The day I decided to be a Good Samaritan is also the same day we got scammed and spit at in Marrakesh. Sadly not all travel stories are filled with rainbows and butterflies. Let me explain…
This is my story of the time I got caught in the Marrakech tannery scam.
It was a hot 105-degree day in Marrakesh, Morocco.
We were heading to the Ben Youssef Madrasa, a former Islamic College when a man informed us that the site was closed due to prayer time.
He suggested that we should check out the leather tannery instead, which was only a ten-minute walk away, as it was the last day that the Berber People were making the leather.
He said, “I expect nothing for this information, I am not trying to scam you, I just want to help”.
I didn’t believe him, but Zeke was being more lenient so we went along with the conversation.
He said, “Follow my friend, who happens to be going home, and has to walk right past the tannery, he will show you the way”.
So, we followed Man # 2 and instead of money he only asked for a thank you, which we politely gave him.
He then passed us along to Man # 3 who gave us a tour of the leather tannery.
When asked how much the tour would be he said: “No Cost. We are just nice people, we want to show you that Marrakesh is amazing.”
Ok fine, we’ll take the bait.
The tannery was gross.
There were freshly cut animal skins everywhere and it stunk to the high heavens.
Besides the grossness, however, it was interesting to see, plus we learned something.
Man #3 explained that for leather to get soft, the animal skin must soak in pigeon feces for several days (gross).
We saw leather skins being prepared from different types of animals: cow, camel, and lamb. We had to use a “Berber gas mask” (a sprig of mint) to hold to our noses to avoid gagging from the smell.
After the tour, we were shuttled into a leather store where the haggling and hustling began.
We had to bargain aggressively for a small wallet with a very angry man. When we attempted to leave, Man #3 would not let us pass until we coughed up 100 dirhams.
Not in the mood to argue, we gave it to him and walked back to the school in hopes it was now open.
After we visited the now “open” school, we ran into some tourists we had met earlier.
They were talking to Man #1 about how the “School was closed”. Come to find out, it was never closed (duh) and we saw our new friends about to get scammed.
We quietly let our friends know that the tour was worth it, but they would be forced to pay the guide at the end of the tour.
Well, that didn’t make Man # 1 and his friends very happy. They must have assumed we were telling the tourists not to go with them which was not the case.
The angry men immediately proceeded to spit at us and scream “F*** you, go back to your country”. They then screamed just about every derogatory swear word in the book at us. Shortly after they began spitting and ranting and raving and throwing their arms around like children having a hissy fit.
About 50 tourists in Marrakesh were watching the entire thing go down.
Honestly, we were trying not to laugh as they were behaving like children. As New Yorkers, this type of behavior does not shock us.
Ride a NYC subway line for a few hours and you will see all walks of life from all different backgrounds behaving this way.
We simply wanted to give some tourists in Marrakesh a heads up and it backfired. And by no means do we want to scare you away from experiencing Morocco.
Not everyone you meet is looking to scam you, just be on the lookout for scammers. Smile at them, say no thank you, and go on your way.
In the end, we did see something we never would have on our own (the tannery) and it added some excitement to our day.
The fact that they threw such a hissy fit in front of all those potential customers couldn’t have been good for business though… just saying!
Hopefully my story does not become your story and you avoid one of the Marrakech scams.
Visiting Morocco? Here are my Guides:
Comments are closed.