If you've ever been interested in any crazy different places
compared to the US or Europe,
and you're looking for a place that has a lot of bang
for your buck, but also a lot of chaotic
eye-opening experiences,
I can confidently say that Morocco is your place.
Hello and happy whatever day of the week it is for you
as you are watching or listening to this.
Today's episode is going to dive deeper into
some of the very key moments and memories
that I particularly remember from Morocco
that I think would be very insightful, entertaining,
and interesting for you to know about
if you are ever planning a trip to Morocco
or to the North of Africa in general.
From my own experience, from getting scammed
to getting scarred from henna, to goats, to desert,
to Moroccan flight attendants,
to riding camels in the desert and being surprised
by some of the most unexpected things
that you wouldn't think normally would happen
in your daily life, Morocco is colorful.
And I would encourage anybody who has the chance
to go to Morocco to really go and experience
this crazy place for yourself.
I personally went to Morocco six years ago.
So in 2019, I went to Morocco with two of my good friends.
All of us were living in France at the time
and we all went to Morocco for 10 days.
Morocco is definitely one of those places
that really oftentimes comes back to me
when I think of how different and exotic,
yet also very raw in terms of some of the realities
of Morocco when you visit as a tourist.
I really wish that I would have known
some of these things before I even went in the first place.
So without further ado, let's go ahead
and jump into these mini stories from Morocco.
I hope you enjoy.
The first memory of Morocco that I have to share
is the time that I got scammed in the beautiful blue city
that is known as Chefchaouen.
And if you are not familiar with what Chefchaouen is,
it is basically literally a city
where all of the buildings have been painted blue.
Historically, as it's believed,
Jewish people came to Morocco,
escaping persecution from Europe,
and they painted all of the buildings here blue
as a sign and symbol of divinity and heaven.
That is why Chefchaouen is blue.
Even though there are not that many Jewish people left there.
Anyway, little tidbit aside, I got scammed there.
I had traveled to Chefchaouen with one of my two friends.
Our other friend had to be somewhere else.
We got to Chefchaouen via, let's call it a minibus.
That's just one of the main ways you get around Morocco
is taking a little minibus.
We got there and for some reason,
we had so much trouble locating our Airbnb.
Well, what happens?
This local person comes up to us and specifically me,
because this person thinks like other Moroccans did,
think that I am Moroccan.
My friends and I did our best to not speak English.
We were all living in France at the time of our Morocco trip
and we made it a point to not speak English
except among each other.
So when we were in Morocco,
we were speaking French with the local people
and we were really trying to blend in
and understand their culture.
This local person comes up to me
and I tell him in French, we need help.
Can you please help us find this place?
I pulled up the place on my phone and he said,
yes, I know where that is.
Follow me.
And me, especially naively thinking,
oh, he's just being so nice.
Yeah, I appreciate this country.
Wow, all the generosity.
I was just so naive.
Followed this person up this really steep hill
and we eventually, because of him, found our Airbnb.
Right at the end of the trek up this hill,
he asked me for 50 euros.
And I looked at him and I was just thinking,
what?
50 euros for you walking me up a hill
and you giving me directions and some help?
No.
That brings me to another point
that you need to know about Morocco.
If you ever, ever go, you need to negotiate price.
A price tag that you see in any market can be negotiated.
So don't necessarily accept the price.
You need to haggle.
You need to negotiate, especially in touristy places
where you might be overcharged anyway.
So when this person said 50 euros,
of course I'm thinking, no, that's ridiculous.
So I haggled a little bit and he pushed back
and eventually we agreed on 20 euros.
Gave him 20 euros because he walked me up a hill
and it did help us find our Airbnb.
So whatever, you need to be prepared to negotiate price.
And unlike me, don't take random walks and directions
from strangers in places like Morocco
because there is a good chance that a person will want
some sort of compensation in return
because that's just what happens
when you are in the North of Africa.
So be very aware of that.
My next Morocco memory involves a Moroccan flight attendant.
