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Morocco birding trip (2 Viewers)
- Thread starter Lanhua
- Start date
We didn't really need a guide
When we went last year we just used Gosney guide and latest trip report information and hired car in Agadir for a very inexpensive price.
If you must get a guide we saw quite a few at Oued Sous as you enter the car park and none were too pushy.
Gosney mentions [email protected] who we met briefly at Camping Wassay where we saw the Bald Ibis.
HTH
When we went last year we just used Gosney guide and latest trip report information and hired car in Agadir for a very inexpensive price.
If you must get a guide we saw quite a few at Oued Sous as you enter the car park and none were too pushy.
Gosney mentions [email protected] who we met briefly at Camping Wassay where we saw the Bald Ibis.
HTH
Andy Adcock
Worst person on Birdforum
Are guides in Morocco a relatively new thing? I don't remember seeing any, anywhere when were were there in 99.
opisska
rabid twitcher
Must have been a blessed time! In 2016, we first god at involuntary "guide" for the Marsh Owl (the guy straight up refused to leave us alone) and then around the Bald Ibis area, some more "guides" jumped on us the second we slowed down in a car park.
Gosney's books are much older and they also mention guides - for some sites, he even refuses to give directions to avoid hurting their business.
James Lowther
Well-known member
almost all birding areas in morocco can be done without a guide and without hassle (although fossil sellers at Oukaimeden can be a bit irritating..).
probably the only exceptions the Merja Zerga marsh owl area and Oued Massa bald ibis site. Tamri bald ibis site can be done without a guide.
personally i'd recommend a guide for the marsh owl to maintain good relations between locals and birders, the site is extremely sensitive to habitat degradation and any money flowing into the local economy to try and counter that is a good thing IMO. There are details elsewhere on this forum.
there are good guides available in the Merzouga area but not necessary (although species like crowned sandgrouse, Saharan scrub warbler, dunn's lark if present, Egyptian nightjar might be difficult without them)
cheers,
James
Andy Adcock
Worst person on Birdforum
We dipped the Ibis and on the way to a spot where we'd been told they were nesting, two, uniformed guys on a motorbike, headed us off and prevented us from going any further?
Steve Lister
Senior Birder, ex County Recorder, Garden Moths.
It is a while since I was there too (2009) but then there were 'official' guides based at Oued Massa, the long-term ex Slender-billed Curlew guy Hassan at Merja Zerga, now showing people the Marsh Owls, and desert guides in the Merzouga/Rissani area who had things like Egyptian Nightjars and sandgrouse pools staked out. All useful, but the Oued Massa ones are not really needed for knowledgeable birders except they might know exactly where to find feeding Bald Ibis flocks.
Steve
jurek
Well-known member
Morocco does not need a guide. Sites are well described in e.g. Gosney 'Where to watch birds...' booklet, plus many current observations on Observado and suchlike sites.
Few years ago in Oued Massa random people kept coming and pestering us saying things like guardian-ibis-d'argent, guardian-ibis-d'argent, guardian-ibis-d'argent... One needed to park the car and move in a way not visible to curious eyes, and be firm.
It is exactly how birding should not develop relations with the local community.
By the way, locals wanted to build a huge Club Meds hotel there at some point, because it offered even more money than ibises.
I still wonder, why some countries, including even poorer ones, don't develop this culture of pestering and scamming, but others do?
Few years ago in Oued Massa random people kept coming and pestering us saying things like guardian-ibis-d'argent, guardian-ibis-d'argent, guardian-ibis-d'argent... One needed to park the car and move in a way not visible to curious eyes, and be firm.
It is exactly how birding should not develop relations with the local community.
By the way, locals wanted to build a huge Club Meds hotel there at some point, because it offered even more money than ibises.
I still wonder, why some countries, including even poorer ones, don't develop this culture of pestering and scamming, but others do?
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Pitta Patter
Well-known member
Hi Mietek. We used a guide a couple of years ago for 3 days in the Agadir region. I day looking for the bald ibis and 2 days in the desert to the south. He was pretty good. I will dig out the details and send them to you in a day or two.
Pitta Patter
Well-known member
Mietek - A friend and I used Mohamed Bargache. He is based near Agadir, knows the city well so can pick you up from your hotel. His prices were reasonable, it obviously helped splitting the costs in our case. The email address I have is [email protected] I am sure he would welcome your custom when it is safe to travel and the country is open for tourism. Feel free to PM me if you need for information.
Here is a cautionary tale. I found a guide by the name, Mohamed Bargache, from the the fatbirder blog, discussed a short two day trip to the Atlas Mountains from Marrakech for which I booked the train ticket from Casablanca (all this is for Nov 2024), booked a night stay in Marrakech and a hotel in Imlil for me and my wife as well as the guide. After making all the arrangements, ten days later, he messages me asking me to confirm the birding dates saying that he has got another booking and he now needs to find a guide for us. This is the level of professionalism that you can expect from a guide in Morocco. So, watch out! I will be able to cancel the hotel bookings, but not the train tickets that I booked thru an online site. The cost of the train tickets is not a big loss for me, it is just the shaking of the faith in humanity and the loss of innocence. I hope this doesn't alter my views of the people of Morocco, a country that I am yet to visit.
temmie
Well-known member
Can’t you contact other guides to make it work? Like Hamid birdwatching (on facebook) or the guys from Gayuin (don't know if Hamid is working for them, anyway, both mentioned are trustable)?
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shorefolks
Member
I am very glad to have read this. Because of an earlier mention of M. Bargache, I have tried to contact him twice over the last 6 weeks but with no reply. We are taking a cruise to Morocco and the Canaries in January. I just don't need that level of unreliability. Unfortunately, that is too often encountered with Third World "guides."
