My 2013 Trip to Morocco

11 Days with Lee Frost group

After enjoying Cuba with Lee Frost earlier in 2013, I was quick to sign up for his tour of Morocco later that same year.

Morocco appeared to me to be both beautiful, like Cuba, and intimidating for solo travel, like Cuba. I was right on both counts.

The people in the two countries, however, struck me as completely different.

Cubans were friendly, loved having their picture taken, would come up to talk to you on the streets, always starting with “Hello, my friend!” and only after establishing some shared interest, start asking for money or gifts, but in a relaxed no-pressure way.

Moroccans were aggressive, only approached when they wanted to sell something, would only accept having their picture taken for money and never consider the money they received “enough”, and were often abrasive. Lee cautioned us that taking pictures of a stranger on the street could be dangerous, so we let him arrange things when we took pictures of snake charmers, welders, or others.

Visually, though, Morocco was just as impressive as Cuba. I did do some street photography, but with much more care, either on a balcony, through our minibus window, or unseen from a distance with a long lens.