I don’t have any creative angle or tips list for this post. I really just wanted to share details of our trip to Morocco so I don’t have to relive the drama a thousand times since ALL of our friends and family want to know what the heck happened.
A couple things before we get started with the play-by-play:
We have been trying to get to Japan since May of 2020, but since we haven’t been able to make it yet, we wanted to still do something big for our tenth wedding anniversary. So we splurged. We hired a Moroccan woman-owned travel company to help us plan our trip, making it as sustainable as possible, and really digging deep into local culture instead of staying at chain hotels and restaurants.
Journey Beyond Travel’s Lucas and Amina Peters were so helpful in the planning process, helping us customize our itinerary and connecting us with drivers and guides throughout the country.
We always purchase travel insurance for big international trips. It’s not something I do for small or short domestic trips, even for the month we spent in the Pacific Northwest a couple years ago. But I’ve never had to file a claim (until now).
We also always register with the U.S. STEP program which basically lets the federal government know where you are in case of emergencies. It wasn’t necessarily helpful in this situation, but it could have been had we been if we needed assistance getting out of the country. Someone other than your mom should know where you are at all times.
There is usually one small thing that goes wrong on every trip. I have never been on a trip where everything was perfect; that’s just part of travel. But on this trip, everything that could go wrong did.
I want to be crystal clear that Morocco and specifically Moroccan people are amazing. None of what happened to us is a reflection of the country or people. Just a string of bad luck and unfortunate circumstances.
We’re Delta girlies but the best flight timing was a split ticket with American flying us from CMH to JFK and Royal Air Maroc flying us from JFK to CMN. It wasn’t technically a split ticket since they are both in the One World Alliance. About a month before our trip, American canceled our the flight we bought and rebooked us on a different flight that morning, shrinking our 2.5-hour layover to just the legal minimum 90 minutes.
They also canceled our return flight and just sent us to Boston instead. Why? Great fucking question. So we called customer service to get both of these issues fixed. They changed our return flight back to Columbus, but we had to stay in NY overnight and of course they wouldn’t compensate us for the hotel because “it was our choice to change our flight” from Boston to Columbus even though the flight we purchased was to Columbus. Whatever, that’s what hotel points are for, right?
The departure flight though was waved away as a “nah, you’ll be fine, we do it all the time, you’ll be all good.” So we trusted them and boy were we wrong to. But knowing we’d have a super short layover during lunch, we even planned ahead and packed sandwiches from home so we wouldn’t have to get lunch in JFK. We didn’t check bags; we did everything right.
If you don’t care about flight issues, skip to Day 2. If you want just earthquake details, skip to Day 7.
Day One: Saturday, September 2, 2023
We checked in the night before, got printed boarding passes for both flights when we got to the airport. Our flight from CMH to JFK was uneventful, even getting in a few minutes early (10:10 a.m.). We got off the plane, went to the bathroom and headed toward the international terminal.
Unfortunately, construction had recently started at JFK and the international terminal is now disconnected from the rest of the airport, requiring you to take a shuttle bus. It’s running late, but we seem to have plenty of time. We get to the terminal and get in the TSA line at about 10:40 a.m.
We both have TSA Pre-Check, but not Global Entry so it was the regular line. The gentleman checks our boarding passes and says they are invalid and that we need to go to the desk to get new ones.
We then walked all the way to the other side of the terminal where the Royal Air Maroc desk is and there is no one there except a couple security guards. We ask them if they know where the RAM folks are and they point to another smaller desk on the other side of the terminal. So we head that direction.
Once we get there, the woman looks at our passes and says that we needed to check in an hour before the flight (after walking over, it was a minute after the time limit since our flight was at 11:50 a.m.). We were frustrated and confused because we thought we had checked in when we checked into our American flight, and since we couldn’t check in on the American app or the RAM app.
By the time we explained all of this, there amassed a group of 10 other people in the same situation, all coming from connecting flights, TSA said the boarding passes were invalid and they walked over to the other desk before this one. The woman at the desk is making calls to her manager but she isn’t able to do anything in the computer system on her end and the group is getting nervous, some of them starting to yell at this woman. Not helping.
The manager comes out and basically says tough luck, go away. So we step back from the group who starts making a scene. We called our travel planners, our travel insurance, and American Airlines to see what they can do. American says RAM must rebook us and to ask again.
