Grande Taxis

There are many forms of transportation in Morocco and you usually have a variety of options. Aside from the more long-standing means, such as donkey’s, camels, mules and horses, people also are moving in more modern standard forms such as taxis, private cars, vans, pick-up trucks, bicycles, mo-peds, trains, airplanes and for the backpacking hiker or the Sheppard, by foot.
The vast majority of my transportation experiences have been in taxis and each experience is unique. I pick up taxis out of my hamlet to get into the larger town nearby. I frequently find myself waiting anywhere from 5 -30 minutes for transport. If I am lucky I might just be that last person to fill in the taxi. In general, taxis will not take off unless all seats of the car are filled to maximize efficiency and cost. A 5 mile ride into the larger town costs me 4 dh (.52). Almost all grand taxis in Morocco are old German Mercedes. It is a living testament to German car manufacturing until you look closer and notice that the only part of the car that still seems to be from the original is the body. Seats, steering wheel, mirrors, dashboards, and the like seem to be a smorgasbord of objects found here and there or older things re-acclimated for new purposes. I have seen plastic dish drainers used as replacements for the air filters in the car, bumper stickers on the front window at an attempt to hold together cracked glass and plastic vinyl or possible shower curtain as new interior for the doors. Common themes of the new vinyl interior tend to be leopard print or a vibrant arrangement of tropical fish.
Each taxi is uniquely its own on the inside. On the outside, in my larger taxi town all taxis must be a shade of split pea green. Also common to other towns is the classic white and the occasional bursts of color like burnt barn red or turquoise, however these are far and few between. Some taxis are also more reliable than others. One of my main taxi drivers out of my site has a push start car, meaning you literally get out of the car prior to take off and push it until the engine checks in. Then you hop in and drive into town. On this same car, the way back into the village the travel time can take a whie. As the ride back in is mostly downhill, the driver typically turns off his engine and coasts, slowly back in as not to waste gas. He also would not be aware of how much gas he is using as all of the instruments on his dashboard do not work such as speedometer, gas gauge and the like.
Dashboard decorations are also amusing for the passenger. You can see plastic flower arrangements surrounding the whole front window, little carpets for the dashboard, an assortment of hanging rearview mirror decorations, stickers and family pictures. I have however not seen any bobble heads which I feel would be a great addition to the collection. A whole row of bobble head dolls, each one bouncing in unison. What an entertaining distraction from the open road.
Another typical feature of taxis is the lack of window handle. If you want to roll down you window you should ask the driver for the one handle to attach onto your respective door to roll it down. However, it is important to know that most Moroccans do not generally like to have the windows down in the taxi; this is something you should be conscious of. I find myself however, in the heat of the summer in a packed taxi, with intermittent car sickness to request permission to roll down the windows. This brings me to the next point, the number of passengers per car. As I said earlier taxis generally will not take off unless they are filled to maximum capacity. If you are in a rush you can opt to buy another seat but this can get expensive. An added benefit however is that you can get the front seat to yourself and roll down the window. A typically taxi, at normal capacity will have the driver and two passengers in the front seat. In the back, four people are expected to fit. This does not take into account the size or girth of fellow passengers. It is to be known that on occasion a butt cheek, leg or foot will fall asleep. On shorter trips you should also not be surprised that the driver out of goodness of his heart will let more get into the taxi. An extra passenger can be found to squeeze in on the left side of the driver or if there is a child in the back he or she will be placed on a lap to make more room.
Infant transport is also a concern of mine. As are the lack of seatbelts and road mannerisms. For one, young children are generally tied up onto the mothers back and the mother rides in the taxi with the child still attached to her in this manner. Seatbelts are a joke, your luck if you find one but even if you do, taxis at their passenger quota does not comply with the seatbelt arrangement in the car. Road manners are typically inexistent. Your car will most likely not follow a speed limit. If there is a car in front of yours, expect that your taxi will try to pass it even if he sees there is traffic in the oncoming lane. Occasionally passengers in the taxi will let the driver know if they agree it’s a good time to pass or not. Near death experiences are a possibility however drivers have seen to turn it into an art form.
Driver and passenger relationships are also dynamic. As some people take the same taxi frequently they get to really know their driver and become close friends. There is typically a lot of conversation in rides between strangers as well. Conversations, from what I have been able to grasp due to my language have revolved around the messages of God, town dramas or the price of vegetables at the market.
Music is also a stimulus during your journey. The driver generally has control and will put in his cassette tapes or a CD, whichever deck he has personally inserted into his car. Music choices in my area generally consist of listening to the Koran, Berber high pitched music that I cannot decipher, or select Arabic singers. I often do not hear a variety. I have become accustom to the few songs that I hear. If a driver has the music off, a passenger, typically a young male, will fill in the silent void with his high-tech musical cell phone. These songs are generally more modern and Western. You are likely to hear rappers like 50 cents, Tupac, or club music. If they only knew what the words translated into I wonder if they would still be allowed to play those songs in this country. Either way, I prefer the silence and a front seat to myself with the windows down.