They almost didn’t let us into Morocco

I briefly mentioned our adventure crossing the border into Morocco on our Facebook page, and I promised to share more of the details.  So here you go! Morocco Our travel day was a bit active and involved multiple forms of transport, which is always a bit fun.  First we had to take a bus in Granada to the train station.  Then we were on a 4-hour train to Algeciras, Spain.  From there it was a taxi to the ferry terminal. I was relieved that the ferry ended up being 24€ for me (and discounted for Tigger) rather than the much higher rates I had found during online research.

The ferry terminal was a bit interesting, but nothing terribly exciting.  Our boat was scheduled to leave at 8:30 PM, so we had some dinner and kept ourselves entertained for a while.  I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from the ferry.  Europe is quite modern in many ways, and “old world” in others.  Some of the ships that were docked in the harbor looked sleek and new and others . . . well, I had to assume since they were floating that was a good sign. Algeciras Spain ferry station to Morocco Our particular ship turned out to be more the latter than the former.  I don’t scare easily, though.  Once on the ferry, it was like we had stepped into another world.  Since it was a later boat, the reception and luggage storage areas were unmanned and locked up.

We followed the signs to cafes and made ourselves comfortable in cushioned seats at long tables.  All around us were Arabic people who stared at the only two white faces on the ship.  I just smiled and said bonjour to everyone who stared. The voyage itself was nice.  Once we actually started.  We undocked about 45 minutes later than scheduled, but we were in no rush.  I was filled with a sense of excitement as I heard the unfamiliar language, watched how families interacted, observed everything I possibly could and tried to absorb it all.  Everything from mannerisms to how they laughed, how they greeted people, and how they ate.  We were actually on our way to Morocco! I almost couldn’t believe it.

I loved seeing a culture where it was okay for 2 male friends to walk while holding hands or arm in arm, how when people spoke with someone of the same gender they always were touching them.  I understood bits of the words used in the traditional greeting and marveled at how long some greetings took.  There’s no “Hi, how are you?” brevity among Arab people. Marrakech, Morocco When we finally docked, it was very late, and I was very tired.  Tigger was starting to run a bit on fumes, too.  You can always tell because he walks.  His motto is usually “Why walk when I can run, hop, jump, bounce. . . ” We followed the masses of people down the stairs to where the cars exit since there is no walkway at the Tangier Med terminal.  Smiling policemen stopped everyone momentarily to look at their passports.  When I handed him ours, he shook his head and started speaking in Arabic.  The look on my face made it clear that I had absolutely no clue what he was talking about.

Another policeman came over.  Between Spanish and French with me, he interpreted in Arabic for the other guy, and we were informed that reception on the ferry gives you the entry stamp into Morocco.  “But, there was no one in reception,” I said calmly even though in my head I was thinking “Oh crap!” and trying to not ponder just how wrong things could go from here. “You go back. You get stamp,” he said in Englush, thrusting our blue passports back at me and shaking his head no. I forced a smile and updated Tigger as we headed back to the boat.  Another round of Franglish (French, Arabic, Spanish, English), and some of the crew stomped up to the policeman.

I watched from afar as voices were raised.  Arms gesticulated wildly in the air.  I began to wonder if someone was going to get hit. Then I heard a phrase I understood:  “Just let them in without a stamp!” Oh hell no! That was NOT happening.  I was not going to be left in the situation of trying to explain to someone later on how we entered Morocco illegally. Finally the crew came stomping back.  I tried to explain I really wasn’t an idiot.  He stopped me.  He knew the guy wasn’t there and should’ve been.  Apparently, another family had been stopped as well.  They had called someone who was coming. Morocco passport visa stamp About an hour later an irritated-looking man showed up, and we were ushered back inside.  He was further disgusted that I had not filled out the visitor identification paperwork that everyone has to fill out but no one had given us. It was almost midnight by now.  I was tired, and recently the mid-40s had decided I needed longer arms to read small print.  The combination was most amusing at some level I wasn’t able to fully tap into in the moment.  Tigger tried to help by offering to hold the paper out further away since I couldn’t reach far enough to make the tiny print come into adequate focus.  He also tried reading the words to me, but since he doesn’t know Arabic, Spanish, or French. . .

Finally, I got them filled out.  The man didn’t throw them back at me, so I assume everything was okay. Then there was some loud banging as he stamped the hell out of each of our passports.  With the stamps in hand, I was relieved. When we finally got to our hotel room, I was relieved again that no one had tried to push us through without a stamp.  When you come to Morocco, each entry stamp is given a unique numeric stamp (see photo above), and the hotels require this number to rent to you.  I’m quite sure this was not something I’d like to try and fix at 1 AM in the middle of Tangier.

