 2.3 million acres and Vermilion plans to develop it with the free cash flow anticipated from its other international operations in France, Netherlands, Australia and Ireland. Vermilion is currently working on this project by reprocessing of 2D seismic data, geological and geophysical studies. This project might also be funded in the future through a joint venture, according to the company.
2) Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold (NYSE: FCX) has exposure to Morocco due to the recent acquisition of Plains Exploration and Production. Pura Vida was awarded 75% WI in the Mazagan permit in Q4 2011. It farmed in Plains Exploration in January for 52% WI. Plains paid $15 million cash and a carry-on up to $215 million for two wells and up to 2,500 square kilometers 3D seismic. These two wells are expected to cost $75 million to $80 million each ($150 million to $160 million total).
Plains brings its knowledge in salt-basin exploration from its experience in the US Gulf of Mexico, and is likely going to drill a well in 2014, targeting the Toubkal structure, which could contain 1.5 billion barrels of oil.
3) Anadarko Petroleum (NYSE: APC) has established a large position in southeastern Morocco, on the Algerian border. Anadarko is looking at the shales that come in from Algeria and extend into Morocco. The company has already completed some seismic surveys, but has yet to make a decision on whether to proceed with further operations there. However, Anadarko has noted that fiscal conditions in Morocco are conducive to profitably developing shale.
This wait-and-see approach stems primarily from the fact that neighboring Algeria hasn’t finalized the amendment of its petroleum legislation yet. Anadarko believes that the modification of the Algerian petroleum legislation is necessary to make Algeria a viable prospect for unconventional oil and gas. Once Algeria completes this modification, Anadarko will evaluate how to proceed with its operations on the Algerian border.
4) Kosmos Energy (NYSE: KOS) holds a significant position offshore Morocco. This acreage is located in the under-explored Agadir (three Blocks) and Aaiun Basins (one Block), totaling approximately 14 million gross acres. This is a post- and pre-salt Cretaceous play that has substantial running room, according to the company, which is currently processing and interpreting 3D seismic data from its 2012 data acquisition. Kosmos is looking to farm-down ahead of drilling and is planning for initial exploration drilling in late 2013.
5) Chevron (NYSE: CVX) is also hunting for oil in Morocco. In early 2013, the company signed petroleum agreements with ONHYM for three offshore areas. The areas encompass 11,300 square miles with average water depths ranging from between 330 feet to 14,700 feet. Chevron holds a 75% stake in the three exploration blocks and plans to start its 2D/3D seismic offshore program soon.
6) A few months ago, Total was awarded the 100,000 square kilometers reconnaissance licence in the offshore Anzarane block. The original reconnaissance licence expired in December 2012. Total’s block is located in the very south of the country and its partner is ONHYM. Total hasn’t provided publicly any more information about its plans in Morocco.
7) EOG Resources also took a position in the country in 2012. Its onshore acreage is located in the Tadla Basin, which is in the center of Morocco and appears to have potential for shale gas resource. However, the company’s shale gas exploration activity in the area has been very limited thus far.
8) Repsol holds significant acreage on the Moroccan coast and its plan is to assess the potential of gas-bearing sands off the African coast and the Canary Islands by 2014. Repsol is one of the first foreign companies with successful drilling results in Morocco. In 2009, it discovered two columns of gas totaling 90 meters in the Tanger-Larache area, 40 kilometers from the coast of Morocco.
Toronto-listed junior Longreach Oil and London-listed Cairn Energy, Circle Oil, Genel Energy, Gulfsands Petroleum, Chariot Oil and San Leon have also properties in Morocco and are gradually making progress on their exploration plans.
Foolish round Up
It remains to be seen how successful the first drilling results will be. If money starts flowing into the Moroccan oil industry, let’s hope that it won’t repeat what has already happened in some other oil-producing countries. Let’s hope that the wealth generated from Morocco’s oil and gas production will translate into higher standards of living for its citizens, and the wealth won’t be accumulated by a few politicians, their privileged friends, and the companies they hand out contracts to.