My two friends and I were taking a flight from Talje
in the North of Morocco to Mahakesh.
We were all sitting in different parts of the plane
because we just didn't book together.
We were super cheap and we're like, whatever,
we'll see each other at the destination.
I was sitting by myself and I noticed
that there were two flight attendants
working this specific flight.
Both of them were pretty young
and one of them was a really attractive Moroccan guy.
When he was giving out refreshments and food,
I made eye contact with him and he was pretty flirty
and he was really nice.
He was attractive so I wasn't opposed to it.
And even after he finished the refreshments
and the food portion of the flight, he kept looking at me
and I smiled at him and he smiled back
and then he also winked and not too long
after he winked at me, he came up to me
and at first he didn't know what language to speak.
He first tried Arabic because he thought that,
okay, I'm Moroccan, I must speak Arabic, but no.
And when I didn't understand, he switched to French
but my French was not strong enough at that time
to understand whatever it was he said.
So then he switched to English
and then we found a common ground.
We spoke in English and he casually invited me
to the back of the plane where we could drink coffee
and talk, which I didn't know that was protocol,
which actually it's probably not,
but he invited me to the back of the plane.
He said, come here, let's go to the back of the plane
and I followed him.
I got out of my seat and here I am just standing
in the back of the plane when everyone else is sitting down
and I am with this attractive Moroccan flight attendant
drinking coffee because he asked me what I wanted to drink
and that's what I said and we were just talking
and he was pretty fascinating at the time.
It's just bizarre, random situations like this
that really make any sort of trip that much more interesting.
This flight attendant and I actually did keep in touch
for a little while after my Morocco trip
had finished in general, but I honestly have since
for years lost touch with him.
The point that I wanted to get with this mini story though
is the importance of meeting different people,
whether you are single or whether you are not,
but just simply meeting the local people in general
and getting to interact with them makes your experience
so much more enjoyable and memorable.
Be open to talking to lots of different people
because I don't think you will regret it.
This next memory that I wanna touch upon
is actually reflective of a harsh reality
when it comes to North Africa
and a number of countries in general.
This next story involves racism.
And just a little disclaimer before I share the story,
not everybody in Morocco or in the North of Africa
or in the world is racist, but it's really important
to be aware that these sorts of things in many countries
still happens and it's so tragically wrong,
but I hope that my own experience
with what I'm about to share will make you
a little bit more aware in general of this situation
because I absolutely was not.
And this was my hugest mistake.
My two friends and I were taking this long car ride,
I don't remember where, we were taking a taxi to somewhere
and naturally on a long car ride,
you stop for bathroom breaks.
There was a point in time when two out of the three of us
had to stop for a bathroom break, including me.
So my one other friend and I asked the driver
to stop somewhere and we do, we both get out of the car
and there were a couple of local Moroccans
at this restaurant slash cafe
who were at the front of the restaurant.
One of them took me in one direction
and the other took my friend in the other direction
to go to the bathroom.
What I thought had happened was the two guys
at the restaurant had taken us to different restrooms
that were the same, but that's not what happened.
One of the guys took me to a pretty regular restroom
with a toilet and toilet paper.
I mean, just like your standard bathroom.
My friend on the other hand was taken to a hole
in the ground with like nothing and that was her bathroom.
My friend is Haitian American and I had no idea
that this was happening at the time
and my friend even got very upset
that I had not stood up for her
and that I hadn't said anything
because I was oblivious and didn't notice it.
So we both got back from the bathroom.
I had not realized that my friend was so irritated
and especially at me, I actually didn't even notice
that she was basically distraught and really annoyed.
It wasn't until later that night
that I found out what happened
and I really apologized and felt horrible.
I really was a horrible friend
and I should have stood up for her
had I actually realized what that was,
that it was a racist bathroom situation in Morocco,
discriminatory, absolutely wrong.
If you go to Morocco, you really need to be aware
that this situation can happen
and you need to know how to respond to it.
These next two observations that I'm going to share
really throw your mind in for a loop
if you are not aware of them in advance.