The manager comes over and asks us what our situation is since we weren’t screaming at her and offers to rebook us on the evening flight which is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. Unfortunately, she sees in the system that flight is already delayed 6 hours and shares that it’s unlikely it leaves at all.
She did some things in the system and then said we would have to come back at 5 p.m. to get our boarding passes and possibly some compensation for the 6-hour delay (nothing for the missed flight that we hadn’t missed yet).
We found out later that this manager had the power to print us the correct boarding passes, but she just refused for some reason.
When we spoke with American Airlines, they said that we should go to the customer service desk and ask for assistance. Well of course that desk is back in the rest of the airport, not the international terminal so back on the 30-minute shuttle bus for the second time.
The two folks we spoke to there were as confused as we were and went to give us some compensation, but the way the RAM manager rebooked our flight was to delete our original flight and just book the new one, instead of changing it in the system. So American had no power to compensate us in any way because it didn’t appear that we were even scheduled to be on the 11:50 a.m. flight. He gave us four $12 vouchers for food that expired the following day. Thanks, I guess, but that’s not going to cover the three meals each we need between now and our new flight.
They also said that TSA should have accepted our very valid boarding passes so to go ask to speak to a TSA manager over in the international terminal.
Bus shuttle #3. When we speak with a TSA manager, they say that the person who turned us away wasn’t TSA, they shouldn’t have even looked at our boarding passes. That they were from the airline and that RAM only accepts their own boarding passes so the women at the desk should have been able to print our new boarding passes and sent us along, or at least said to those not-TSA dudes that they are giving permission for the group of us to use the not RAM boarding passes, but they wouldn’t accept that when she tried.
So AA said it’s TSA’s fault. TSA said it’s RAM’s fault. And RAM then said it was AA (and other alliance airlines like JetBlue’s) fault for booking such short layovers. They said we all missed our flight and that they wouldn’t give us any compensation. They did give us $25 for the delay of the later flight though, woo hoo!
Through all of this we made friends with this lovely Moroccan couple who currently live in California. Jiji and Ben were so sweet, sharing intel they learned from calling RAM customer service and speaking arabic instead of English, giving us advice on what to eat, teaching us a few more words in Darija (Moroccan Arabic), and even giving us their number in case we needed anything while we were in the country. How kind and generous. They checked in on us multiple times throughout our trip, especially toward the end.
After bumming around JFK from 10:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., knowing the earliest we needed to be back at the airport was midnight and even that was early if the flight was going to be delayed again or canceled completely, we decided to take advantage of the time. Shuttle bus #4.
There is a vintage terminal at JFK that used to be for TWA, a now defunct airline. Think Pan-Am. It’s a hotel now with a couple bars and a pool, and often used for movie sets. But I thought that might be more comfortable than sitting at JFK for another six hours.
We immediately treated ourselves to milkshakes and comfort food while we took in the ambience.
As Andrew slowly went insane listening to Motown music, I enjoyed it and thought I might be able to squeeze in a little nap since I had already been up since 5 a.m. and was looking at another few hours ahead of me on a surprise red-eye flight.
Of course the staff didn’t like that and we got in trouble. Boo. But I managed to stay awake before we decided to head back to our terminal. Shuttle bus #5 though was a bit exciting as there was an accident blocking the bus lane so we were stuck on that one for a full hour.
We finally made it through security and needed to spend our food vouchers, but the only places open were snack bodegas so snacks it was!
The flight was delayed again, but we did finally take off shortly after 3 a.m. I know bigger airports fly 24 hours a day, but I personally had never boarded a flight at 3 a.m. before so we didn’t know what to expect when it came to service on board. We were exhausted already so were hoping to sleep before daylight. Unfortunately, no change to the service schedule so they served us dinner at 4 a.m., finally cleaning up around 5:30 a.m., just as the sun came up since we were flying east into the sunrise. No sleep for us.
We had been keeping in touch with our travel planner and our driver about our delays and they were all so flexible and chill about it. We were supposed to land around midnight, head straight to Rabat. Then in the morning explore Rabat before heading to Volubilis (Roman ruins) and then on to a winery before Fes that afternoon. Since we had this delay though, we didn’t get to Casablanca until about 3 p.m. Sunday, missing all of Rabat, Volubilis and heading straight to Fes.
