Ques. about Morocco
 

Has anyone recently visited Morocco?
What is their attitude towards westerners
& Americans, in particular? Any hostility?
Thanks.

Our experience of Morocco is not exstensive. We were there about a year ago and only went to Tangiers. It was part of a longer trip and we just visited to see if we would like to return one day. Our experience was that there was quite a lot of anti american feeling. However, it would not prevent me from going back..a very exciting place.

I was there in 2001, 2 months after September 11.

We were there for 2 weeks, and the two of us were the only people on our tour as everyone else had cancelled. This turned into a blessing for us as we had a 12 passenger minivan to ourselves, and were able to get to know our guides and driver, stop when we wanted, etc.The whole trip went extremely well, and is still one of the highlights of my travels.

The only time we experienced something close to hostility was in the souks of Marrakech. Certain vendors get upset if you don't stop to look at their wares. Also, we were there during Ramadan and people get a little irritated (with everyone) because they haven't eaten all day.

I would highly recommend that you go.

I just got back from Morocco last night. I experienced no hostility at being a westerner at all (I'm Canadian). My husband and I rented a car and drove from Casablanca to Fez, to the desert in Merzouga to the Gorges, Ouarzazate, Marrakech, Tamaragant (near Agadir), Essaouira and back to Casablanca.
We found there to be a large police presence which is helpful when you get lost and helps with a feeling of security. There was lots of tourists all though more from Europe than North America. There were two instances in the trip that I felt a little threatened but it was more about being a woman then from North America. I walked back to my hotel in Fez by myself at night to get my camera and was called a prostitute and was approaced by a number of men but I ignored them and kept moving and they backed off. On our last day in Casablanca a man started following us in the Medina. He was trying to engage us in conversation when I ignored him and walked ahead of him and my husband he started saying I was unkind and why did my husband marry me from there it escalated to him saying he was going to murder me. At this point people were starting to look at him so I said really loud why don't you just kill me now to draw more attention figuring he would back off which he did, and then we spotted the door out of the medina and we hopped in a cab. Those were the only two hostile experiances in an otherwise wonderful trip. I will post a reoprt later with info on guides we used and hotels we stayed at.

I spent 7 weeks in Morocco in March/April 2004. There was virtually no hostility toward Americans - every time we told a local we were American, they would say "America! You are very welcome!". Several people wanted to know what state we were from since they had relatives living in the US.

There was one guy on a bus who was kind of annoying, but he was just going on an on about "what is wrong with America, with all of the divorces and abortions? But I suppose most Americans are still nice people". I told him that I supposed most Moroccans are nice people too and he laughed and left me alone.

The first week or so was a bit stressful in the souks with men hissing and whistling and making comments (sometimes even when my husband was with me), but eventually I didn't even notice it. Overall Morocco is one of my favorite countries I have ever visited - I would definitely recommend a trip there.