They are small things, but when you see them,
you really think that you're looking into another world
for a second or two.
The first little mind blowing phenomenon in Morocco
that you will find if you take a cross country trip
via car or taxi or bus or whatever
is you just may see goats in trees.
And that is not a joke.
Literally there will be Argon trees and trees with fruits
and goats are just casually standing up on the branches
and eating them.
It literally looks like something out of a movie
if you have never witnessed anything like this before.
Like why and how the hell are goats able to get up
in trees and eat fruit and why do they do it?
I had apparently learned that not only in Morocco,
but also in places like Greece and Spain,
but especially in Morocco,
this can be a very common sight to see.
The reason you can find goats in trees
is because oftentimes in the surroundings
that the goats are in, there is not a lot of grass
and not a lot of shrubbery that they can eat from.
Goats really like fruits and in order for them
to actually reach the fruits that can't come
from this lack of grass and shrubbery,
they have the ability to climb trees
and eat the fruit from the trees.
Goats also have the agility and balance
to be able to make it happen.
Most people would never be able to actually picture this
since in the US and for the majority of Europe,
that is just not a sight you see.
You don't casually walk outside and see goats eating fruits
from trees and standing on the branches all over the tree.
It's an interesting phenomenon
and one that is very special to Morocco.
The first time that I saw goats in trees,
I was so mesmerized.
This second thing is actually a little bit more innocent
and not nearly as wild as goats in trees,
but at the same time,
it's still really through my friends and I for a loop
when this happened.
My couple of friends and I were at a restaurant for lunch.
We looked at the menu and we wanted to order apple juice.
It sounds very simple, apple juice.
So in French, we asked our waiter,
can we please have apple juice?
The waiter takes our order and says, yes, no problem.
I have you covered.
He comes back and gives us apple juice.
And when I say apple juice,
I mean it was literally a milkshake.
This was not apple juice.
What we understood was it was apparently apple juice
with milk in it,
which at least for most Americans and Europeans that I know,
I have not seen that.
And not only that,
but this milk was very frothy at the top.
So it was almost like foam.
You would never have imagined
that there was any remnants of apple taste in this thing.
Our French was not perfect,
but I really do believe that we said apple juice
clearly enough to be able to ask the waiter
to bring us apple juice.
But instead we got this drink that looked like a milkshake.
If for whatever reason you want to drink apple juice,
or if you see apple juice on the menu of any Moroccan place,
be aware that apple juice is apparently something different.
It is apparently a frothy milkshake like drink
with a little bit of apple taste.
I don't know who needs to hear this information
or how that would be useful to any Moroccan trip,
but I'm just sharing the knowledge.
This next memory from Morocco involves Mahakesh.
And there are two key things from Mahakesh
that I specifically remember
and can very much share and educate you on.
If you have never been to Mahakesh, let alone Morocco,
let me tell you that Mahakesh is insanely chaotic.
At least for me at this point in my life six years ago,
when my friends and I first walked
on the streets of Mahakesh, we were so confused.
Along a very narrow street,
it was totally not uncommon to see a horse,
then a car, then a person, then a bike,
going all in the same tiny little narrow alleyway,
trying to get to where they need to go.
And it was constant, constantly trying to navigate
around traffic, so to speak,
without getting hit by a motorbike,
by not getting hit by a horse,
not running into another person.
That alone was just, wow, welcome to culture shock.
That is just the way it goes when you are in Mahakesh.
So be aware of this.
It is a little bit crowded.
My second most vivid memory of Morocco,
and if you are on Instagram,
there is a good chance that you have seen this reel
that I made on this very situation.
When I was in Mahakesh, I got Hannah
and I got scarred from it.
My friends and I were shopping at one of the local bazaars
or one of the local markets,
because that is just what you do when you're in Mahakesh.
You shop for spices, you shop for clothes,
you shop for some very good quality stuff,
especially when it comes to cuisine and lights,
like lantern lights.
It was at some point in time that I had really wanted
to get Hannah on my hands
because this is just the traditional ink.