Day Two: Sunday, September 3, 2023
We landed and went through customs with no issues. Since I knew Hamid, our driver, had been waiting on us quite a while I was texting him saying we had to stop at the currency exchange, and he said just skip it and that we could get cash later. Side note: Morocco has a closed currency meaning that it’s illegal to possess Dirhams outside the country so you must get cash once you arrive.
Hamid drove a fancy Mercedes van with a mini fridge full of water, and presented us with a giant box of traditional cookies. After determining that each variety was delicious, we slept most of the ride since we had been awake for 41 hours.
We later learned that Hamid had spent 30+ years in the hospitality industry, partly as a driver, and partly as a hotel manager. His wife is a biologist and his three kids live in Europe. He’s also an elected official with the Fes chamber of commerce. Very interesting dude!
He drove us four hours straight to Fes (with good bathroom stops) so we wouldn’t miss dinner. We were still an hour late for our reservation but he called ahead to let them know.
We drove through the new part of Fes which looked super cool, and he dropped us off at the gate of the medina (or old city). The Fes medina is a UNESCO World Heritage site and is the largest pedestrian-only zone in the world with its 9,000 streets and alleys.
Two porters from our riad (traditional guesthouse) picked us up and carted our luggage through the narrow maze to our home for the next three days.
As soon as we arrived, we were taken to the courtyard and served traditional Moroccan mint tea and cookies while our bags were taken to our room and everything else was arranged. This was our first introduction to the intensity of Moroccan hospitality. The extreme in which Moroccan people will go out of their way to make you feel comfortable made us, in fact, uncomfortable.
We usually travel extremely independently, usually only taking the occasional hour-long walking tour. So having a number of people at our beck and call was pretty weird for us. Aside from having to be on a formal schedule, and constantly feeling like a pain in the ass, we also started to notice that the same people were around at all hours of the day, every day. While everyone was always cheery and enthusiastic about assisting us, we felt like even the smallest ask was taking advantage of the situation.
Anyway, after we were shown to our room, we were invited up to the roof of the riad for our dinner. We had to take a moment to breath after the harrowing journey we just finished. The door to our room was two stories tall. It was an incredible suite right off the main courtyard.
The steps to the roof are… steep. Each step was at least as high as our knees so it was like doing a box jump at the gym, but for 50+ steps. But passing the pool halfway up was a nice break.
We were taken to our fancy table and told we were going to be served the traditional Moroccan dinner menu. If you know me personally, you know I have what we like to call food quirks. While it’s actually much more complicated than that, we had talked to our travel planners in advance and they assured me that I wouldn’t have an issue. I really just didn’t want to come off rude for not finishing everything on my plate as that sometimes happens at nice restaurants in the U.S. I did not know that our planner and driver would tell every single person who served us a meal about my hang-ups and that everyone would go out of their way to cater to me.
They served us Moroccan wine, olives, bread, kefta briouats, and lamb tagine. All of which we enjoyed with live jazz and the cool breeze of the evening. Then, they turned off the lights and the band started playing American happy birthday and the staff came over to our table with a full cake with candles and everything. I played along but it was so awkward because it was not at all near my birthday, or Andrew’s. There was no way we could finish the cake but since I blew out the candles, we couldn’t really share with the other tables. So sad to see that delicious cake go to waste.
The staff came over a few minutes later and asked if today was my birthday or next week. I of course told her that it wasn’t and that there had been a mix up. I had texted our planner and explained and they shared that they messed up the translation since in French anniversary is birthday. So awkward as all the other nearby tables overheard that conversation too. Oops! The beginning of us making a scene everywhere we go.
After the birthday cake situation, they brought over another glass of wine for each of us (complementary). “The Moroccan wine is fine, but we wanted you to have our best French wine instead.” Okay, but we really liked the local wine because of how unique it was. Goodness…
There are trees in our shower, but we were disgusting so it’s fine. Also didn’t realize there was a window in the bathroom until after we showered and flashed the whole guesthouse. Dumb Americans…
Day three: Monday, September 4, 2023
We woke up and trekked to the roof for breakfast which was a massive spread of breads, jam, honey, granola, yogurt, orange juice, fruit, and more. They also had an entire menu of eggs and pancakes and such they could have prepared for us but that was more than enough and we even felt guilty not eating everything. This was a frequent feeling for us.
