Dear friends,
As promised, below are my suggestions for items to pack in addition to the basics. Feel free to shoot me an e-mail if you have more questions, or better yet, post your question in the comments section. You can also use the comments section to post your own suggestions, as I'm sure I haven't thought of everything!
Dress
For clothing, it helps to keep in mind the three Ls -- long, loose and lightweight. This combination will be both comfortable and respectful anywhere in Morocco.
Weather will vary from one place to another along our route, though you can expect most all of our destinations to be hotter than your home climates. This time of year Rabat, Casablanca and points south on the Atlantic coast tend to be mild but humid, with average daily temps in the 70s and 80s. Fes and Marrakesh are hotter, with temps reaching the mid to high 90s most days. The part of our trip likely to be the hottest is the leg around Merzouga, where midday temps can reach 110 degrees, but our plan is to arrive in desert late in the afternoon and depart early the following morning, hopefully avoiding the most intense heat. Nights on the coast and in the desert can be quite cool. Rain is exceedingly rare in the summer months.
Our transportation will be air-conditioned, as will about half of our accommodations (central heat and air is a rare luxury found mostly in upmarket hotels). The homestay in Fes will not be air-conditioned, though the traditional construction materials of medina homes keep them surprisingly cool.
For most of our activities casual dress is encouraged, though you may want to bring a couple of dressier outfits for Festival performances and dinner outings. When I attended the Festival years ago I was surprised to see how formally people dressed, especially for the evening concerts.
Several of you have asked me about particular dress for women. While there are no hard and fast rules, Morocco is a conservative Muslim country, and it pays to keep that in mind when choosing your wardrobe for the trip. This advice goes for both sexes, though women especially will usually be more comfortable and less conspicuous in long sleeves and long pants/skirts. Modest dress is more important in rural areas than in major cities, where you'll find Moroccan women wearing head-to-toe djellabas with face veils, tank tops and short skirts, and just about everything in between. Among cities Rabat, Casablanca and Marrakesh are relatively liberal, while Fes tends to be more conservative. If you're concerned about the heat or just used to short sleeves, I suggest you bring clothes you like to wear and a few long sleeves and pants/skirts as a backup. We hope to visit the Hassan II Mosque (one of only two in Morocco open to non-Muslims), and that's the one place where a dress code might actually be enforced as opposed to just encouraged. Dress around the house is also quite modest, and for both sexes pajamas or other clothes that don't cover at least the shoulders and knees may be regarded as underwear.
The days where we're planning a lot of walking are indicated by the little shoes on the
detailed itinerary. A
pair of sturdy, comfortable walking shoes is essential. Sandals are fine as long as you aren't too bothered by a little dust and sand between your toes. ;-)
We'll be arranging a few trips to
hammams in Rabat and Fes and we're planning a stop on the beach in Oualidia, so bring a
swimsuit if you think you may want to take advantage of one or both of those things.
There will be at least one opportunity to do laundry during the trip. A travel-size pack of detergent can be quite useful for handwashing small items. In the hot and dry climes of the South your clothes will dry just about as fast as you can soak them.
Personal Items
For the sake of convenience, please bring your own small towel and washcloth. Linens will be provided in the riads but we may be short a few in the homestays.
Bring a full supply of any prescription medications you may need, as well as any other medications to treat motion sickness (if you're prone to it), traveler's diarrhea, and constipation.
Don't forget sunglasses, sunscreen and a hat if you sunburn easily.
Bugs aren't much of a problem in the areas we'll be visiting, but some insect repellent isn't a bad idea just in case.
If you're sensitive to noise and/or light please bring
earplugs and light covers, as sleeping quarters will be shared throughout the trip. The homestay in Rabat will be the most snug with 2 people sharing the smaller rooms and 3-4 people sharing the larger enclosed salons (the latter have wall-to-wall seating that doubles as beds). The homestay in Fes will be slightly more spacious, and accommodations in Merzouga and Marrakesh will be mostly in double rooms in traditional riads. You can find links to photos of the riads in the
itinerary.