Fool.com
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What to Eat in Morocco
What to Eat in Morocco
Moroccan cuisine is known for its mix of North African, Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cooking styles. Often combining sweet and salty elements, Moroccan dishes burst with flavor. Here are some of the most popular national dishes to try during your first trip to Morocco.
Tajine
Tajine is any dish that is slowly simmered in traditional terracotta cookware. The pots are round with a low, wide base and topped with a conical lid in order to allow all the aromas and flavors to bake into the meat and vegetables while in the oven or on the stovetop. While there are many regional varieties of tajine, two of the most popular dishes are chicken tajine with olives and lamb tajine with figs or almonds. To dine the Moroccan way, use the thick Moroccan bread in lieu of a spoon; the bread soaks up the juices and flavors of the dish.
Couscous
Probably the most well-known dish of Moroccan cuisine is couscous. When you order a couscous entree in a restaurant, you can expect a plethora of slow-cooked meat and vegetables along with a heaping plate of steamed couscous, little round granules of semolina wheat. In Moroccan households and at restaurants, one large plate of couscous is often shared by several people. To eat it in true Moroccan style, use your right hand to pick up some of the couscous and some of the meat and vegetable mixture. Then toss it lightly in your hand to form it into a ball and pop the whole ball in your mouth.
Bastilla
One of the most decadent Moroccan dishes, bastilla is a flaky layered pastry filled with savory meat, sweet almond filling and eggs. Traditionally made with pigeon meat and served at weddings, you can now find bastilla in pastry shops and at many restaurants, although it is most commonly made with chicken. Be aware that if you’re served bastilla during a special occasion or at a Moroccan home, it may only be the appetizer. Just one slice is rich enough to fill you up, so be sure to budget your stomach space for the main course!
Harira
A hearty Moroccan soup that is traditionally served on special occasions, harira can be a meal in itself. The soup has a tomato base, is chock full of subtle herbs and spices and includes a generous amount of lentils and chickpeas; some versions include meat such as lamb or beef. During Ramadan, the Muslim month of fasting from sunup to sundown, harira is specially prepared for the daily breaking of the fast. It’s often eaten along with hard-boiled eggs and bread. If you’re not traveling in Morocco during Ramadan, you can still often find harira listed in the appetizer section of restaurant menus.
Along with any of these dishes, be sure to try Moroccan mint tea or freshly squeezed juice. Popular juices include banana, orange, avocado and almond milk, called jus d’almond (juice of almonds) in French. We’ve talked nonstop in our Morocco blog about the tea that is often steeped with a generous lump of sugar, so don’t be alarmed if it’s much sweeter than you’re used to!
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Moroccan cuisine is known for its mix of North African, Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cooking styles. Often combining sweet and salty elements, Moroccan dishes burst with flavor. Here are some of the most popular national dishes to try during your first trip to Morocco.
Tajine
Tajine is any dish that is slowly simmered in traditional terracotta cookware. The pots are round with a low, wide base and topped with a conical lid in order to allow all the aromas and flavors to bake into the meat and vegetables while in the oven or on the stovetop. While there are many regional varieties of tajine, two of the most popular dishes are chicken tajine with olives and lamb tajine with figs or almonds. To dine the Moroccan way, use the thick Moroccan bread in lieu of a spoon; the bread soaks up the juices and flavors of the dish.
Couscous
Probably the most well-known dish of Moroccan cuisine is couscous. When you order a couscous entree in a restaurant, you can expect a plethora of slow-cooked meat and vegetables along with a heaping plate of steamed couscous, little round granules of semolina wheat. In Moroccan households and at restaurants, one large plate of couscous is often shared by several people. To eat it in true Moroccan style, use your right hand to pick up some of the couscous and some of the meat and vegetable mixture. Then toss it lightly in your hand to form it into a ball and pop the whole ball in your mouth.