At 9:30 a.m. Naim met us at our riad to discuss plans for the day. He gave a brief overview of what he normally does and then asked what of that we wanted to skip, or if there was anything we wanted to add. He covered most of my list so we followed his lead. We then met up with Hamid who drove us around for the morning. Hamid and Naim have known each other for 17 years doing tours like this with JBT.
Our first stop was Bou Inania Madrasa, a Koranic school. We loved learning more about Moroccan history, religion, culture, colors, art, architecture and more. Naim was so knowledgeable and was particularly good at explaining context for us dumb Americans. We learned that in Islam, it’s not permitted to create artistic interpretations of Allah, which is so different than Christian religions where an entire Renaissance of art was based on religious scenes depicting God. This is why so much Muslim art is abstract or geometric or ornate in other ways. So many cool tidbits like that.
After that we visited Aben Danan Synagogue which is now a museum. Many of the nomadic indigenous people (Amazigh) practiced judaism so the people of Maghreb were not only tolerant of each other but welcoming and embraced their differences, even honoring the other culture and religion by incorporating their colors and symbols into their art and architecture.
We then headed up to Borj Sud which is an old military fortress with an incredible panaramic view of the medina of Fes. We always try to get a view from up high wherever we go so this was cool.
Next, we went to Art Naji which is a pottery center where more experienced artisans take on apprentices who want to learn the craft. They formulate the clay, throw the vases, dishes and art, paint and decorate them, and do a ton of tile work for fountains and basins. It was so cool seeing all of their handiwork up close.
Lunch was at Dar Alamia where Naim helped us order before leaving us for the balcony. We had olives (usually three varieties are served at every meal), nine different salad starters, skewers, fries, lamb and vegetable tagine, and fruit. Once we were almost finished, he yelled down at us making a scene in the restaurant asking if we wanted coffee. Andrew said sure so then he yelled some more trying to get our server’s attention, something we could have done for ourselves… The waiter talked to Naim for a second before disappearing. A few minutes later, someone walked in from outside the restaurant carrying coffee for Andrew. Apparently they didn’t have coffee, so they went down the street to fetch some for us. In America, they would have just said, we don’t have coffee and that would be that. Not in Morocco!
Hamid dropped us off at one of the gates to the medina for the last time that day and we went deeper into the souks (historic artisan areas each specializing in one particular craft). We saw the folks hammering copper cookware, mixing henna, and carving wood. So cool! We also peeked in a mosque around the afternoon call to prayer. Non-muslims aren’t allowed inside.
One of the cool places we visited was a rug shop. We were planning on visiting artisans and ethical rug shops later on but Naim wanted to show us the one place that has Fesi style rugs which were very unique. We are still seriously considering buying a Moroccan rug. Maybe as a holiday treat to ourselves.
Naim and Hamid would walk into each shop we visited and speak in Arabic to the folks there, explaining that we spoke English and what we were interested in learning about, but also very firmly expressing that they should not sell us on anything. Every conversation with a shop owner was always education and culture focused and never trying to sell us anything unless we asked first, which was very different from what we expected and what I imagine it would have been like without our guides and driver. Naim would even ask us afterward if they tried to sell us on anything because he threatened them that he wouldn’t bring tourists back if they did.
The tanneries were a much anticipated stop on our tour since Fes is famous for them. We went inside a beautiful leather shop and climbed up five flights to stairs to get the perfect viewing off the balcony. Thank goodness for the sprig of mint they handed us on the way up though because the all-natural process for removing the hair, softening the hide and dying the leather includes pigeon excrement which is a pretty intense smell. It honestly didn’t smell any worse than a livestock barn at a county fair, but the mint was a nice cover.
We tried to get cash earlier in the morning but our debit cards weren’t working in the ATMs. Usually when you visit another country you get currency out to have on you when you arrive but the Moroccan Dirham is a closed currency meaning it’s illegal to possess it outside of the country. So we tried a couple more ATMs without success in the afternoon. Usually when we use our debit cards at a foreign ATM or retailer, our bank will send us a text asking if it’s fraud. We just say no, and then our cards usually work the rest of the time. But for some reason, it wasn’t triggering the fraud text.