Also note the days where we're planning a lot of driving, indicated by the little bus on the itinerary. The two days of travel between Fes, Merzouga and Marrakesh will involve long stretches on the bus. The route is incredibly scenic and we'll be making stops every few hours, but do think about what kinds of things you may want to sustain yourself for the long drives -- snacks, reading material, travel pillow, etc.
We recommended you bring $500-1000 in spending money, which should be more than enough for souvenirs, optional entertainment and incidentals like extra bottles of water, snacks, etc. Part of that amount should be in cash (not more $300) and the rest should be in traveler's cheques and/or an ATM card linked to your US bank account. There will be several opportunities to exchange your cash or cheques for Moroccan dirhams (MAD), or to withdraw funds in dirhams using your ATM card (a nominal fee may apply). Credit cards are not widely accepted in Morocco and I can't think of many instances where you would need one, but it can't hurt to bring one in case of an emergency, or in case you want to purchase a very high-end souvenir. ;-)
Electronics
Most US-designed electronics and appliances will require both a
voltage converter and plug adapter as electricity in Morocco is 220 volts (as opposed to 110 volts in the US) and outlets accept a different type of plug (same as European outlets). These two items are often sold together in travel kits.
If you bring a laptop, camera, camcorder, mp3 player, or other such valuables, please make sure to record the model, serial number and a brief description of each item and keep that information in a safe place. If possible, take photos of the items. If you're on the group flight your valuables are automatically insured against damage or theft, and in the event you needed to file a claim it helps have as much information as possible about the damaged/stolen item in order to expedite the process.
Gifts are always appreciated, but certainly not expected from individuals. Zouhair and I will make sure that our group doesn't enter any home empty-handed -- we usually buy boxes of sweets from our favorite patisserie in Rabat to use as gifts for our hosts. If you wish to bring your own gifts, small and symbolic is best -- perhaps an item that's unique to your part of the US (think maple syrup from Vermont), or even novelty items that bear the name of your city or state.
Several of you have asked me about bringing items to donate, so we relayed the question to my mother-in-law Habiba, who volunteers a few days a week at an orphanage in Rabat. She says the kids are always in need of the following new or gently used items:
Diapers, onesies, and other baby items; kids clothing, all sizes, boys and girls, especially underwear, socks and shoes; notebooks, pencils, crayons/colored pencils, drawing pads and other school supplies.
Mom said that for last year's trip to Malawi many people filled one suitcase with their belongings and another suitcase or duffle bag with donations. If you do wish to bring any of these items, you will only have carry them as far as Rabat, where Habiba will collect and deliver them to the orphanage.
At one point or another during the trip you will almost certainly encounter children asking for money. Each person should decide for him/herself how best to respond, but I will share that our practice is to give pencils, crayons or other school supplies instead of cash. We know we aren't really solving any problems either way, but especially in the case of young children we feel it's best not to make begging more profitable than attending school, which is sadly the choice faced by many poor Moroccan families.
Instruments
Bring 'em! Just make sure you record the same information for your instruments as you do for your electronics and other valuables as I described above. Mom is bringing a couple of Rise Up Singing books and planning to make copies of a few songs for everyone!
Pack light!
Do yourself a favor -- pack light! In Fes and Marrakesh our accommodations in the medina will be a 10-15 minute walk from the nearest vehicle access, which means you and your luggage will be walking/rolling down the sometimes modern pavement, sometimes ancient cobblestone streets. This is just one of many good reasons to not bring tons of stuff! Also, be reassured by the fact that almost any forgotten necessity will be readily available in supermarkets in Rabat, Fes and Marrakesh.
Royal Air Maroc's baggage allowances are as follows:
Hand baggage:
You may carry one piece of hand baggage weighing no more than 5 kgs the total of three dimensions of which is no more than 115cm. If for reasons of volume inside the passenger compartments, your hand baggage is taken away upon boarding, it will be put in the hold and a receipt will be given to you.
Baggage in the hold:
You may check 2 pieces of baggage weighing no more than 32 kgs each, the total of three dimensions of which is no more than 158cm each.
Talk to you soon,
Sara Jane
