The gateway to Sahara Desert and other Morocco attractions

How many African countries have you travelled to? You could add Morocco to your travel bucket list. Aberrazzak Laassel, the Moroccan ambassador to Kenya, sheds light on how to explore the tourist attractions.

What are some of the tourist attractions in Morocco?

Morocco is well known because one of our cities, Marrakech, was chosen as the best destination in 2017. It is home to the world’s largest desert, the Sahara Desert, and has a blue and red city.

Since January, we have received almost 13 million tourists. We have different offerings depending on tourists’ interests.

History lovers can visit imperial cities such as Marrakech, Meknes, Fez, and Rabat. We have a chain of mountains like the Atlas for those who love hikes.

If you like desert tourism, head to Erfoud Desert City, the gateway to the Sahara Desert.

You can ski, and during the night have your dinner in Marrakech. We have one of Africa’s most northerly ski resorts, the Oukaïmeden’s, whose location is in the High Atlas Mountains.

What do I need to get to Morocco as a Kenyan tourist?

First, you need a visa. Ours is the cheapest at only Sh2,800. You need hotel and flight booking documentation, and financial statements to declare that you have enough money to stay in Morocco.

We apply the policy of first-come-first-serve. It [visa processing] takes 10 days at most but can be delivered swiftly if there is an urgent need.

One thing to note is that there are no intermediaries between the embassy and the people who desire to travel to Morocco. One has to pick up their visas individually from our embassy.

We have heard that some agencies are charging high prices for this service, which is extortion.

Also, you can get a Moroccan visa for free if you have a valid Schengen visa British, American, Australian, or New Zealand passport.

What about flights? Is there a direct one from Kenya to Morocco?

Sadly there is none, but there are connecting flights to the country. If there was a direct flight, it would take only five hours to reach Morocco, but now it takes almost 22 hours because of the connecting flight.

Since most people speak French and Arabic in Morocco, would I find English guides once I get there?

Yes, there are English-speaking guides and other languages that people understand. This is part of the infrastructure that Morocco has invested in tourism. The hotels, too, have their staff speaking multiple languages.

Which is your favourite city in Morocco?

Every city is great, depending on the season and what you want to do. For instance, during summer, you can go to the Coastal region which has 3,700km of beaches or go north to the Mediterranean Sea to places such as Tangier.

I enjoy heading to Essaouira to taste the waters and watch how the handicrafts are done.

I love Marrakesh, too, because of the souks, the food, and the smell of the spices. Tangier is also special because you can watch how the Mediterranean Sea connects with the ocean, which is not usual.

Talking about food, what should we try out in Morocco?

One of the foods you should try is couscous, which is famous worldwide. It’s prepared differently in various regions in Morocco.

There is also tagine, which is different from chicken, meat, lamb, and vegetables. Sometimes it’s salty or sweet, and one can find it in all the restaurants.

You can also find foreign cuisines like Italian, Japanese, and Mexican.

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