Bastilla
One of the most decadent Moroccan dishes, bastilla is a flaky layered pastry filled with savory meat, sweet almond filling and eggs. Traditionally made with pigeon meat and served at weddings, you can now find bastilla in pastry shops and at many restaurants, although it is most commonly made with chicken. Be aware that if you’re served bastilla during a special occasion or at a Moroccan home, it may only be the appetizer. Just one slice is rich enough to fill you up, so be sure to budget your stomach space for the main course!
Harira
A hearty Moroccan soup that is traditionally served on special occasions, harira can be a meal in itself. The soup has a tomato base, is chock full of subtle herbs and spices and includes a generous amount of lentils and chickpeas; some versions include meat such as lamb or beef. During Ramadan, the Muslim month of fasting from sunup to sundown, harira is specially prepared for the daily breaking of the fast. It’s often eaten along with hard-boiled eggs and bread. If you’re not traveling in Morocco during Ramadan, you can still often find harira listed in the appetizer section of restaurant menus.
Along with any of these dishes, be sure to try Moroccan mint tea or freshly squeezed juice. Popular juices include banana, orange, avocado and almond milk, called jus d’almond (juice of almonds) in French. We’ve talked nonstop in our Morocco blog about the tea that is often steeped with a generous lump of sugar, so don’t be alarmed if it’s much sweeter than you’re used to!
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So you want to travel to Morocco
So you want to travel to Morocco
This is our first in a series of “So you want to travel to…” posts. It’s surprising how hard-fought this knowledge was to acquire, so we figured we could put together a post that might make it a little easier for the next folks who might go. Questions are welcome in the comments!
Throughout our time in Morocco we made observations on things that struck us as quite different from our daily life experiences back home in the States or as different from other places we have traveled. Some of these observations are just culturally interesting but many will provide good tips for future travelers to Morocco.
Morocco is an incredibly diverse country with rural agricultural lands, busy medieval medinas (markets), deserts, mountains and beautiful lagoons along the Atlantic. We were fortunate to see all of this during our 3 weeks in the country.
When to Go
A lot of our early travel research was around weather (to do our best to avoid oppressive heat or monsoon storms). Morocco was plenty hot in late May, but we seldom hit a spot where we broke 90 degrees and the coastal towns (Essaouira and Oualidia) were 70-80F. For a Morocco-centric trip, we’d suggest May or October.
Where to Go
Morocco is a pretty hefty country but most of it is packed into the northern half with some desirable destinations on the coast. We researched destinations pretty thoroughly and settled on traveling to:
Fez for 5 days (photos)
Merzouga & the Sahara Desert for 3 days (photos)
Tinghir & the Todra Gorge for 2 days (photos)
Marrakech for 2 days (photos)
Essaouira for 7 days (photos)
Oualidia for 4 days (photos)
Of the destinations we hit, we felt like we had plenty of time but could’ve happily spent more time around the Todra Gorge (it was peaceful and beautiful), which would’ve given us time to explore the Dades Gorge as well (and Skoura, which is supposed to be pretty). If the weather and our digestion had been more cooperative, we would’ve trekked a bit in the Atlas mountains and perhaps sought out the barbary apes in Azrou.
Where to Stay (Dars and Riads, oh my!)
You’re doing yourself a huge disservice if you stay in a chain hotel in Morocco. Any destination you care to hit is generally full of renovated Dars (old houses built around a central courtyard) and Riads (old, larger houses built around central gardens). These are often cheap ($40-100/night) and downright glorious with beautiful tile and woodwork that can be hundreds of years old. The courtyards and gardens of these old buildings were an incredible contrast to the frenetic experience of a Moroccan medina… The were cool, shady, quiet, and often full of plants, fountains, and lounging furniture.
Booking these tends to be challenging compared to what we’re used to in the States– generally it involves 5-10 emails back and forth with the host and sometimes a paypal transaction. On the plus side, we never had trouble with vacancy– all of the highly rated dars we found had last-minute availability. Our general procedure for a new town was to go to TripAdvisor, hit the “Inns / B&B” tab, sort by price (lowest to highest) and then scroll down until we started seeing glowing reviews/rankings… Then we’d start looking at each individual place evaluating on how pretty it was, if the location was walking-friendly, if the beds were decent, etc. Checking AirBnB was a solid path as well– while a lot of the dars/riads weren’t represented there, it oftentimes made the transaction easier.
