Our older daughter invited me to go with her to Morocco in December and we had a great time. Like two years ago when I went to Switzerland, I blogged in advance and didn’t take my computer, since it was unclear whether I’d have wifi the whole time, especially since we’d be camping in the Sahara desert.

Our daughter was in charge of the details of the trip and I just went along. Morocco, is a place she’s always wanted to go. For me, it was not a bucket list trip, but I jumped at the opportunity of being with her. After research, she chose for us to travel with a small group from the Solo Female Travelers Network. Besides the two of us, there were four other women (from California/Guatemala, Oregon, Texas, & Nashville), along with a local guide and a driver.

I’ve never been on a tour and am usually too independent for one, but in this kind of country and itinerary, a guide was not only informative and helpful, but got us in places we would never have been able to go on our own. I was grateful for such a small group, and that we got along so well.

Morocco is considered a liberal Muslim country, and they are warm and welcoming of tourists, loving to share their culture. It is larger geographically than you’d think and we had some long drives, but the topography changes quickly and is very varied. Often movies are filmed there because you can find any sort of landscape relatively conveniently. The Moroccans particularly love Jews, and it was heartening to see the Muslims and Jews have such a fondness for each other.

Here are some other generalities:

• Be prepared to haggle in every exchange, including taxis.
• The money is 10x ours, so a $200 bill is $20
• They wear a hooded outer garment called a jilaba over their clothes
• You will eat tagine everywhere
• to avoid getting sick (which my guidebook said we should expect) drink only bottled water (even for toothbrushing) and eat no raw veggies (unless our guide specifically told us it was okay because there they were washed with vinegar and not water). Also avoid street food (which we had some our first day before the tour started). We did not get sick.
• There is not much variety food wise there for vegetarians. I was prepared and brought greens powders, protein powder, and nuts to supplement my food.

Some words I learned:

• Mashi mooshkil (no worries)
• bssaha (cheers)
• shukran (thank you)

A couple of my favorite moments, related to Muslim women:

• Coming out of the market in Casablanca, a back lit, beautiful woman in an evergreen headscarf and full length dress was coming in. Her face was so classical and the chiaroscuro so beautiful, I was stunned. I was transported back to like the 12th century, and I really did a double take, because it felt like I had time traveled. Then, I saw that she was talking on her cell phone, which seemed so anachronistic, and I smiled.
• In a casba we were surrounded by local tourists, since it was a school holiday. A father was about to take a photo of his children, and I pantomimed asking him if he’d like me to take it with him in it. He enthusiastically said yes. Dashing from behind me to get into the photo came the mother in full conservative burka, but from her exuberant body language and her flashing eyes, you could see she was fun and happy. The photo I took of them on their phone was the best one I took on the whole trip. The spontaneity, joy and love in it accentuated the fabulous lighting and gorgeous locale. I’m sure they are pleased with it. Seeing that photo in my mind, I know it was true art and I treasure that memory, but for me, it taught me a lesson that not all women behind the veil are subjugated and repressed.

The next two weeks on this blog will follow my trip photos of the very full and interesting trip we had, so I hope you enjoy some armchair traveling. We got back just before Christmas to full holidays, and I’m just now getting to editing photos. Thanks for coming along with me belatedly!

Above you can see my carry on luggage, and below you can see our itinerary (although a couple of the accommodations were different and better than those listed), with a bleary photo of us thankfully meeting up in the Casablanca airport, after our respective red-eye flights. My flight played snake charmer music and only gave the announcements in Arabic and French!