And before you tell me I should have notified my bank before we left so everything would work, I usually do and when I went to do that, that feature was no longer on our bank’s website so I called and they said they don’t do that anymore, just that fraud text. We didn’t want to try to pay for dinner or something out and then our cards not work, so we asked our riad if they could charge us for something small to see if that type of transaction would trigger the fraud text. It didn’t on any of our cards, but Andrew’s debit card did finally start to work and we were able to get cash out of the ATM in the morning. Thank goodness because I was starting to make goofy plans like paying our driver via CashApp or something and then asking him to get us cash. Stressful but we figured it out.
We then each had an appointment at our riad spa. A hammam for me and a massage for Andrew because he’s a chicken. I love hammam treatments and have done them before. If you’re unfamiliar, it’s basically like being exfoliated and bathed by a professional. It’s the cleanest I have ever felt and my skin feels so soft and healthy. It’s not for everyone because there isn’t even the illusion of privacy as you’re completely nude with a stranger exfoliating even your buttcrack. But it’s something local folks, particularly women do weekly so I wanted to make sure I participated in the experience.
Dinner was good as we were finally able to order for ourselves. We were lame and got chicken sandwiches.
We weren’t fully adjusted to the new timezone and caught up on sleep after our adventure getting there so we went to bed early.
Day four, Tuesday, September 5, 2023
We had the same breakfast we did as the day before on the roof of our riad, then we walked ourselves to Cafe Clock where we had a cooking class scheduled. We met another couple from America who were on their honeymoon and the chef came over to help us choose what we wanted to cook.
We chose smoked eggplant and bissara (fava bean soup) as well as a lamb couscous and m’hanncha (a traditional almond pastry). Souad took us into the medina to do some grocery shopping and we got to try a few things along the way. We got all of the herbs, vegetables and meat we would need for our meal.
We were warned that if we chose a chicken dish, we would “have the opportunity to slaughter and prepare the bird ourselves” so we purposely chose against that. Souad was an amazing chef and was so fun to learn from.
The food was delicious and we enjoyed getting to know each other and asking Souad lots of questions about Morocco and her family.
Afterward, we went just downstairs to a women artisan-owned cooperative called The Anou for a weaving workshop. We spent five hours learning the traditional methods for making rugs from indigenous women. While we didn’t speak the same language, she was able to coach us through the process just fine. Andrew is a little less crafty and needed more assistance but we both worked through some frustration to finish a small piece to take home. Definitely type two fun but we both agree it was a highlight of our trip and we think everyone who visits Fes should make time for this.
We stopped at a highly-rated restaurant I picked out in advance on our way home where I had nachos and Andrew had a traditional pastilla. We wandered home through the hustle and bustle of the medina at night and picked up a few souvenirs to bring home with us before heading to bed.
Day five: Wednesday, September 6, 2023
We were getting frustrated by all the food waste and since we normally eat a much smaller breakfast, and we had protein bars from home, we decided to just do that instead of going up to the roof again for our morning meal.
Unfortunately as we left our room for check out, a few of the staff asked if we were going upstairs and when we said no, they tried to insist and then looked really disappointed when we said we had already eaten.
When Hamid first picked us up, he asked if there was anything in particular we wanted to try while we were here and I mentioned sfinge which is like a fried donut. He said that his favorite was closed right then but that he’d try to get us some before we left. We hadn’t managed to get any yet because it’s a morning thing and we always had plans in the mornings. However, we’re pretty sure that the staff at our riad and Hamid had worked together to find some sfinge for us for our last day because as soon as we got in the car Hamid asked us how our donuts were. I couldn’t bear to disappoint him so I lied and said it was great. We felt so guilty skipping breakfast since they went out of their way for us, but we didn’t know they were doing that!
Leaving Fes, we headed to an organic fruit, herb, and nut farm. They also had goats and donkeys which we got to spend some time with. After being shown around the villa including the kooky owner’s bedroom, we were taken over to a patio area where we watched an Amazigh woman make bread from scratch and then make a fire in her pizza oven and bake the bread. It was really cool to see and the bread was so yummy!