Transportation
Getting around without a car was easy– city-to-city busses are generally plentiful and cheap, with CTM being the best (they have air-conditioned busses and a reputation for being on time). Bus tickets between cities ranged from $8-20 per person and can be purchased at the CTM office in town any time before the trip (we never had a bus sold out). The CTM website is a UX disasater and in french– we never managed to buy a ticket on it, but did use it for scheduling a few times.
There are two types of taxis– “petite” (smaller, often with meters), which are great for cheap in-city transport (generally a buck or two) or “grand”, usually larger mercedes with negotiable fares. Grand Taxis are also used for city-to-city travel. There’s a grassroots system– the grand taxis hang out in a specific area and wait for a carful of passengers to accumulate for a specific destination, often cramming 6-7 people into the car. You can, of course, buy all of the seats if you’d like to leave sooner. Pricing here is brutal for tourists, so expect to haggle for any non-metered taxi ride. We largely avoided grand taxis because we didn’t enjoy haggling or being crammed into a grubby mercedes with a ton of other people.
And, of course, you’ve got walking. We quickly learned that an offline digital map is indispensable as the streets in most towns are damn confusing. Google Maps for Android has a “save to offline” feature, which we loved. Most people don’t know this, but the GPS in your smartphone works great even if you’re cellular service is turned off (DON’T use airplane mode)… Even if you don’t have an offline map, you can zoom in at a WIFI point and then start wandering, with the comforting blue dot reporting where you (roughly) are. That said, don’t expect addresses to work and don’t expect addresses found on sites like TripAdvisor to correspond to reality at all.
Language
English is pretty rare in Morocco. The local languages are Arabic (80-90%) and Berber (40-60%) while main foreign languages are French (33-39%) and Spanish (21%), with only 14% speaking English. This is certainly challenging at times, but we honestly found it refreshing as most every place we have traveled in the past (despite how exotic) it has been easy to find English speakers. We worked to learn a few Arabic phrases and even Berber, but then found that our Berber would only be good for one city as the next spoke another dialect. Our efforts were certainly rewarded with smiles and surprised looks by many when we spoke a few words in their native tongue.
Money and Credit Cards
Don’t expect to readily use your credit cards in Morocco. Cash (Dirham or Euros) were expected as payment in all of our accommodations unless we had paid online in advance. Moroccan Dirham was expected in most restaurants and stores. Coming from a world where we use our credit card for everything, this took some getting use to and some planning regarding regular visits to ATMs. And DO NOT assume that there is an ATM in every town. This bit us in the ass once when we had to take a cab back to the next biggest town to get money so that we could pay for our hotel and camel trek in the desert.
Shopping
Until we reached Oualidia at the end of our trip we did not see anything like a typical western store. We did tend to book our accommodations in the historic or medina areas of towns so this could be why. That said, our observation was that Moroccans living in the medina shop daily for fresh fish, meat and vegetables.
For other items there are hundreds of small shops specializing in just one or two types of items (e.g. bicycle tires, shoes, thread, lightbulbs). We somehow managed to find contact solution in the Fez Medina from a vendor who specialized in color contacts – that was a surprise!
Food & Drink
Vegetarians could probably do alright in Morocco, but diabetics may be in trouble. Breakfast was provided at all of the places we stayed and was consistently the same: fresh orange juice (often with sugar added), several types of local breads (some sugar coated), fruit, and jams, honey and syrups. A traditional English or American egg breakfast is not to be found, though we did have a Berber omelet once (eggs baked in sauce/veggies, tagine-style)! In addition, lots of sugar is added to the ubiquitous mint tea and even main course dishes.
