A tourist is a customer, a guide, host or driver are suppliers. Friendship does not consist of a few warm words over tea in a family that earns income from it.
There are many moussems in Morocco. This festival, which is both religious and commercial, brings the tribe together for an annual celebration that allows everyone to get together. Although sometimes adapted for tourists, moussems retain their authenticity.
Many tourists ask for "authentic Moroccan oriental dance", but this is not a traditional Moroccan dance.
Taking a taxi in Marrakesh can be an ordeal, they are reputed to be among the worst taxis in the world, and the most rip-offs behind the Chileans.
The sentencing of Fouad Mourtada shows a growing lack of understanding between westernised Moroccans and those who are still poor and ignorant.
Before saying that Morocco is a tolerant country, we must agree on the notion of tolerance. A "simple" word whose meaning is totally different for a Moroccan and for a secular Westerner.
Among the tourist attractions to avoid: the snakes in Jemaa Fna square, animals that are mistreated even though several species are endangered. For a thirty-second thrill, it's really not worth it.
The dromedary is an animal of the desert, of sand and stones. It cannot plough, and the ‘dromedary's furrow’ is a symbol of work that does not progress. Like much of the work in Morocco!
Tazzarine a hébergé un saint marabout descendant de la tribu des Aroussi, qui donna le dernier grand opposant aux français, El Hiba. Son culte est encore vivant.
A relatively minor but impressive invasion of locusts in southern Morocco. It is easy to imagine the damage that could be caused by larger swarms.
A "no-smoking middle schools, high schools and companies" operation has been launched in Morocco's major cities, a first small step in the fight against tobacco.
As in French, fireplace or foyer (almessi) defines the family. The oven (afarnou) gives its name to a much sought-after bread in Morocco, which every Berber housewife knows how to prepare!
Wheat is threshed on dedicated areas of land (threshing floors) covered with stones or on terraces. The same word, Anrar, is used for football pitches.
Did you know? In Morocco, as in many other countries, smoking is banned in public places... incredible, isn't it?
There are many Amazigh words for rivers, streams and watercourses, no doubt to better appreciate this rare resource that is so essential to nomadic pastoralists!
Tizi means mountain pass. A mountainous country, with its three Atlas mountains, Morocco offers visitors many vertiginous tizi, the best known of which are between Marrakesh and Ouarzazate, on the one hand, and Taroudant on the other.
