apatinage

Hello all,

I would love to take a camel trip out to the desert overnight from Fez as I have heard many amazing stories of how it was the best part of traveller's trips to Morocco.

My travelling partners think that it might not be safe for a blonde hair American tourist out in the desert - afraid that his head might get cut off , kidnapped or something.

Are there usually alot of tourist camps out there with other western travellers?

Any saftey issues? / concerns?

Thanks

the_moroccan

"My travelling partners think that it might not be safe for a blonde hair American tourist out in the desert - afraid that his head might get cut off , kidnapped or something."

Please let your friend know that there are other millions of blond-haired tourists around and they still go back home with their head betwen their shoulders..

pattyroth

We went out for an overnight in the desert with Kasbah Mohajut (I think that's how they spelled it). Of the five "tourists" one was a blond cute English-French girl who had no problems. We all felt very very safe and it was a highlight of our trip there. Photos of our trip to the desert at www.pbase.com/pattyroth It is a must-do!

sebti

I hope the chopping heads-off comment was tongue-in-cheek. I mean really, are there people out there who seriously have this as a concern?

apatinage

well, I have no problems going into the desert, but unfortunately, there are still people who want to visit muslim countries because of the culture , architecture etc, but are afraid because of the extremists out there.

Clifton

My wife and I (I'm American) drove ourselves all over Morocco, including out to a guest house in Merzouga, from which we made a desert trek on camel. It's all very tourist friendly. Moroccans in general were friendly, with so many quick to point out tidbits such as how they were the first to recognize the US as a new country after independence. I lost track of how many people popped up from everywhere with a "hello! how are you? Where are you from? Ohhhhh, America! How do you like our country?". Only about half the time was it followed by "and would you like to step into my shop?" hehe . But even then, it was almost always polite and sincere - but also good business.

Honest, I never felt at risk of anything other than being plied with too much mint tea and eating too many good tagines.

sebti

It sounds then like a visit to Morocco will put your perceptions a little more in line with the reality. Frankly, I'd be more afraid of the extremists in the United States.