The food (overall) was pretty universally tasty but it was hard to find a fabulous meal in Morocco. Common dishes include Tagines (meat and veggies baked in a tall clay pot), skewers of meat with spices, Pastilla (sweetened/spiced pigeon or other meat baked in phyllo dough topped with powdered sugar and cinnamon) and fish prepared simply near the coast. Street food was often just as tasty as sit-down food– our favorites were flatbread cooked with onions and smoked paprika and the chevre cheese vendors. You can get more exotic and grab a steamed sheeps head or some tehal (camel spleen stuffed with a sausage-pate sort of mixture, sliced and pan fried). Soups are also solid and filling, with Bessara (fava bean soup served with a big dollop of olive oil and bread) or Harira (tomato & chick pea) being on most menus. Our favorite meals were had in Essaouira. The stuffed sardines at Gnawa Blues were amazing. And the mixed salads at Restaurant Ramsess were the highlight of an exceptional meal that also featured local music. Fresh orange juice was available everywhere, usually for less than a buck for a big glass.
Across Morocco, it was rare to see Moroccan women in cafes, which were filled with Moroccan men along with occasional tourists. Female tourists particularly those traveling with a male companion seem to be perfectly accepted in local cafes and restaurants and Alex never felt uncomfortable. Drinking alcohol was also not something you ever saw any Moroccan, male or female, doing in public.
The People
Not once in our travel in Morocco did we get even a wisp of animosity or anger from a local. That said, Morrocans are certainly not the warmest people we’ve met in our travels (with a few awesome exceptions). Tony has a theory that the friendliness of a culture corrolates strongly to material prosperity. Not necessarily financial prosperity, mind you– but if food falls from the trees and springs from the earth, fresh water is plentiful, and shelter from the elements is either unnecessary or easy to come by, people have the luxury to be warm and welcoming. Morocco is a hard place with a tough history– it’s difficult for many of the locals to think of tourists as anything more than a fleeting natural resource to be harvested when given the opportunity.
We never once felt unsafe or threatened, but we’d warn future travelers to develop a hard edge when wandering thru the streets of large cities in Morocco. Merchants have all sorts of techniques to try to stop you to get you to look over their wares or menu. If someone makes eye contact and says “Hey, where are you from?”, it’s difficult to ignore the invitation to converse. If someone hands you a menu, it’s challenging to literally walk right through it… But you often have to do exactly that if you want to explore the Medina.
Nearly all Moroccans are Muslim and the other one percent are Christian or Jewish. This is certainly noticeable given the Islamic call to prayer over loudspeakers several times a day but we didn’t find it overwhelming. It was simply a clear part of daily life for many Moroccans.
Dressin’ for the Ladies
Alex chose to dress conservatively in both the rural places we visited and larger cities like Marrakech, wearing pants and always having her shoulders covered. Most guides recommend this for female travelers though you will certainly see some women ignoring this advice. While we did see some younger Moroccan women in the larger cities dressed more western, nearly every woman still wore a head scarf and of course many wore veils.
Favorite Web Resources for Morocco
As an internet guy, it pains Tony to give the nod to TripAdvisor (it is hard to support a site that still does pop-under ads) as one of the better resources for finding lodging and sights. With restaurants, TripAdvisor was less helpful but it often gave us a place to start- we never found a better alternative. They have offline city guides for the iPhone (basically just a bundle of their web content and a decent map implementation), but only for one town in Morocco.
I’ve been using the new Trippy a bit (it’s a pretty awesome community for travelers that I worked on a bit before we left) and it’s been quite helpful (right now it’s in closed beta and has a pretty small/exclusive community of travelers).
WikiTravel (the wikipedia of travel destinations) is useful for logistical stuff and sights but not remotely trustworthy for food.
Frommers and Rough Guides often have a solid list of restaurants and sights for any of the more frequented destinations– pretty much every town we hit, Tony would google “TownName Frommers” and “TownName Rough Guides” and poke around to see if there was anything useful.
Unesco was a favorite for Alex with great detailed information on world heritage sites in many of our destinations.
Google Maps is a godsend, even without a data plan. The GPS on your smartphone works everywhere, peeps.
