morocco road trip

Pit Stop in the Middle of the Atlas Mountains — *Pit stop in the Middle Atlas Mountains of Morocco.*

Our driver eyed us from the rear view mirror of his Toyota 4Runner and with a grin spreading across his wrinkled and weathered face, he asked, “Did you have any trouble with control?”

I looked at Kyle in the back seat beside me, lost in translation. “Control?”

“With the police? Did you have trouble with the police?” The driver asked again rubbing his thumb and pointer finger together as if to say, “How much money did it cost you?”

We had just arrived in Fez after a seven and a half hour road-trip from the Sahara desert, and in that moment I realized that he knew all too well of the struggles tourists faced while driving through his homeland.

If you’ve ever seen us, we definitely would not pass as local. Our fair skin and non-traditional clothing stick out in the sea of people that call Morocco home. Not to mention our cute, yet completely impractical, light blue Fiat rental did us no favors in the way of blending in.

So after encountering nearly 30 different police checkpoints on our roadside travels through the Moroccan countryside, we were bound to be stopped simply because… we stood out.

And after being pulled aside by the police, on multiple occasions, unscathed we were not.

*Pit stop in the Middle Atlas Mountains of Morocco.*

Commonplace? Or Corruption?

Corrupt is a word I hesitate to use. I’m not sure that Moroccans would describe their police as corrupt, and by all means I know that there are plenty of law-abiding officers that we had the… privilege…of meeting on our road trip.

Kyle and I are also firm believers in embracing the journey and going into new experiences with an open mind. So I am not here to judge the way the system operates. I’m just here to share our account and the perspective it left us with.

After reading, feel free to make your own assumptions.

Camel Trekking in Merzouga Morocco — *Camel trekking in the Sahara Desert.*

The Journey

Before arriving in Morocco, we did our research. Weeks of eye-reddening screen time to prepare for our first trip to an African country and Arabic country for that matter. After combing through articles, reading (then re-reading) our Lonely Planet guidebook, and scouring Pinterest for every informative (and recent) blog I could find, I began piecing together the things we wanted to see and the regions we needed to explore.

Keeping our budget and timeline in mind, we decided to spend around fourteen days in the Kingdom of Morocco. Starting in its heart and soul, Marrakesh, and ending in the historical city of Fez. We were both excited and before I knew it, I was dreaming about mint tea and Moroccan music. But in order to squeeze it all in, we’d have to do it by car.

We spent close to 1100 kilometers driving from Marrakesh, to Ouarzazate, to Merzouga, and finally to Fez.

Nearly 20 hours in a Fiat meandering through the most diverse countryside we’ve ever seen- from a major city hub bustling with swarms of people, cars, and motor bikes zipping past. To rural countryside and mountains dotted with shrub trees. And finally right to the edge of the Sahara desert.

We watched in awe as we passed locals walking on foot to the top of rocky cliffs alongside their mules, shepherds tending to their flocks of sheep, camels relaxing in the warm sands, children waving from the streets, and monkeys grooming each other under the shady trees of the High Atlas Mountains.

It was marvelous.

The scenery and the vastly changing landscape was a highlight of our time in Morocco. So it’s sad that we left with a slightly bitter taste in our mouth after encountering so many problems on the road.

Moroccan Police Encounters

The first time we were asked to pull over at a police checkpoint, I felt my stomach drop. There were multiple officers on each side of the road stopping traffic and a-frame signs warning drivers to slow down. When it was our turn to pull through, an man in uniform waved his hand as if to say pull over and out of the way of traffic. So we did.

The officer, well-groomed and in a nice uniform, walked to the driver’s side window, and simply asked Kyle to see our documents. In French, might I add.

We handed him every document we could think of:

Our passports

Our licenses.

Kyle’s international driver’s license.

Our car insurance.

Our car rental agreement.

Still he had questions: Where were we going? And what city we were coming from?

After fumbling around with explanation after explanation and getting no where, Kyle pulled out his phone to enlist the help of his translate app. And that’s when the officer bent down and noticed my seatbelt.

I’d like to set the record straight right away by stating that I did in fact have it on, just improperly.