To go along with our bread, they brought out a spread of olives, oil, honey, jam, figs, grapes and 8 different goat cheeses, some of which were made just hours ago, all of which made from the goats on the property. They were all delicious, and as Andrew started to fill up on cheese, I reminded him that we had a massive lunch spread coming. “This isn’t lunch?” he stammered. I laughed so hard as the staff brought out plate after plate of food we were supposed to consume. Bissara, smoked trout, chicken skewers, steak skewers, chicken breasts, and what felt like a dozen different salads and nuts and tea, all before our flan dessert.
This was our favorite (if not most wasteful) meal of the trip with the only sour part being that one of the donkeys wasn’t well cared for. It was a good reminder that there is no culture of pets in Morocco. No one we met had pets of any kind. So while we’re the weirdos in the U.S. for not having any animals in our home, animals are treated like resources and not living cuddly friends there. Throughout our trip we saw hundreds of stray cats and dogs which were taken care of by the locals, but seeing that could be difficult for some.
We got back in the car with Hamid and drove another half hour or so to Ifrane which was meant to help make the following day’s driving a little shorter. We knew there wasn’t much in this town so we stayed at a fancy resort where we could get dinner and enjoy some activities on site. It ended up being super creepy because in the 100+ room hotel we only saw one other group of people at dinner. So we enjoyed the pools all to ourselves and enjoyed a quiet evening. Unfortunately, we wouldn’t stay here again as the shower was weird, the AC didn’t work, the food was just okay, there were ants everywhere, and there was a live band playing until midnight. TMI, I was also PMSing and starting to get a cough.
Day six: Thursday, September 7, 2023
I woke up feeling like absolute trash so I decided to take a covid test that we had brought with us and of course it was positive. I immediately texted our driver and travel planner looking for advice on what we needed to do next, assuming we would need to quarantine and then fly home. Both of them said it was actually no big deal and that unless I was having trouble breathing there was no need to see a doctor or change any of our plans. They let the rest of our guides and hotels know and all of them were super chill about it. They especially noted that almost everything we were doing for the next few days was going to be outside.
Of course, I was still uncomfortable with sharing the virus with others, particularly because we were supposed to go into a small village in the Ziz Valley to meet up with a gentleman and his family to learn about dates and have lunch together. So while we decided we could continue the trip, I opted to skip that and just drive to our next hotel to spare them of my sickness and not perky demeanor. I also wore a mask the rest of the trip and sat in the way back of the van as to keep some distance between me and Hamid.
We drove for almost seven hours that day so I felt a little better knowing that if I had to be laid out sick, at least I wasn’t missing a whole day touring a city medina.
When we got to our villa in Erfoud, Hamid asked us what time we wanted to do dinner, but we realized we had skipped breakfast in the covid frenzy, and lunch since we passed on the lunch with the local guy. We were starving and couldn’t wait til dinner so Hamid took us to a local pizza shop for a quick lunch before going back to our villa.
Once we got settled in we realized the AC wasn’t working in our room at all. With it being 104* outside, 85* inside, and desperately needing quality sleep since I was sick, we asked for help. The staff couldn’t get it working either so they moved us to a huge suite with working AC. It wasn’t perfect, but if you laid on the bed, it was cool enough to sleep.
The staff had asked us in broken English if cornflakes were okay for breakfast. We said of course, and then a little while later someone came to our room with a box of cereal. It appeared that someone had just gone to the store and purchased it. We knew breakfast came with all of our accommodations so assumed that breakfast here was a little smaller, different than the other places we stayed. Weird but no big deal. We had to pester the staff a few times to get towels, the wifi password, and a couple other things so we didn’t want to ask too many questions.
Dinner was delicious and we had a traditional spread with olives, tagine, and loads of salads. Of course they also went out of their way to prepare not one, not two, not three, but four different types of potatoes since they were told I wouldn’t eat the vegetables. Four heaping dinner plates full of potatoes in addition to everything else on the table and my own tagine of lamb. We left before dessert because we knew at least a massive bowl of fruit was coming and we just couldn’t eat any more!
As we headed to bed that night, I wanted to plug my phone in next to my bed so I needed to unplug the lamp. Unfortunately, it was a very… vintage lamp and the wiring was broken so as I grabbed the plug, I was fully shocked by the wire. It felt like I touched a live electric fence, not a pleasant experience. After I was able to calm down, we went to bed. What an anniversary!
