If you are ready to explore Morocco, tours led by a professional Moroccan tour guide really make a difference to the experience you can have here.
Whether you are coming for an experience in the Sahara Desert, or you want to revel in the culture and ancient history around Fes and Meknes, a guide will lead the way.
Perhaps you want to leave from Marrakech and travel to Merzouga on a three day trip in the desert. Maybe a 15 or 19 day tour of the entire country is your dream vacation waiting to happen. Regardless of your choice, a tour guide will be something you won’t regret taking along.
Reasons to Use a Professional Guide:
- A guide will meet you at the airport when you arrive, drop you off when you leave, and be with you throughout your journey. It’s like having a personal assistant with you the entire time.
- Morocco is a vast and foreign land where 4 languages are used in regular conversation and any number of dialects can make an appearance.
- Arabic is spoken in formal situations while most daily conversations in the cities and the Northern parts happen in Darija, the Moroccan dialect of Arabic.
- French is widely used in the cities as well and almost all Moroccans, even small children, are fluent. In the southern regions and rural areas, Berber is the primary language.
- Like no other language on earth, there is no Google Translate to help you and the Tamizight (Berber) is a bunch of symbols that only scholars and natives understand. You’ll want someone to help you on the daily, even hour by hour, to decode the language and order you lunch!
- A guide is educated in the history, culture, politics and customs of Morocco. Always a Moroccan citizen from birth, the tour guides in Morocco can inform you about the monuments and cities you are visiting. They also engage in conversation about politics, the way of life in different parts of the country and answer questions.
- From “why is bread so important here?” and “when can women use the hammam?” to “where do they get the blue dye from?” and “how do those goats get out of that tree?”
- Your guide will be responsible for keeping the agenda. They know when you need to be at your next stop and how long it will take to get there. They see all the obstacles in between and how many toilet breaks will be needed.
- You can sit back and enjoy the sights and sounds around until you hear the all important call “Yalla, Yalla.” Then you will know its time to pick up the pace and get going.
- A tour guide will make sure you use hotels that are known to offer good service, clean accommodations, hot water, and nice food.
- Every business has its ups and downs and certainly things change quickly in the tourism business, but the guides are on the road and have their ear to the ground.
- Personal Concierge? But of course. Would you like to spend your free time at the spa? Take a horse back ride? Listen to some live music? Do you have a craving for a bottle of wine with your dinner?
- A tour guide knows each destination inside and out and will make magic happen when you make a request. They will make it their mission to fulfill your every wish or at least give it 100% effort.
You might wonder why you are offered a “local city guide” in major cities like Fes, Meknes, Marrakech and Essaouira. Its because there is a distinction in Morocco between licensed national guides and licensed city guides.
National guides are trained in travel throughout the country and know the ins and outs of travelling with larger groups for longer periods of time. Its a different set of logistics to travel to many locations with many people and many needs.
City guides are expects however, on their specific destination. They maintain a deep and broad working knowledge of their destination. They know all the attractions and history there. You will have a much richer experience with a specialized city guide who can share with you their wealth of knowledge.
What Does It Take to Become a Tour Guide in Morocco?
In Morocco there is a lottery system for qualified candidates who want to apply to guide school. There are only two schools in the country, one in Tangier and one in the mountains. Of course candidate must have a good command of the English language or another foreign language such as Italian or Spanish. They spend one year in school learning all there is to know about guiding, safety, advanced first aid, and communication. It is a tough process and only the best rise to the top.
Each year the guides are responsible for retraining and renewing their licenses as well as keeping their insurance up to date. When you come to Morocco and hire a guide – you are sure to get a smart, well trained, and full qualified guide. If you have any doubt, ask to see their license. They all have them!
If you are interested in booking a trip with us and wonder how our guides are doing, check out our reviews on TripAdvisor. Once you are convinced you want to explore Morocco, tours are available for you in all shapes and sizes, so just drop us a line at roamingcamelsmorocco@gmail.com and we will be happy to work with you on a personal plan.