He told us (in French) that we were violating a traffic law. Ok fine.

It was going to cost 300 MAD.

Dammit. Ok fine.

And after what felt like an extensive ticketing procedure, he returned with a paper copy of our traffic violation and had us pay in cash on the spot.

Camel crossing sign in Morocco — *Camel crossing road sign in Morocco.*

The fourth time we were waved over at a police checkpoint, my stomach was already in knots and my anxiety… cataclysmic.

The police officer, completely disheveled this time (and in a vehicle that no joke looked like it had survived a crusher), walked to the driver’s side window, and in English began his questioning.

Where were we from? What were we doing in Morocco?

As Kyle was pacifying him, I took in the scene around us. He was manning the road by himself. There was another guy who appeared to be asleep in the battered patrol car. The sign to the checkpoint propped against a stump a mere ten feet away.

He then asked us to pull out of the way of traffic, and met us at the window again where he proceeded to ask for our documentation. No longer rookies, we had all of our paperwork ready to go and handed it right to him right away. Without even looking at it, he took it from us and walked to the patrol car across the street. This was new.

When he finally came back to the window, in perfect English, he explained that we had made a traffic violation and didn’t stop at the checkpoint sign.

A wave of maddening frustration took over, and all I can remember is that I ducked my head down below the window frame to make eye contact with him to say, “Excuse me sir. I don’t understand. We came to a complete stop.” As respectfully as I could.

To which he argued. I can’t remember how long the back and forth went, but Kyle and I both put up a fair fight until the officer did something we were not expecting.

He started changing his story.

Now the issue was we stopped before the stop sign. Which was evidently and all of a sudden illegal.

Clear as day he told us, “You stopped before the stop sign. You are supposed to stop after the stop sign. That is 400 MAD!”

I wish I had a photo of our faces in that moment. We were both so confused and immediately knew something was off. I could feel the heat rising to my cheeks. My palms were sweating, and it took everything I had to keep my emotions in check.

Between the two of us, we managed to explain that we had been through, hell I don’t know, twenty checkpoints. No one had pulled us aside for stopping before a stop sign. Eventually he caved and left us off with a warning and a piece of advice: Going forward we should try stopping after any stop signs.

Like hell we would.

As we drove off, I couldn’t stop myself from shaking. My nerves - Kyle’s nerves - were completely shot and with more checkpoints to come.

Tips for Driving in Morocco

I wish I could say that our story was unique, but it’s not. A quick search will land you on a number of blogs that share traveler experiences similar to ours. Fraudulent charges and shady deals. Mostly shared from other international travelers like ourselves.

Which is why it hit me so hard when our private driver in Fez, laughed it off like it was no big deal. When in reality Morocco is doing itself a great disservice. The country, the people (most of them anyway), the economy - heavily relies on tourism. Their need is so great, and they have so much to offer to the rest of the world. So why make it so difficult?

In that moment, we already had our minds made up that we would never make that journey (at least in a car) ever again. How many other travelers left Morocco feeling that exact same way?

My only two tips for you if you’re considering driving through Morocco are:

Do your research to know what to expect and look out for at police checkpoints. Be familiar with signs of potential fraud and corruption. You’ll see tips online that suggest you leave money in your passport to see if an officer is ethical or not, etc.
Do not be afraid to stand up for yourself - if you feel safe in doing so.

At the end of the day, we survived and all was well. We turned over our keys and Fez, and for the first time in what felt like hours, let out a sigh of relief.

This intent with this blog is in no way to deter people from visiting Morocco (or even to stop you from taking a road trip). Like I said, the country, the food, the history, the art, the music — everything is nothing but awe-inspiring. Just from one traveler to another, it’s always better to know before you go.

All photographs displayed within this blog are the exclusive property of As We Abroad.

No part of this website or any of its contents, including but not limited to images, may be reproduced, copied, modified, or adapted without the prior written consent of As We Abroad. Unauthorized use of any photograph or content on this website is a violation of copyright law and will be subject to legal action. For inquiries regarding the use or purchase of photographs, please contact us at asweabroad@gmail.com.

Thank you for respecting our intellectual property.