Tip: If you come to Morocco by ferry, make sure someone in reception or the “police control” desk on the boat stamps you in.  If no one is there, ask a staff member to get someone if you want to be spared a lot of extra time and hassle. If you are unsure of the words, point to the desk, hold your upturned palm flat like you have a passport in your hand, and use your other hand to mimic stamping.  It works.

Also, the Tangier Med port is quite a distance from the city, unlike the other Tangier port (ferries leaving Tarifa and Barcelona come here, the ones from Algeciras go to Tangier Med).  Tarifa offers quicker transport but is more expensive (by about 10€) than the ferries from Algeciras.  If you go to Tangier Med, you will save a LOT of money if you are able to wait for the buses that come by the bus station.  You can take them to the center of town.  Tell the driver the name of your hotel, and they’ll typically clue you in as to when you’re at the stop.  The taxi driver originally tried to charge us 40€, but thankfully some other drivers came to our assistance and bargained with him until he agreed to take the 27€ I had in my pocket.  The bus will only set you back 25 MAD, which is less than $3 USD. A HUGE difference.  Don’t fret if you haven’t had time to convert money or get dirhams.  They happily accept euros.

Morocco is definitely worth the visit!

Have you had a border adventure?

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22 Comments

  1. Great story Talon, I haven’t yet been to Morocco and the ferry crossing sounds cool, thanks for sharing this so that others know the score.

    I have to ask, as I see your name come up in a lot of feeds these days, is Talon Windwalker your real name? If so, that’s one hell of a surname for a traveller! Born for it, I’d say.

    Safe travels. Jonny

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    • Yep, that’s my real name! Wasn’t so much fun when Star Wars first came out, but other than that I love it.

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  2. Tigger – what a cutie!

    Glad they let you in, in the end. It’s always unnerving when someone official-looking has your passport and is talking about you in a language you don’t understand… phew!

    My dad caught this ferry in the 1970s btw. I should ask him about that one… I wonder if anything’s changed?

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    • It wouldn’t surprise me if nothing has changed. LOL It definitely doesn’t seem they have too tight of a border control, which is nice on one hand.

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  3. Border crossings are always a bit stressful but having this kind of knowledge beforehand is invaluable. We had to learn the hard way on our crossing from Ecuador into Peru. Thanks for the great info!

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    • Hmm. What trouble did you have? We went by bus, and it went without a hitch.

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  4. Having used that ferry once I can imagine how you felt! Oddly, I don’t remember much about the ferry itself (it was quite a few years back now) but one of the things I remember is, arriving to Algeciras by road, we were constantly amazed by the cars around us which were over-laden with goods. Families returning to Morocco with everything but the kitchen sink! Made the meaning of that phrase come true! I never would have thought it possible to cram so much onto a roof rack!

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  5. Oooh now this is an adventure! Glad that you gents managed to get it sorted out without any more wildly gesticulating limbs being thrown into the mix – it sounds like someone was about to lose an eye!

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    • Thankfully, no eyes were lost in this adventure. And no nose broken. LOL

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  6. Tigger is such a good sport. I liked the part where he tried to help you hold the paper farther.

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  7. Love the story. How fricken stressfull especially when you have a kid with you. and . I laughed out loud when you wrote “HELL NO”.
    I’m just dying to go to Morocco. We’ve made plans to go twice now and both times our plans got axed.

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    • Yes, especially after about 11 hours of travel already behind us. Ugh. I’m just glad it was relatively easily resolved.

      Morocco is such a great place to visit. AFAIC, it’s one of the places you just have to experience before you die. Every town is a like a completely different world.

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  8. Ugh! I hate when border officials just make it difficult for you! Glad to hear you guys finally got through without too much hassle.

    I got into a little tiff at the Botswana- Zimbabwe border when the Zimbabwean officials wouldn’t give me a multiple entry. I really wanted to go to Zambia to do the microlight flight over Vic Falls (cause they no longer run it out of the Zim side) – but I guess Zim doesn’t allow Canadians to get multiple entry visas… which is xenophobic, iMO! 😛

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  9. Whew! What an adventure! I am exhausted for you just reading it. 🙂

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    • I don’t think I’ve fallen asleep so fast in quite a long time. LOL

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  10. I would have been so nervous but I am glad the ordeal is over with. I can’t imagine what would have happened if you would have continued without getting your passport stamp. You and Tigger are such troopers.

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    • I was just concerned we’d have to go back to Spain and wait until the next day, a very costly and incredibly exhausting proposition. I was so relieved they were able to get us stamped. There was no way I was entering without it even if they had said yes. At least not without something official in writing.

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