Marrakesh,
Marrakesh-Safi,
Morocco
Organizer: Mouslih tour Marrakesh
To whom it may concern,
I would like to report a very serious health hazard we experienced yesterday in Marrakesh 19/06/2024.
Sorry for the long mail, but we feel the details are important.
Please take actions as soon as possible, to make sure this does not happen to anyone else!
We booked through the Get Your Guide app, two days before the actual trip for two adults and a child ( 9 years old ).
Sunset Camel ride and dinner with show in Agafay desert.
I have emailed the company twice to ask them to pick us up from our Riad, as it is in the old Medina with narrow street labirinth..
I have never received an email reply.
On the day of the trip the tour guide messaged us on Whats App, that they are going to collect us from our Riad at 5pm( the tour was supposed to start at 4:30) I have proof on my Whats App of our conversations.
Half an our later, our receptionist called them complaining, when they said that now we have to take a taxi to the meeting point ( Hotel Islan ) and pay for it ourselves. Since it was our last night, and this trip was my daughters birthday wish, we went along ( very upset )!
We have arrived after 6pm, to find a tour bus full of very upset people, who were told that they have to pay extra for their journey back to their hotel at the end of the trip.
We set off at 18:34 spent unreasonanly long time on the first stop at the Argan oil factory with majorly overpriced products.
Arrived just before sunset to the Camel ride spot, being very late we have clearly missed our slot. The sun went down, no communication from the tour guides whatsoever. The guest demanded the camel ride still, so many of them had a very short and very unsafe camel ride in the dark.
It was around 10:15 pm when we made it to the dinner place, messy tables lot of people, tour guides nowhere to be seen. All hungry, upset and tired, we sat down to a messy table.
This is when all hell broke lose.
Please understand that the events followed were witnessed by about 40 people from our tour and many others!
First we have seen a waiter picking up used cutlery from a table, who wrapped them up in front of our very eyes, and gave them to the people next to our table.
This is when I went up to them with an antiseptic wipe in my hand, and told them what we have just witnessed.
We have wiped ours as well of course.
I blame myself for not leaving at this point, but we were so hungry, and tired.
I wish we had…
A waiter took our food order. After few minutes of waiting our tour guide came up to our table to tell us, that there’ll be about 40 minute wait for the food.
This is already an hour after we were supposed to be back to our hotel!!
Nontheless 5 min later a waiter had showed up with a tray of three tagine dishes. Two if them were completely cold and messy, one of them had no chicken. The waiter picked up my sister’s fork to dig around in the dish to show us one strip of cold chicken.
Unfortunately we had some of it, being so hungry, when my sister, who is actually a doctor, said that she is suspecting something truly horrifying. That they giving us other peoples leftovers.
It all made sense, so I went up to the table of our travel companions, telling them not to eat, and shared our worries. They said that they’ve seen the waiters taking tagine dishes and messing around with them at the back of the tent.
This is when my heart sank, thinking that my little girl ate some food, almost crying started to go around the tables telling people what we think is happening.
Minutes later they were served the same messy cold food.
This is when the whole place turned into a beehive, we have seen our guides panicking and whispering to the hosts, they all looked sooo guilty!
My sister went up to one of the hosts loudly and openly asking them, what they had done with the food, and if the put together the leftovers for zs to eat. The “poor” guy looking extremely gulity nodded yes. The tour guide were standing next to him, saying nothing.
After this, there were long minutes of sheer panic and shouting aming all the guests.
I was shaking thinking if my child, while my sister loudly telling the hosts the list of infections we can contact in this heat, eating other peoples leftover food.
It all felt like a bad dream. 11pm!
In complete shock and panic, we demanded to take us home immediately.
We have arrived to Marrakesh, before midnight. They promised us before we started the tour, that of course they will take all of us home to our hotels.
Instead they stopped at the middle of the town, my daughter was asleep, I was almost in tears from worry, and they demanded us to leave the bus and take a taxi home. Not offering to pay, or even help to find one.
They called their boss who were shouting in the phone to get us off the bus.
This is when I started filming the events that falliwed.
I still have it on my phone, if You wish to see it:
The male tour guide shouting in my face, telling me that all is my fault, telling the people not to eat the unsafe food.
The whole bus was scared and beyond themselves.
My daughter woke up in complete distress, and I got off the bus to hail a taxi in the middle of the road. Thank God one stopped and we left, still hearing the tour guide shouting at us.
This was our last night in Marrakesh, with our flight back to the UK at 10am.
We are still in disbelief. Teamed up with the people on the bus to report this to every authority there is.
If You need their account of the events, I am happy to provide their contact details.
Please take actions. This is beyond unacceptable.
I pray that we did not catch any serious desease such as hepatitis or God knows what else. My daughter is only 9 years old. This was her birthday.
Please help!
They have to stop organizing any tours.
The restaurant MUST be shut.
Unfortunately, I had no internet access in the Afafay desert, and the booking does not mention name or location. I will try and get this information from the Get Your Guide app providers. The tour organizer doesn’t reply to any of my emails, no refund or apology, nothing. My daughter seems fine so far, and my sister too, but Hepatitis takes weeks to show. I have diarrhea and feel very weak. I am off to my gp today.
Update 06/25: The Get Your Tour Guide refused to share the exact location of the restaurant. They offered me half of the cost of the tour as a refund, and closed the case. All three of us is unwell. Please do not let them continue!
My child was perfectly healthy until t | Symptoms: Diarrhea, Weakness
