We're in Morocco, and so happy to be here again!
Before the pandemic, we used to come two or three times a year, sometimes for two months at a time. But this is our first trip to Morocco in nearly three years.
Like many countries, Morocco closed during the pandemic. But few closed as tightly as Morocco. This country not only banned international flights to and from Morocco, but also all travel between cities internally. When Morocco shuts down, they *really* shut down.
Morocco opened again on February 7, and we landed in the country on the 20th.
The entry to Morocco required both full vaccination, plus a PRC covid test within 48 hours of entry into Morocco. Yet when we landed at the airport, nobody checked the test we took and instead were herded along with everyone else into one of a series of medical tents outside the airport for a covid test administered by the Moroccan government.
Even two weeks after the opening, many businesses were still closed. Most of the shops that were still closed when we arrived actually opened during our first week in Marrakesh, with roughly 90% open on the day we left.
(Restaurants, hotels and riads had been ordered shut by the government. Most stores, restaurants, hotels, riads and other businesses went into debt and laid off their employees. Before the pandemic, tourism employed some 500,000 Moroccans.)
During the lockdown, Moroccans were subject to early and draconian curfews and limitations on movement.
Marrakesh is a tough city, and probably the one most prone to hustling, scams and ripoffs. I got a haircut, and didn't establish the price in advance (a rookie move). He said the price was $50, and Amira talked him down to $30, which is ten times the going rate for haircuts in Marrakesh.
We visited some of our favorite restaurants, which had just re-opened. And while we were very happy to find that they survived the pandemic, we were often their only customers.
Many businesses, including riads and restaurants, don't take credit cards anymore because during the pandemic they stopped paying the fees for using the credit card terminals and system.
Tourist vans and cars all had to be parked, and Marrakesh didn’t have the space to park them. So the government opened up the pedestrian square in front of the Koutoubia, a 900-year-old mosque that is probably the city’s most recognizable landmark, for parking.
Construction is everywhere. A massive construction effort has obviously begun, especially in Marrakesh. Many of the streets and storefronts are in the middle of re-building. The city has piles of sand, gravel and bricks all over the place, and many streets in the medina are dusty and uneven. But the results are already showing, and the improvements are making everything better.
What's clear above all is that Morocco has seen the worst of it and can expect a very good recovery, which has already begun.
In the meantime, we're very much looking forward to the first Morocco Experience we’ve been able to do in nearly three years.
Pandemic or no pandemic, Morocco is eternal.
Fantastic wine and delicious food, stunning landscapes, ancient medinas, incredible architecture, skilled artisans, rich traditions and wonderful people — we can't wait to show Morocco’s joys and beauty to our group of Gastronomads. — Mike
