‘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!
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Hi Amarachi,
First time on your blog. Got your details from Ufuoma Oghene. I came primarily to read about your Morocco experience…especially Casablanca, as I am due to travel there next month.
Really like the layout and the details within – you’ve done a good job. Can’t wait for the Moroccan follow-up. I pray you spent a few days in Casa.
More grease and happy travels!
Hey Kanmi, great to have you here! I spent about a day in Casablanca and had a good time. I’m sure you will too. I didn’t get to visit that many places there though. Just the Hassan II Mosque and a few restaurants including Rick’s Cafe. I also enjoyed walking along the Corniche. Didn’t get to visit the medina and souks which you may want to check out. Would you have time to see other cities in Morocco during your visit?
Thanks for the tips Amarachi.
I may dabble in a trip to Marrakesh….it’s almost unavoidable on a trip to Morocco, right? Will definitely update you on how I get on.
Never been to Morocco, well transit if that counts. lool
Now i want to visit..
Wow!
Amarachi I can’t begin to explain my excitement now.
I have been on Morocco case for some days now because I plan to make a trip 30th March. I have done all kinds of sketch plan with respect to the cities I want to visit, accommodation cost using airbnb and booking.com transportation cost moving about the cities (Casa, Mara, ESS, Fez etc)…lol. In fact, in my mind and paper, all is set…lol. But then comes the almighty travel joy killer of most Nigerian passport holders. I got stuck here and have exchanged several mails to this effect.
Then I just said I should check Amarachi’s site to see if there is anything about Morocco travel there and boom to my face!
Wow! a whole 16 days? This babe shaa, I dey gbadu your style shaa……lol. Congratulations and well done!. Please I will do you a mail later.
Thanks Tochukwu, I await your email along with my consultation fee 🙂 Shukran!
Lovely experience. Morocco is certainly a good vacation destination and it’s a lot cheaper than going to Europe and America however there is racism there against blacks, you probably didn’t experience it because you travelled with a non black person.
A Gabonese colleague who schooled there told me how she was beaten up on the street for just being black and a lot of her black friends also experienced similar racism driven abuses.
That’s very worrisome. I’m sorry to hear that. I did read a few articles about racism in the country before travelling and I think I sort of braced myself for the worst. But apart from the Rasta thing, I don’t think I encountered any DIRECT form of abuse. I don’t know if it was because I had a partner who isn’t black (like you mentioned) or for some other reasons..
Morocco is now ringing in my ears. I am having a problem deciding between Kenya and Morocco. Your pictures were truly magical. Hope you will time to talk about their food in your next post.
Hmmmmmm, Kester please let the Morocco ring louder….lol.
I am already making my Morocco plans and it would be nice if I see people to travel with or meet up with.
Thanks, Dad. There’s no need to decide, just go to both countries! 😛
Yes, I’ll probably make a separate post about what we ate there…
Your pictures are amazing!!! Thank you in advance for an amazing Easter trip,love you 😘😘
Haha, love you too but ehhh, what Easter trip?
Sounds crazy, but Morocco looks like so much fun after these pictures. Thankfully your post has given me all the info on how to make this dream come true. I’m definitely sold.
Happy to hear that, Kevin. Thanks for your comment
Love this particular blog post. Love the pictures. Please when next are you planning another trip. Within Nigeria or Ghana, Cape Coast. I’m interested please. I need details. Thanks. Following your handle on Twitter. MsSpice007
Thank you, Tina. I don’t have any concrete plans at the moment. I’m more inclined to travel with Unravelling Nigeria (for trips with the country). Ghana, I’m not sure of but there are a couple of tours going there during Easter. Maybe you want to check up on those? You can send me an email and I’ll send you details.
I don’t like you too much. I want to live in a riad. It looks so dreamy.
Glad you had fun. Can’t wait to visit.
LOOL, I like how I’m just keeping all these countries for when I damn everything and travel for a year.
Haha, you know you love me! Oh yeah, that one year trip has to happen!
Its always a delight reading your travel stories. Been looking forward to this since I saw pics on IG.
It’s great to hear that, Tamie. Thank you!