Magical Morocco: The Beginning…

‘Would you want to go to Morocco?’ – These were the words that marked the beginning of an epic 16-day adventure across several cities in Morocco.

I can’t remember the exact moment this country popped into my wanderlust dreams. Perhaps it was when Mofe of Naija Nomads talked about her visit during one of our video sessions for ‘Through Our Eyes‘ but when Mark asked if I wanted to go, my answer was a resounding ‘YES!’

The result of this was 16 truly magical days, navigating the maze of vibrant squares and bustling medinas, watching beautiful sunrises and sunsets over deserts and oceans. Driving through winding roads with views of snow-capped mountains and having so many beautiful and unique experiences.

Planning the Trip

Of course, the first step was planning the trip. Now, I know how planning a trip with avid travellers can be. Everyone has an idea of what experiences they are looking forward to and sometimes, managing these expectations can be difficult. So I was a bit nervous at first for this phase. But I had already sort of travelled with Mark twice before, so I knew I had nothing to worry about.

We decided on the dates we wanted to visit and had about six months to plan everything out. During that time, we worked on different versions of itineraries based on what was important to us. We also weighed the pros and cons of having a fixed itinerary, booking our accommodations and bus/train tickets in advance versus winging the trip and booking things as we go.

Since we were both not keen on staying in particular riads, (we actually planned on Couchsurfing for the most part), we leaned towards the latter option.

In the end, rather than having a concrete itinerary, we came up with four key activities we were interested in; spending New Year’s Day in Marrakech, camping in the dunes of the Sahara Desert, visiting Chefchaouen for the photo op for its vibrant culture and climbing Mount Toubkal.

It wasn’t possible to fit in all four within our time frame so we narrowed down to three and Chefchaouen made the cut! (Feyi’s trip and photos were the triggers!)

PS: It makes sense to book in advance for the popular riads or hotels as they get sold out quickly. But if you want to book places just before you have to travel, you’ll still be fine as platforms like Booking.com or Airbnb have an overwhelming amount of options to choose from. Many of which allow travellers to change dates without cost.

Getting a Visa to Morocco and Flight Details

Nigerian passport holders need a visa to visit Morocco. Luckily, this isn’t so difficult to get. I used the services of Globe Jaunters to get mine. It was the most cost-effective and convenient option for me and they delivered in record time. For my flight, I flew directly into Casablanca with Royal Air Maroc. The onward 4hour flight into Casablanca was not very pleasant (in terms of in-flight services) but my return flight with the same airline was splendid.

I’ll share our final itinerary and what we got up to in the next few posts. Hopefully, it can inspire you to plan your trip and visit too!

Have you ever been to Morocco or is it now on your travel list? Let me know in the comment section below!

Other article in this series:

Marrakech

Sand & Snow!

Here’s Looking at You, Kid!

Photo Credit: Mark H