Day seven: Friday, September 8, 2023
I woke up a complete zombie. We ate protein bars and an apple for breakfast since we were confused by the box of cereal (we didn’t have milk, bowls, or spoons). Hamid picked us up and then the villa called him to ask why we didn’t come to breakfast. We explained the cereal thing and then Hamid yelled at them for not being clear and confusing us. Apparently the cereal was just mean to supplement my breakfast because I wouldn’t be eating the fruit usually part of the breakfast feast. Again, my food issues making a scene and embarrassing us.
Hamid stopped and got us our favorite paprika Pringles even after we said we ate already.
It started to feel like Hamid was mad at us because we weren’t asking for things or telling him when things went wrong so he could fix it. But we aren’t used to people taking care of us so we weren’t sure if we were just being asshole Americans or if stuff was fixable.
We drove four hours to our next villa in Zagora and had a delicious and massive lunch spread as usual. Our suite was nice but there wasn’t a door to the bathroom, eeek. And the AC was not working; the fan was blowing but it wasn’t cool air at all. Thank goodness the pool was shaded so we could get some reprieve from the 104* heat.
As a fun little bonus, I bit into a Mentos candy at the pool and then my molar crown fell out. FUN! So I booked an appointment at my dentist for as soon as I got home and put my tooth in a tissue. It wasn’t painful, but did have heat and cold sensitivity and really could only chew on the right side of my mouth.
After dinner we laid in bed watching Netflix for a couple hours talking about how nervous we felt going deeper into the Sahara for the next two days. We had planned to meet up with a guide who would take us to a nomadic camp where we’d spend time with a local Amazigh family, prepared local traditional meals, ride camels, listen to their music, visit a gazelle and addax reserve and watch all of the sunrises and sunsets. However, our planner had told us it would be in the 80s. Normally, we can handle a lot of things thrown our way, but cramping from my period, absolutely decrepit from covid and the heat, we were considering ways we could still do some of those things while minimizing my exposure to the elements. We made a plan to talk to Hamid in the morning. And then…
EARTHQUAKE!
Having felt earthquakes before living in San Francisco, we knew exactly what was happening in the moment. This wasn’t something I researched since Morocco isn’t a hotspot for big earthquakes. But many of the buildings were erected in the ninth century and are made from straw and mud, not exactly safe in this kind of situation. So while we would normally stay in bed and away from any glass, we decided to run outside to avoid being buried by rubble in case the building didn’t make it. We were the only ones outside though and even after the violent shaking ended, no one came out or anything. So we went back to our room, nothing was broken but the pool water looked like one of those surfing wave pools at a waterpark. I immediately texted Hamid and our travel planner who was located in Tangier.
Hamid texted back saying that he was fine and Amina texted back panicked because she didn’t feel it so she found out about the quake from me. She of course had a lot of work to do checking on her own family and friends, as well as all of her drivers, guides, and other tourists.
I also texted our moms knowing that they’d see the news and panic. I also posted to Instagram too so our friends wouldn’t worry either.
We felt a very faint aftershock a few minutes later, but went to bed and decided we’d deal with it in the morning.
Day eight: Saturday, September 9, 2023
We woke up to the news that it was a 7-magnitude earthquake with the epicenter about 100 miles from where we were. The lovely Moroccan couple we met at JFK a few days earlier had texted us checking in as well as sharing some footage from local news and translating it for us. While the epicenter was in the mountains devastating many small villages, the destruction was far and wide, reaching up to Marrakesh, particularly the medina with its ancient buildings and walls.
After our time in the desert, we were heading to a small town in the mountains before spending the last five days of our trip in Marrakesh. Even if we could physically get to those locations, we weren’t sure of their status, and the communities definitely didn’t need tourists wandering around trying to take a photo or two.
The universe did not want us in Morocco. This was our final straw. As we ate breakfast, we decided that it was time to go home. Or at least try. Andrew spent the next hour and a half on the phone with American Airlines trying to change our flight home, while I reorganized and packed.
Since we were supposed to be in the desert for the next two days, Hamid was supposed to have time off. But instead we were asking him to drive us back to Casablanca by Monday morning.
