Driving in Morocco

I thought I’d just write a short entry about driving in Morocco.  Many foreigners would be trepidatious about driving in a developing country, but I have to say that driving in Morocco wasn’t bad at all.  Here are a few topics:

-       Quality of the roads – Surprisingly the roads are quite good in general.  The highways are above average I would say, with very few potholes.  The roads in cities were excellent too.  However, I did pass through a few towns with poor roads with big potholes.  There was one village, on my way to Merzouga, where the roads were unpaved and a few huge puddles spanned width of the street.  It was hard to tell how deep they were.  A 10 year-old boy vigorously waved at me and was trying to get me to follow him down a dirt lane to the right.  I ignored him and took my chances with the water, driving along the side of them as best as I could.  He came running back and after I rolled down my window, he told me he would guide me.  There were a few turns down some narrow laneways which caused me to slow down to a crawl to make sure Octi could squeak through.  Once I was safely through, I gave the helpful kid some money for his efforts.

Lanes – Many Moroccans seem to not care about lane delineation and like to straddle the lanes…especially the older drivers.  Unfortunately, Octi’s horn isn’t working so I didn’t have a way to get them to move over so I had to be hypervigilant and patient. 

Lanes...they're just suggestions right?!?

Getting In and Out of Big Cities – This was a big surprise.  I was really concerned about how difficult it was going to be to navigate cities like Tangiers, Rabat, Casablanca and Marrakesh.  The first three were super easy with good thoroughfares getting me in and out with ease.  Marrakesh was a bit of a different story as there was a lot of road construction going on, but I’ve definitely experienced worse.

Speedbumps – Oh boy, watch out for some of these…rarely is there warning of their presence by a sign or stripes painted on them.  I hit a few doozies, although I’d give the speedbump award to Uganda.  I was on a bus ride in that country where I was getting a few inches of airtime off my seat in the back of the bus!

Speed limits – For some reason, all speed limits in Morocco are even numbered – 20, 40, 60, 80, 100.  I never drove in any odd numbered speed limit zones.  I wonder if they’re superstitious.

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Traffic Police – This stood out more than any of the other items I’ve mentioned.  I have never been in a country with so many speed traps!  There were a few speed cameras, but the number of policeman checkpoints, most of which were utilizing radar guns, was stunning.  I may have seen more manned speed traps in Morocco than all the rest of my life combined!  It was not unusual to see between 6-10 of them in one day of 2-3 hours of driving.  They mainly hung out at roundabouts.

  

So, I was very cautious about my speed and kept an eye on it like a hawk…but somehow, I still got a speeding ticket!  I was flagged down by one of the three cops situated just outside a small village.  He asked in French for my driver’s licence and vehicle registration and told me that I was driving 71 km/h in a 60 zone.  I wasn’t sure if I missed the 60 sign as I had been in an 80 zone, or if I just didn’t slow down fast enough.  Thankfully it was only a 150 dirham fine…about $21 CAD.

My speeding ticket.  At least I got a written copy and knew that the money wasn't just going into the cop's pocket.

I was pulled over two other times, but not for speeding.  One time the cop just checked my driver’s licence and then mentioned that one of my two licence plates on the back of Octi was missing a screw, so it was hanging a bit sideways.  I knew that, it had been like that for a few days, but it couldn’t fall off as the loose side was wedged against the door by the ladder. 

 

The other time was kind of funny.  I was pulled over by a couple of motorcycle cops who were parked just outside of the city of Agadir.  I knew that I wasn’t speeding and I didn’t even see them holding a radar gun.  One cop approached Octi as I rolled down the window and he held up his phone which showed a picture of WD-40.  He asked me if I had any, which unfortunately I didn’t.  I gather they had some problem with one of their bikes.  I got a chuckle out of that one!

The Blue City of Chefchaouen

January 15^th, 2026 

Chefchaouen, a small city of around 50,000 people, would attract tourists due to its location amongst the cedar and pine tree covered mountains of northern Morocco, but many foreigners are drawn to the municipality due to another reason…the colour blue.

Looking down at the medina from just outside of the campground.

This guy, who was quite friendly, joined me just after I came out of the campground.  He showed me a shortcut to enter the medina as he engaged in small talk.  I suspected that he had alterior motives and sure enough he did.  At first he asked if I'd like to come and see his shop, but I declined, saying that I had no plans on buying anything.  Then he asked if I smoked, and pulled out a chunk of light brown hash.  I again told him, no thanks.  He offered to give me a bit, free of charge, but he wouldn't take no so I had to tell him about my incident in India and that I didn't even want to touch it.  I still don't think he quite got it, but after we passed through an entrance through the kasbah walls into the medina, he went on his own way.  This area seems to be a "Hash Haven" as I had another 4-5 men offer me hash and/or to come and see their farm while I walked around the medina...all before 11 am!

  

Most buildings in the medina of Chefchaouen are painted in some shade of blue.  The reason why is somewhat unclear.  The most popular theory is that after WWII, when the Jewish community in the area grew as people fled Nazi persecution, blue was painted on the walls, floors and steps as a religious practice, to represent the colour of the sky and connect the city to heaven and God.

Other theories say that the walls were painted to keep mosquitos away or reduce heat in the summer, although I would think that white would be even better. Regardless of the reason it started, it’s likely that it’s now tourism that keeps the practice of painting the walls which is still done once or twice a year.  I have to admit that I travelled to Chefchaouen for this reason.

I’m not a photographer, but I found myself snapping pics almost everywhere…so you’ll have to put up with a bunch of photos in this blog entry.

I liked this little "hobbit door".

This is one of the view bits of artwork that was not all blue!

There seemed to be more shops than tourists.

