Footprints in Magical Morocco

Visiting Morocco has been my dream for about 3 years now . 

I’ve always wanted to experience Marrakech, see Fez and particularly spend the night camping in the desert. 

And as I stood overlooking the desert that Friday evening in October,  the winds blowing, the sun setting, marvelling at the undulating dunes of the Sahara desert before my eyes, that dream had become a reality. 

There is no exaggeration when I say Morocco was magical. 9 days of magical bliss, driving through beautiful nation of breath taking landscapes, bustling medinas and capturing a whole new experience.

This was my first flight since returning from Cape Verde in January 2020 and I am super happy that this was my destination of choice.

Planning the trip

Fez Tannery

When I made up my mind to go on vacation, the intention was a multi-country trip. Morocco and Egypt, Morocco and Turkey or Egypt and Turkey. Unfortunately, Turkey was on the red list as the time of travel. There was no guarantee that my visa will make it out of the embassy before the travel date. I settled for Morocco and due to the backlog at the embassy, the visa did not arrive as earlier assumed. 

By the time I got my passport back, there was not enough time to get the passport into another embassy before my travel date. 

Work was dragging me, I really did not have time to plan the trip, it was mostly insha Allah and vibes. 5 days to trip and I did not even have accommodation booked or tours🤣. Travelling solo also meant that the trip was going to cost me a lot more.

2 days to my trip, I finally booked a night accommodation in Casablanca. Found a local tour guide in Marrakech, Ali of Morocco Joy Travel on Instagram and I was good to go.

Getting the Visa

Nigerian passport holders require a visa to visit Morocco.

The embassy of Morocco is in Abuja and no, I did not visit Abuja for the visa application. There are a couple of travel company in Lagos that help with processing the non-appearance visa.

The Tourist visa requirements are:

• Passport. You must possess a valid international passport or travel document. Valid for 6 months beyond your intended duration of stay. 
• A clear copy of the international passport data page.
• Visa Application form. Duly and accurately filled visa application for which can be downloaded from the embassy's official website.
• Passport Photographs. You need to submit two passport coloured photographs on white background (4 X 3 cm) showing the features of the face clearly; 
• Introduction Letter. An introduction letter from your employer is needed for a Morocco visa application. You need to state the purpose of visit and length of stay.
• Payslip. Employees need to show evidence of salary slips for 6 months.
• Work I.D.  card.  A copy of your employer issued identity card is mandatory and you need to include it in your application. The ID card must show your names as they appear on your passport, your title, and the company’s details.
• Bank Statement of Account You must submit 6-month bank signed and stamped account statement showing sufficient funds for the trip. And if you need to submit a corporate account, a reference letter from the bank is required. 
• Letter of sponsorship if applicant's employer is sponsoring the trip.
• NIN Slip
• Hotel Reservation. You need to get a confirmed hotel reservation for the purpose of the visa application.
• Flight Reservation. Confirmed return or onward tickets. The flight needs to show your arrival date and departure.
• Travel Insurance You need 3-month insurance to cover for your trip. 

The visa processing time is ideally maximum of 15 working days but there are exceptions the embassy hangs on to your passport beyond the required days. The embassy issued me a 30 days visa instead of the usual 90 days which changing my travel date impossible.

The decision to use a travel company was the most cost effective option for me, also I did not have the luxury of time to visit Abuja to physically apply for the visa.

Flight Details

I flew directly into Casablanca with Royal Air Maroc. Flight time was 4.30hrs. The downside of a less than 5 hours flight is that I was not eligible for PTA. The other flight options are Egyptair (about 22hours flight time with stop over in Cairo) and Turkish Airlines (Stop over in Instanbul with flight time of about18 hours)

I’ll share what I got up to in the next post. 

Have you been to Morocco, What was your experience like? is Morocco on your travel bucket list?

♥Lara