Ramadan and trekking

Ramadan started here in Morocco last night and will continue until in or around the 19th / 20th September when the new moon will be sighted, signalling the end. The reason as to the uncertainty of the exact finishing date is because Morocco is one of the last countries in the world that relies on an actual sighting rather than a moon calendar. And if it isn't seen, then the fast goes one for another day.
The celebration at the end of Ramadan is called Eid el-Fitr, and is the second biggest event of the Islamic calendar (after Eid el-Kbir). Eid el-Fitr lasts three days and shops, banks and offices are closed.

We're often asked about the effects of Ramadan in the Moroccan High Atlas Mountains and whether it is wise to go trekking / climbing at this time. So here are some thoughts:-

If you are trekking with a large commercially organised party, then the effects of Ramadan on your trip will probably be very little. You may be aware of the local staff getting up early (before sunrise) to eat and drink and then all gathering together with other Moroccans at sunset (presently around 7 pm) to drink askif or harira (soup) and eat dates and some bread. Aside from that you'll observe them not eating, drinking or smoking during the day.
Again if you're with a commercial group, your in-country travel will be pre-organised and minibuses will be there for you at the appointed time.

Moving onto DIY trekking - this will be a different experience. There are a number of factors to consider:-
a) are you trekking long routes that will exhaust local staff unable to drink during the day?
b) who is going to prepare your lunch?
c) are you prepared to be flexible as regards transport availability?
d) how much interaction do you anticipate having with locals in the mountains? Can you adjust to their timescale?
e) are you prepared to travel in public transport without drinking or smoking?
f) if you're hiring a car and driving around the country, be prepared for all cafes / restaurants in non-tourist areas to be closed.


Some other pointers in random order:-

Regardless of whether you are trekking with commercial group or doing it yourself, you should out of respect for Moroccans, avoid eating, smoking or drinking in public during the day.

Be aware of banks and the like opening an hour later in the morning and closing mid-afternoon.

Alcohol is not available in the supermarkets and off-licences are closed from three days before Ramadan until three days after the Eid (celebrations at the end of Ramadan). It is available to foreigners in licensed restaurants, but sometimes the bar or restaurant might run out of some drinks.

The dJemma-el-Fna in Marrakech really comes alive after sundown and everyone will be out and about eating and enjoying themselves.

It will be next to impossible to get a taxi after 5 pm or thereabouts until after f'tour (the breaking of the fast meal at sundown) as everyone will be rushing to get home.

The sticky cakes on sale such as shpekia should not be missed!

During f'tour unless you are eating in a cafe / restaurant / dJemma-el-Fna, it is best not to be walking about generally in the streets at this time. Anyone else walking around when they should be home eating are probably up to no good and as generally there is always someone watching what everyone else is doing (and thereby self-policing), during f'tour there will be no-one about doing this! For this reason it's best not to let your kids go out of your sight during this time if you are travelling with children.


In summary, if you are prepared to adapt, be really sensitive to local culture (and particularly in the conservative countryside) and be flexible as regards things like transport times, then this can be a very rewarding time to visit.
Whilst large commercially driven companies do offer trips at this time, we at NomadicMorocco.com and ToubkalMountainGuides.com don't. One reason is that all our guides are out of the country in September anyway! More seriously though, at this time of year the weather is still hot and we generally don't offer (m)any trips until mid September. The main reason however is that we really feel for the local staff having to walk all day in the mountains without being able to drink as they run a much greater health risk of severe dehydration and depletion of body salts etc than they would otherwise.

September is a great month for harvesting walnuts however. More on this later....