I asked a couple of Japanese women who were doing a photoshoot of each other if they'd take a photo of me if I took some of the two of them.  Amazingly one of the ladies had just been in Whistler in Canada a few months ago.

I popped out of the medina to go to the post office...but then had to go back in to see more of it.

This lead to a deadend, but it did make for a good photo.

The main square in the middle of the medina.

And there was a kasbah in the main square.

They also had an Africa Cup of Nations "Watch Party" area in the main square.  The AFCON is down to the semi-finals and Morocco is still in it!

Shops, shops and more shops.

There were some spots with signs asking for a donation for photographs...fair enough, especially if the locals have made an effort to make it photogenic.

Two kids!  The little boy was enjoying petting this young, black goat.

There's a little waterfall hiding in there.

I walked part way up the hill on the other side of the river to get a view back of the blue medina.

Back to the blue.

I liked the "cumi hat" on that mountain ahead.

There were some gorgeous views on my way north.

After walking around for about 90 minutes, I headed back to the campground, had a shower and got on the road.  Tomorrow I’m booked on a ferry back to Spain from the Tanger Med port.  I only had about an hour and a half to drive to get to a spot where I’d stay for the night.

I stopped at this beach just south of a small city called Fnideq.  There were some fancy resorts around this beach.  I parked here for a few hours, did some blogging and went for a walk on the beach.

Here's Octi's last overnight spot in Morocco, which was at a gas service station just north of Fnideq.  The first night in Morocco I slept at a service station so it seemed fitting to do the same on my last night, having completed a big counterclockwise circle around this wonderful country.

I just missed it...but that's a peacock's tailfeathers on the left side of the petrol island!

There was a restaurant as part of the service station, so I decided to eat there.  Well, it was nothing to write home about with the biggest thing I’ll remember was the noisiness of the 2-3 staff members watching videos on their phones behind the counter!  Even though I was parked fairly close to the highway, I did have a decent night’s sleep.

The next morning I caught the 10 am ferry, which was only an hour late leaving (compared to the four hour delay on the ferry coming to Morocco).

There was a brief yet incredible looking rainbow at the Tanger Med ferry terminal.

I spent almost a month in Morocco and had a fabulous time.

Shukran Morocco!

Driving to Northern Morocco

January 12^th-14^th, 2026 

Happy with my Moroccan desert experience, it was time to start to head north to close off my big counterclockwise loop around Morocco.  I had originally booked my ferry to leave on January 13^th, but I backed that off.  However, I’m getting close to being ready to head to Spain.  Don’t get me wrong, Morocco’s been fantastic, but I don’t want to shortchange Spain.  Plus, I also want to spend at least a week in France…time’s a tickin’.

Heading north.

A lake made by a dam.

An old kasbah.

My first day of driving north, I was going to drive at least four hours to a town called Missour, which is kind of in the middle of nowhere, at least as far as tourists see it.  If I still felt good, I’d continue for another hour and a half to one of the few campgrounds in the region.

I should have waited until this truck was closer, but I love how much hay they stack on them.  The bails hang over the front of the cab and the sides, like an upsidedown pyramid.  I saw this numerous times in Morocco.

Into some different terrain with some coniferous trees, grass and snow on the mountains.

It was windy at this spot.

This mountain range was probably 40-50 kilometre long.  This looked to be the high point.

I made it to the campground after a little over 6 hours of driving.

Uh, yeah, I didn't go swimming.

On the second day, I reached the Mediterranean coast near the small city of Nador.  I avoided the city, but decided to drive out on this 6-7 kilometre long spit that protects the Mar Chica Lagoon.  It was a bumpy gravel road on the spit but I was rewarded with a beach covered in thousands of shells.

Google Maps took me on a rough road here...

Arriving back at the Mediterranean.

Seeing a couple of flamingoes at the start of the spit.

Looking back to the mainland.

Yup, those are all shells...not sand.

Sadly, there was a fair amount of plastic on the shell beach as well as the shoreline on the lagoon side.  I did see a group of 4-5 guys picking up garbage which was nice to see.  Unfortunately Morocco does have a lot of garbage besides roads, on the beachs, in the forests, even some in the desert.  I witnessed numerous locals being litterbugs.  Hopefully they will change their ways in the future.

I didn't get a good video of it...but I was passing a factory that makes the blades for wind turbines, which I thought was cool to see.

As I say in the video, "A beautiful drive along the coast..."

The terrain changed yet again.

I tried to snap this photo, while driving with the window down, I dropped my phone.  I watched it bounce along the road behind me, thankfully landing by the curb (one good thing about driving a right hand drive in a country that drives on the right).  Luckily there was no traffic.  I stopped, ran back and grabbed it and was impressed that it looked no worse for wear and still worked.  Later on I found out that I actually had put a nice spiderweb of cracks on the back side of the phone, under its protective case...but who cares about that! 

Look how calm the water is.

Some cool rock formations along the coast.

Gorgeous!

I ended up at a campsite near a small village called Cala Iris.  It was situated on a cliff overlooking the ocean, and I was the only one staying there so I had a lovely peaceful evening.

Octi's resting spot for the night.

My view for the evening.

The morning was a little bit grayer.

The road headed inland and started to climb.

That's the ocean in the distance, a bit on the right side.

It was a day filled with curvy roads with 60 km/h being the speed limit most of the way.

Got into some coniferous forests along the way.  Sadly there were some areas with lots and lots of garbage.

I was in and out of fog in the latter half of the drive.

I pulled into the campground at Chefchaouen in the mid afternoon.  It was grey with occasional rain and the forecast looked better for the morning.  Even though I was only staying one night, I decided to wait until the morning to check out the “Blue City” before heading to a spot close to the ferry back to Spain for my crossing in a couple of days time.