Preparing for your Trip to Morocco
Tangier, a city in northwestern Morocco
Finally your friends agreed to the group trip to Morocco! I know it’s quite over whelming preparing and packing for a trip. This will serve as a checklist for the important things you must do in-order to make your vacation stress free;
Check out if you need a visa to enter Morocco.I’m a Nigerian with United kingdom’s residence permit; so I was eligible for the online e-visa.After submitting your application online, it takes 24-48hrs to get your visa.This is the official website to get your Moroccan visa. The standard E-visa costs 770MAD (60 GBP for processing time of 3 days) and the express E-visa costs 1100 (87 GBP for processing time of 24hours).I paid for the standard visa and got my visa in 24hrs. Make sure to pay attention to the passport size, if the wrong size if submitted it may delay your visa.
It is important to note that Morocco uses the 2 pin chargers as opposed to England where 3 pin chargers are being used. It is cheaper to get one in your country. I bought it for more than 10£ in Morocco. You can get this way cheaper from amazon.
2 pin charger used in Morocco
Don’t forget to message or call your Riad/hotel to arrange for transportation from the Airport to your hotel/Riad in Morocco.Private transfers cost 200MAD/person(15£).The rates during the day and night time are different; it is more expensive at night.Also, you can contact the airline prior to departure to make the necessary taxi arrangements for you.There are always taxis outside the airport, if you intend to use them you must be prepared to haggle prices and agree to an amount before commencing the trip.
Remember to withdraw some cash. You’ll need cash to pay for taxis and your meals in the restaurants. Most UK banks will charge extra when using contactless to make payments; however, Revolut does not charge extra. I used my revolut card to make some contactless payments.It is important to note that; you’ll be charged extra by your bank when you make any withdrawal using Moroccan ATMs.
On arrival at the airport, it is important to note that certain nationalities are cleared by customs in the offices.If you have an African passport, please ask for the customs office to be cleared, do not queue on same lines as the Europeans and Britons.I made the mistake of queueing on the same line as the Europeans and it took over an hour to get to my turn, then the customs officer directed me to the office where I was to be cleared.If you are nigerian make sure to ask for this office as soon as you arrive in-order to save your time and energy.
Do not forget to change your money to the local currency; the Moroccan Dirham, make sure to count your cash at the counter to avoid being cheated. You can also find the mobile network stalls; get yourself a sim card. I got Maroc telecoms simcard, the sim was free and I was charged 200 MAD ( 15£) for 20GB internet.Marco Telecoms internet was good all through my stay;I didn’t experience any network issues. There are other network providers also like Meditel and Inwi, Orange.
Jemaa El-fna square
5.Be on guard and watch out for tricks/scams; nothing is free in Morocco and the locals do everything with the sole
intent of being rewarded by cash. Popular scams include;
Asking for money after they show you directions.This issue can be avoided by getting your sim with internet from the airport and using google maps.
Being charged exorbitant rates by the roadside taxis. In Marrakech, you can call 0524409499, and the operator will send you a taxi. There is a fixed service fee of 15 MAD (and more at night) plus the meter fee. Always haggle your taxi prices before getting into the roadside taxi.
Don’t indulge random locals on the street shouting expletives and making rude remarks.Just keep walking to your destination.
Watch out for the Henna ladies in the city square; Jemaa El-fna, they distract you with talking and quickly grab your hand and start drawing the Henna.They claim it’s free initially and request for payment three times above the standard henna prices.The hennas they draw are not nice looking and do not last long.Avoid them and walk on.
Stay on guard, there are Pickpockets everywhere; You can buy a small crossbody bag which stays in-front of you all the time.
Taking Pictures with live animals. As soon as you arrive most tourist attractions or even on the streets, the locals will offer you horses/donkeys/birds/goats to take pictures with. If you want to take pics with those animals it’s fine; be aware you will pay later.
Book for your tours online, although it is cheaper to book in the city square. You won’t have to stress/worry over the legitimacy of the tour company.They are reputable sites you can book your tours from. I found Airbnb experiences to be cheaper. You can compare the prices and reviews across Tripadvisor, Airbnb, GetyourGuide.
