i have recently spent a month in morocco and had a great time. i stayed in sale, marrakech,essaouira, casablanca and visited rabat most days i was in sale. i stayed with a morocan family so i didnt find the language a problem as i always had a moroccan with me, but alone i think it could be quite a problem, they speak arabic and french and i didnt find many people that could speak english. the taxi's are very complicated to understand and a bit shocking.. the small taxi "petit taxi" has to carry a minimum of 3 passsengers, and the large taxi a minimum 5, so many times on the route someone will leave the taxi and if no one replaces that person to make the minimum requirement you all have to get out and find another one!!!!! as for the maximum of passsengers....... as many as they can squash in the car!!!!! the buses can be very hot cos they squash as many as posss on them tooo, trains are a lot better and air conditioned. you can find plenty of cheap accom, even in marrakech i found a lovely apartment that would sleep 3 people and it was equivalent of £10 per night, close to the city centre as well, i trusted a guide who approached me as we got off the train, his english was good and he sorted out the apartment for us. the beggers can be a bit hard to handle, they are everywhere and once you have maid eye contact with them they wont leave you alone and it gets to be a pain. the people of morocco are warm and friendly and helpful and very proud of their country. they say dont drink the water, but i did almost straight away and i was fine, but dont take my advice on this.... i have a cast iron stomach!!! the food goes from one extreme to another, it can be pretty and bland or it can be damned goood, the cous cous is real goood and the tangines. but look before you buy the food, some places leave a lot to be desired where the hygine side of it is concerned, some of it is just covered in flies. if you want a drink thats difficult, didnt touch a drop at all while there...... couldnt find any!!!!! i hear you can in hotels but its very expensive.
i dont know if your male or female but being a woman myself i was advised never to be alone on the streets after 8pm, keep to well lit areas and just whatch your back at cashpoints. i was always accompanied anyway so i at no time felt in any danger at all, if i was alone it maybe could have been different. have a great time, there is plenty to see and all the mosques and the towers are beautiful, there is a lot of poverty that may shock you,, but hell... there is in the uk too.
let me know how you got on.
where Africa comes to you..