This is the traditional thing that many girls get.
And I wanted to experience and immerse myself
in this very custom as much as I could.
My friends were very supportive of this idea
and we went around the market square of Mahakesh,
trying to find a shop or a place or somebody
who could do Hannah.
Well, we didn't find somebody immediately,
but I knew and was determined to find somebody somehow.
My friends and I did find somebody eventually,
and that turned out being a whole other experience.
I got Hannah from this lady on the street
who claimed that she did Hannah
and was asking for 40 euros.
40 euros for Hannah.
Welcome to tourist country again.
It was really overly priced,
but at the same time, my friends and I had looked
for I don't know how long that day
for somebody who could do Hannah.
And I was just impatient.
I didn't wanna look again.
This was seemingly perfect in the market square
where the tourists were.
It had to have been good quality, right?
Well, think again.
I got the Hannah done.
And what I wish I would have known that I learned later
is if you ever get Hannah done,
the ink that goes on your hands or anywhere
should not be black.
It should be a brownish color,
like a greenish or orangy brownish color.
This type of Hannah is safe.
The type of Hannah that I got was black.
And I was not educated.
I had no idea that there was a difference
between black Hannah and brown Hannah.
So I got this black Hannah done.
It did eventually fade to brown,
but then I noticed that after a few weeks
that this Hannah had left some scars on my left wrist,
which even if I were to show them on camera again,
you would not really be able to see them.
But me looking at my own arm myself,
I still see the scars from six years ago.
When the Hannah first faded,
it looked like a bunch of brown freckles
all up and down my wrist.
And I was like, was it the Hannah that actually did that?
Oh, wow.
I honestly didn't think that much about it.
And I honestly, frankly, wasn't bothered
because to me, this was like my souvenir of Morocco.
But just in case you want to get Hannah,
or if you ever travel with somebody who does want Hannah,
please be aware and keep your eyes peeled for black Hannah.
Do not fall for it.
When you get the Hannah done,
make sure that the ink used is not black.
I wish somebody would have told me that.
My next memory of Morocco took place
in a French coastal city in Morocco called Esowera.
One of the two friends and I went to Esowera
for a few days just to experience the coast of Morocco.
I know that typically when most of us think of Morocco,
we think of desert, we think of camels,
we think of chaos if it's Mahakesh,
we think of Chefchaouen, the blue city.
We think of all of these sort of oriental type environments
and landscapes, but we don't really associate the coast,
at least most of us don't anyway, with Morocco.
I can definitely tell you that Esowera
is basically like a Moroccan Dubrovnik in Croatia.
It also has Greek Santorini vibes
because there are many buildings there
that are white and blue like you would see in Santorini,
and it just feels so low key.
It feels so relaxed.
For me personally, one of the most beautiful sunsets
on the beach that I have ever seen was in Esowera.
I cannot recommend this place enough
for any sort of sunset, majestic to say the least.
I remember when my friend and I were in Esowera,
there was this one day when we were walking along the beach
and there were camels on the beach.
So you had camels walking on the beach
and then out of nowhere,
there was this random Moroccan dude on a four-wheeler
and out of nowhere, he came up to us and specifically me,
again, because I looked Moroccan and he asked me,
do you want a ride?
And I had to think about it for a second
because I didn't wanna leave my friend.
I didn't feel like a good person
just taking this random ride on the beach with camels
and leaving my friend there,
but somehow in the end she seemed to be okay
and I took this random four-wheeler ride
with this random dude and we went all around the beach
and we swept by the camels
and we were literally riding all up in the sand dunes.
It was so fun and that actually was free.
I kinda thought I was gonna get scammed again.
I still don't know if I would recommend
trusting random Moroccans on the beach
and four-wheelers offering to take you on a ride.
I probably wouldn't do that to this day,
but back then, again, I was in my YOLO season
and I was just all up for any opportunity and I did it.
The point of this little story is once again,
be careful, but be adventurous
and if you have the opportunity to take a four-wheeler
or a motorcycle on a beach with camels all around,
you should do it.
