Marrakech takes more arrivals than anywhere else in Morocco and, for South Africans, it is usually where the holiday actually begins. Royal Air Maroc flies Johannesburg to Casablanca directly, and most other routings come through Addis Ababa, Doha or Dubai. However you get here, you arrive after a long night in the air with a couple of hours of time difference and no appetite for a rental counter.
The driving is where it gets interesting. South Africans are used to the left, and Morocco runs on the right - the same adjustment Brits and Australians face, and one that takes a solid day to settle into. On top of that the medina is a sealed grid of one-way lanes that admits no vehicle at all, the ring road jams at peak, and parking near Jemaa el-Fna is negotiated with an unofficial attendant rather than paid at a meter.
Every booking is private. The vehicle, the driver and the day belong to your group alone, so you can pull out for the desert before first light, stop on the Kik Plateau because the light deserves it, or spend an extra hour at an argan co-op without clearing it with anyone. The price is settled before you fly and covers fuel, tolls and the driver.
Why hire a driver here
- No vehicle enters the medina - your driver stops at the gate and helps with the bags
- Morocco drives on the right, which takes South Africans a day to absorb
- Tizi n Tichka to Ouarzazate is 30 km of switchbacks topping out at 2,260 m
- Riad addresses do not come up in GPS - our drivers know the derbs by name
- Speed traps on the Agadir and Casablanca roads are frequent and paid on the spot
Included in every booking
- Fuel, tolls and the driver's fee for the agreed route
- Airport, riad, hotel or railway station pickup
- English-speaking drivers as standard on the South African site
- Bottled water and phone charging in the vehicle
- Child seats and extra luggage space on request, at no charge