Triposo is a great little app smartphone app. They have offline guides largely sourced from wikitravel, so the content is fairly weak. But they offer solid offline maps and have built in weather, currency converters, and language phrasebooks.
Should you go?
All in all, Morocco was a great opportunity to step outside of our comfort zone and see things that can’t be seen in the western world. It’s definitely off-the-beaten path, with even the larger destinations being poorly documented– maps are iffy, online ratings/reviews are often scarce, and logistics are challenging. When outside of the major destinations like Fez and Essaouira, we’d play “count the westerner”, and sometimes go half a day without breaking into double digits (almost none were American). Many times we were the only guests where we stayed. We hope others will add it to their destination list!
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This is our first in a series of “So you want to travel to…” posts. It’s surprising how hard-fought this knowledge was to acquire, so we figured we could put together a post that might make it a little easier for the next folks who might go. Questions are welcome in the comments!
Throughout our time in Morocco we made observations on things that struck us as quite different from our daily life experiences back home in the States or as different from other places we have traveled. Some of these observations are just culturally interesting but many will provide good tips for future travelers to Morocco.
Morocco is an incredibly diverse country with rural agricultural lands, busy medieval medinas (markets), deserts, mountains and beautiful lagoons along the Atlantic. We were fortunate to see all of this during our 3 weeks in the country.
When to Go
A lot of our early travel research was around weather (to do our best to avoid oppressive heat or monsoon storms). Morocco was plenty hot in late May, but we seldom hit a spot where we broke 90 degrees and the coastal towns (Essaouira and Oualidia) were 70-80F. For a Morocco-centric trip, we’d suggest May or October.
Where to Go
Morocco is a pretty hefty country but most of it is packed into the northern half with some desirable destinations on the coast. We researched destinations pretty thoroughly and settled on traveling to:
Fez for 5 days (photos)
Merzouga & the Sahara Desert for 3 days (photos)
Tinghir & the Todra Gorge for 2 days (photos)
Marrakech for 2 days (photos)
Essaouira for 7 days (photos)
Oualidia for 4 days (photos)
Of the destinations we hit, we felt like we had plenty of time but could’ve happily spent more time around the Todra Gorge (it was peaceful and beautiful), which would’ve given us time to explore the Dades Gorge as well (and Skoura, which is supposed to be pretty). If the weather and our digestion had been more cooperative, we would’ve trekked a bit in the Atlas mountains and perhaps sought out the barbary apes in Azrou.
Where to Stay (Dars and Riads, oh my!)
You’re doing yourself a huge disservice if you stay in a chain hotel in Morocco. Any destination you care to hit is generally full of renovated Dars (old houses built around a central courtyard) and Riads (old, larger houses built around central gardens). These are often cheap ($40-100/night) and downright glorious with beautiful tile and woodwork that can be hundreds of years old. The courtyards and gardens of these old buildings were an incredible contrast to the frenetic experience of a Moroccan medina… The were cool, shady, quiet, and often full of plants, fountains, and lounging furniture.
Booking these tends to be challenging compared to what we’re used to in the States– generally it involves 5-10 emails back and forth with the host and sometimes a paypal transaction. On the plus side, we never had trouble with vacancy– all of the highly rated dars we found had last-minute availability. Our general procedure for a new town was to go to TripAdvisor, hit the “Inns / B&B” tab, sort by price (lowest to highest) and then scroll down until we started seeing glowing reviews/rankings… Then we’d start looking at each individual place evaluating on how pretty it was, if the location was walking-friendly, if the beds were decent, etc. Checking AirBnB was a solid path as well– while a lot of the dars/riads weren’t represented there, it oftentimes made the transaction easier.
Transportation
Getting around without a car was easy– city-to-city busses are generally plentiful and cheap, with CTM being the best (they have air-conditioned busses and a reputation for being on time). Bus tickets between cities ranged from $8-20 per person and can be purchased at the CTM office in town any time before the trip (we never had a bus sold out). The CTM website is a UX disasater and in french– we never managed to buy a ticket on it, but did use it for scheduling a few times.
