"Transportation In Morocco: Grand Taxi" by Amina Elhoudaigui
To travel from one city to another in Morocco, there are many options. However, many people opt for grand taxis as they can find them easily in major cities and they can take them wherever they need to go. It is a regular practice to travel by grand taxi for most Moroccans though a little more expensive than the bus. Unless you are traveling late in the evening, a grand taxi should fill quickly. They put one person in the front seat, 3 in the middle, and 2 in the back. Sometimes, it is 2 in the middle and 3 in the back. Either way, it is 6 total passengers plus the driver. You can even pay for the 6 seats and go alone.
Each taxi station has a manager who orders the departure. Taxis are color coded by destination and they have numbers. Traveling by grand taxi is quite an interesting experience for me as I have different stories about them since I have travelled all over Morocco.
The first one that crossed my mind writing this blog is my trip to Meknes, a city east of Rabat, the capital. I remember it was a warm day in the fall and I was heading to Azrou, a city in the Middle Atlas through Meknes (a 2 hour drive). It was quite an interesting trip. When I arrived at the taxi station, the taxi in turn was waiting only for one passenger, which was me. I got into the taxi, and as soon as I finished my sentence greeting everyone, they greeted me back nicely, and the person in the front seat added: “So, you are the one who we have been waiting for almost half an hour. Where have you been? Why are you so late?”
I had no answer for this comment as I was surprised so I kept quiet, and I just smiled. Some of the other passengers added their own comments. I knew that it was a way to be friendly to me, so I responded back jokingly: “Next time we need to fix an exact time to meet.”
They started laughing really loud. Another one responded: “You are welcome to travel with us.”
I responded back: “Thank you!”
With this start, I knew that those two hours were time for socializing. It was a good guess. I tried to be as quiet as possible as I don’t want to share a lot about my life. For them, it was the opposite. They all chatted as a group for most of the trip time, stories about personal life, jokes, singing, etc.
The woman in the front got a phone call informing her that she became a grandmother for the first time. As soon as the rest of the passengers heard the news, they started singing the special song for that. She was so happy. She turned towards us and said: “You are all invited to the celebration; I will not accept any excuses for not coming.”
She looked at me and said: “You are invited too.”
I thanked her for her generosity and being nice. Right after that, she pulled out a small package of Moroccan cookies and offered them all to us.
The driver was very happy and commented a couple of times “I am very lucky to have passengers like you; thanks be to God. I can find friends and family everywhere… what a beautiful day!!”
Yes, the grand taxi is also a place where you can socialize…
Amina Elhoudaigui is an Arabic instructor at Amideast Education Abroad in Morocco.