Last but not least, one of my most treasured memories
that I have of Morocco even to this day
when I look back on that trip is having the opportunity
to take a camel ride on the edge of the Sahara Desert
in a place called Marzouga.
When most people think of Morocco,
most people tend to think of the desert and camels
and the head wraps, the whole shebang.
Well, what I can say is my friends and I 100,000%
experienced that to the fullest.
I remember my friends and I had to take a 14-hour taxi
and private driver to even get to the desert
from Mahakesh where we had left from.
I don't even know what all we did
and how we survived that 14-hour drive to the desert,
but we did and I know you may be thinking,
well, Mary Grace, why did you not just fly?
Oh, believe me, we would have flown
if that could have been an option, but it wasn't.
I am not sure about present day 2025,
but I do know that in 2019 when my friends and I
went to Morocco, there was no airport
in the area around Mahzouga
and around that beginning of the Sahara Desert.
The only way we could have gotten there was by car.
Ironically enough though, it was actually really
not that expensive to take 14 hours to the desert.
I am pretty sure that we spent only about $100
for that entire car and that driver
to be able to go to the desert one way.
All in all, 100,000% worth it.
We basically went glamping for two days.
I actually really am happy we did that
because in a place like the Sahara Desert,
the temperatures when it comes to the night temperature
and the day temperature, those two temperatures
are so starkly different from each other.
It can be super, super hot during the day
to the point where you have to walk in the sand
with some sort of shoes in contrast to the nighttime
when you need to bundle up in a jacket
because it is so freezing.
The desert really doesn't retain heat that well at all.
So just be aware if you have not had a lot of exposure
to desert climate at all.
Being able to actually get up on a camel
and literally look all around you
and to just see these orange sand dunes,
just completely untouched, beautiful,
and just being able to see so far into the distance
and seeing all of the dunes in front of you
while you are literally riding a camel,
you are literally in a movie.
It is so undeniably special.
And I couldn't recommend this enough also
to anybody who goes to Morocco.
Like, have you really been to Morocco
if you haven't ridden on a camel?
I can very confidently say the answer to that is no.
Even if you happen to be scared of riding a camel,
believe me, especially if you go through
an Airbnb experience or an agency like we did,
we went through an Airbnb experience,
those camels and the people involved
will take very good care of you
and you don't need to worry
because they do this all the time
and you have nothing to worry about.
All in all, even though Morocco is not perfect,
like any other country,
it is so astoundingly beautiful
with its many luscious landscapes, architecture,
many long roads that are just waiting to be driven on.
The cuisine is incredible.
It's not only couscous, you get more than just that.
If you go to Morocco, you need to try tagine,
which is a signature dish of Morocco.
Tagine is the type of pot that the dish is cooked in
and you can have vegetables and meat
and other delicious foods steaming hot and cooked in here.
It really hits the spot
and I simply just encourage you to take some sort of taxi,
even take your own car if you're able to do that
or even a bus, whatever you can do,
and just take a ride through the country.
Take it through the countryside
because the landscapes and scenes
that you will see outside of the window
are all worth the ride.
You will gain a whole different perspective
of landscape and beauty
once you have taken any of these means of transportation
through Morocco.
So those are the moments that comprise of this handful
of all sorts of crazy memories in Morocco.
These are not the only ones.
There are actually some more,
but for the purpose of more brevity for this episode,
I'm going to go ahead and end our Morocco journey here.
If you are interested in a part two,
then please do let me know on Instagram
at onceuponatrip.pc
or on my host account at marygracecroffert.
Feel free to let me know your feedback
and also as always to share any similar experiences,
anything that you particularly have witnessed
in another country that was really weird
or just something that you didn't expect to see yourself.
I really do hope that with today's episode
that you took some new little tidbits away
when it comes to Moroccan culture, people, and environment.
I hope that you enjoyed.
I look forward to being back here with you next week
for another fun, adventurous trip of an episode.
I will see you next Tuesday.