There are two types of taxis– “petite” (smaller, often with meters), which are great for cheap in-city transport (generally a buck or two) or “grand”, usually larger mercedes with negotiable fares. Grand Taxis are also used for city-to-city travel. There’s a grassroots system– the grand taxis hang out in a specific area and wait for a carful of passengers to accumulate for a specific destination, often cramming 6-7 people into the car. You can, of course, buy all of the seats if you’d like to leave sooner. Pricing here is brutal for tourists, so expect to haggle for any non-metered taxi ride. We largely avoided grand taxis because we didn’t enjoy haggling or being crammed into a grubby mercedes with a ton of other people.
And, of course, you’ve got walking. We quickly learned that an offline digital map is indispensable as the streets in most towns are damn confusing. Google Maps for Android has a “save to offline” feature, which we loved. Most people don’t know this, but the GPS in your smartphone works great even if you’re cellular service is turned off (DON’T use airplane mode)… Even if you don’t have an offline map, you can zoom in at a WIFI point and then start wandering, with the comforting blue dot reporting where you (roughly) are. That said, don’t expect addresses to work and don’t expect addresses found on sites like TripAdvisor to correspond to reality at all.
Language
English is pretty rare in Morocco. The local languages are Arabic (80-90%) and Berber (40-60%) while main foreign languages are French (33-39%) and Spanish (21%), with only 14% speaking English. This is certainly challenging at times, but we honestly found it refreshing as most every place we have traveled in the past (despite how exotic) it has been easy to find English speakers. We worked to learn a few Arabic phrases and even Berber, but then found that our Berber would only be good for one city as the next spoke another dialect. Our efforts were certainly rewarded with smiles and surprised looks by many when we spoke a few words in their native tongue.
Money and Credit Cards
Don’t expect to readily use your credit cards in Morocco. Cash (Dirham or Euros) were expected as payment in all of our accommodations unless we had paid online in advance. Moroccan Dirham was expected in most restaurants and stores. Coming from a world where we use our credit card for everything, this took some getting use to and some planning regarding regular visits to ATMs. And DO NOT assume that there is an ATM in every town. This bit us in the ass once when we had to take a cab back to the next biggest town to get money so that we could pay for our hotel and camel trek in the desert.
Shopping
Until we reached Oualidia at the end of our trip we did not see anything like a typical western store. We did tend to book our accommodations in the historic or medina areas of towns so this could be why. That said, our observation was that Moroccans living in the medina shop daily for fresh fish, meat and vegetables.
For other items there are hundreds of small shops specializing in just one or two types of items (e.g. bicycle tires, shoes, thread, lightbulbs). We somehow managed to find contact solution in the Fez Medina from a vendor who specialized in color contacts – that was a surprise!
Food & Drink
Vegetarians could probably do alright in Morocco, but diabetics may be in trouble. Breakfast was provided at all of the places we stayed and was consistently the same: fresh orange juice (often with sugar added), several types of local breads (some sugar coated), fruit, and jams, honey and syrups. A traditional English or American egg breakfast is not to be found, though we did have a Berber omelet once (eggs baked in sauce/veggies, tagine-style)! In addition, lots of sugar is added to the ubiquitous mint tea and even main course dishes.
The food (overall) was pretty universally tasty but it was hard to find a fabulous meal in Morocco. Common dishes include Tagines (meat and veggies baked in a tall clay pot), skewers of meat with spices, Pastilla (sweetened/spiced pigeon or other meat baked in phyllo dough topped with powdered sugar and cinnamon) and fish prepared simply near the coast. Street food was often just as tasty as sit-down food– our favorites were flatbread cooked with onions and smoked paprika and the chevre cheese vendors. You can get more exotic and grab a steamed sheeps head or some tehal (camel spleen stuffed with a sausage-pate sort of mixture, sliced and pan fried). Soups are also solid and filling, with Bessara (fava bean soup served with a big dollop of olive oil and bread) or Harira (tomato & chick pea) being on most menus. Our favorite meals were had in Essaouira. The stuffed sardines at Gnawa Blues were amazing. And the mixed salads at Restaurant Ramsess were the highlight of an exceptional meal that also featured local music. Fresh orange juice was available everywhere, usually for less than a buck for a big glass.