We spent a few minutes with our desert guide who told us all about the things we were going to miss. When we mentioned the heat, he exclaimed that the heat was above his threshold too and that he wouldn’t be going into the desert if we weren’t. We felt a little less guilty for canceling. And he called Hamid later sharing that there was a sandstorm in the desert that day so it wouldn’t have been much fun to be in that anyway. One crisis averted.
Andrew was able to get us on the 7 a.m. flight out of Casablanca Monday morning. We assumed we would drive about 7 hours today and then 7 hours Sunday to be ready for that early flight Monday morning. But Hamid decided he wanted to drive all the way to Rabat on Saturday. So midday, we started our trek back to the ocean the long way since we weren’t sure of the road conditions the way we intended to go.
Hamid booked us a hotel on our 14-hour drive and after stopping for lunch and a surprisingly good dinner, we finally made it to Rabat around midnight.
Oh, one fun little surprise along the way. Hamid stopped the van and started talking to this random guy on the side of the road in Arabic. Then he turned around and asked Andrew if he minded if we picked up this guy, implying he was a hitchhiker. Andrew, visibly uncomfortable, but not wanting to be rude if Hamid did this regularly said uh sure…. Then Hamid and the guy both start laughing as Hamid introduced the gentleman as the guy we were supposed to meet a few days ago but bailed on since I was sick. He handed us a huge box of dates to take home and wished us well. It was a very cute prank.
Day nine: Sunday, September 10, 2023
We slept in and got breakfast at the hotel before venturing to the pharmacy because while I brought some meds with us, I did not plan on getting covid immediately and was running low. Let me just say, Moroccan drugs are way better than American drugs because I immediately started feeling better once I started taking the cough syrup and sinus meds. And it wasn’t just a fluke because as soon as I went back to American drugs after running out at home, I was feeling like crap again.
We took time to wander around the medina and admire all of the gorgeous manicured gardens of the city. Everything looked pristine because the king lives there and also he was heading to Marrakesh the following day so everyone was repainting the road and taking extra care of the city.
We had an okay dinner and then headed to bed around 8 p.m. since we had to drive an hour and a half to Casablanca before our 7 a.m. flight.
Day ten: Monday, September 11, 2023
Hamid picked us up at 3 a.m. and drove us the final leg of our trip. We made it to CMN with plenty of time and had a smooth flight.
With the change in our flight, we actually had to change airports, but we had about 5 hours to get from JFK to LGA so we decided to stop in Astoria and get some lunch at Bier and Cheese Collective. Such a nice treat for ourselves.
After arriving to Laguardia, we started getting all sorts of goofy messages and alerts from American. The gate changed about every 15 minutes across the terminal, and then started the delays. Ten minutes, twenty minutes, ten more minutes, on and on and on. Our flight was supposed to leave at 5, home by 7. At 8 p.m. they finally canceled, blaming weather. This meant that we couldn’t get any compensation like meals, hotel or transportation since it wasn’t their fault. What was frustrating was that we kept watching other airlines like Delta take off and land all day and night long. So weather couldn’t have been the real issue, but the staff was extremely rude and we didn’t want to get in an argument.
At this point I was a zombie, having been awake for 24 hours and not really even slept much at all the last few nights since I was coughing. American had also canceled at least four other flights before ours so all of the hotels near the airport were fully booked. Literally none had any openings. Andrew was finally able to find one in Garden City Long Island, 45 minutes from LGA. But he could use points so our options were pay for a hotel in Midtown Manhattan and take at least an hour and a half train there, or pay for the shorter cab to Long Island and back in the morning.
The hotel was fine and we were able to finally get a little bit of sleep.
Day eleven: Tuesday, September 12, 2023
We woke up and had hotel breakfast and headed back to LGA. Our flight was delayed again, but we did make it home around 4 p.m., just in time for my 5 p.m. dentist appointment to get my crown put back in.
Phew! Everything that could have gone wrong on this trip did, but we still stand by that Morocco, its people, its food, its architecture, its landscapes, and everything about this beautiful country are amazing. We’ll have to try again in a decade or so.
Wish us better luck for Japan in May…
If you made it to the end of this story, you deserve a little treat so go get some ice cream.