Across Morocco, it was rare to see Moroccan women in cafes, which were filled with Moroccan men along with occasional tourists. Female tourists particularly those traveling with a male companion seem to be perfectly accepted in local cafes and restaurants and Alex never felt uncomfortable. Drinking alcohol was also not something you ever saw any Moroccan, male or female, doing in public.
The People
Not once in our travel in Morocco did we get even a wisp of animosity or anger from a local. That said, Morrocans are certainly not the warmest people we’ve met in our travels (with a few awesome exceptions). Tony has a theory that the friendliness of a culture corrolates strongly to material prosperity. Not necessarily financial prosperity, mind you– but if food falls from the trees and springs from the earth, fresh water is plentiful, and shelter from the elements is either unnecessary or easy to come by, people have the luxury to be warm and welcoming. Morocco is a hard place with a tough history– it’s difficult for many of the locals to think of tourists as anything more than a fleeting natural resource to be harvested when given the opportunity.
We never once felt unsafe or threatened, but we’d warn future travelers to develop a hard edge when wandering thru the streets of large cities in Morocco. Merchants have all sorts of techniques to try to stop you to get you to look over their wares or menu. If someone makes eye contact and says “Hey, where are you from?”, it’s difficult to ignore the invitation to converse. If someone hands you a menu, it’s challenging to literally walk right through it… But you often have to do exactly that if you want to explore the Medina.
Nearly all Moroccans are Muslim and the other one percent are Christian or Jewish. This is certainly noticeable given the Islamic call to prayer over loudspeakers several times a day but we didn’t find it overwhelming. It was simply a clear part of daily life for many Moroccans.
Dressin’ for the Ladies
Alex chose to dress conservatively in both the rural places we visited and larger cities like Marrakech, wearing pants and always having her shoulders covered. Most guides recommend this for female travelers though you will certainly see some women ignoring this advice. While we did see some younger Moroccan women in the larger cities dressed more western, nearly every woman still wore a head scarf and of course many wore veils.
Favorite Web Resources for Morocco
As an internet guy, it pains Tony to give the nod to TripAdvisor (it is hard to support a site that still does pop-under ads) as one of the better resources for finding lodging and sights. With restaurants, TripAdvisor was less helpful but it often gave us a place to start- we never found a better alternative. They have offline city guides for the iPhone (basically just a bundle of their web content and a decent map implementation), but only for one town in Morocco.
I’ve been using the new Trippy a bit (it’s a pretty awesome community for travelers that I worked on a bit before we left) and it’s been quite helpful (right now it’s in closed beta and has a pretty small/exclusive community of travelers).
WikiTravel (the wikipedia of travel destinations) is useful for logistical stuff and sights but not remotely trustworthy for food.
Frommers and Rough Guides often have a solid list of restaurants and sights for any of the more frequented destinations– pretty much every town we hit, Tony would google “TownName Frommers” and “TownName Rough Guides” and poke around to see if there was anything useful.
Unesco was a favorite for Alex with great detailed information on world heritage sites in many of our destinations.
Google Maps is a godsend, even without a data plan. The GPS on your smartphone works everywhere, peeps.
Triposo is a great little app smartphone app. They have offline guides largely sourced from wikitravel, so the content is fairly weak. But they offer solid offline maps and have built in weather, currency converters, and language phrasebooks.
Should you go?
All in all, Morocco was a great opportunity to step outside of our comfort zone and see things that can’t be seen in the western world. It’s definitely off-the-beaten path, with even the larger destinations being poorly documented– maps are iffy, online ratings/reviews are often scarce, and logistics are challenging. When outside of the major destinations like Fez and Essaouira, we’d play “count the westerner”, and sometimes go half a day without breaking into double digits (almost none were American). Many times we were the only guests where we stayed. We hope others will add it to their destination list!
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