Participants in the Trek Rose trip to Morocco, including at least two teams from Quebec, had a terrifying experience when they had to evacuate base camp, where a major bacterial infection was causing diarrhea and vomiting.
After months of preparation, Quebec-based Julie Morin and her teammates, Marie-Hélène Raymond and Élisabeth Cotte, have a bitter taste from their experience with French agency Desertours.
Photo taken from the Facebook page Les Camelles des dunes
Marie-Hélène Raymond, Julie Morin and Elizabeth Cotte arrive at the Merzouga base camp in Morocco. (Photo taken from the Facebook page Les hamelles des dunes)
The experience ended after two days of walking to his group’s name Chamelles des dunes. They had to interrupt their journey after being overtaken by symptoms. They still managed to complete two loops of 37 km.
According to Julie More, nearly a quarter of the roughly 800 people who took part in the Rose Trip trek have become ill, including a few who are still dripping.
Photo taken from the Facebook page Les Camelles des dunes
Base Camp is a gathering place.
“What’s worse is that a week ago, there was the Roses des Sables rally. The participants were staying in the same bivouac as us, and they were experiencing the same problems,” he laments.
“This means that they welcomed us into a makeshift room without taking any remedial action, even though they were well aware of what happened a few days ago.”
Their nightmare began last weekend. From this moment many participants started to get sick. They had gathered to participate in a desert orientation challenge reserved for women.
“We saw women dropping like flies, lying on the floor waiting to receive care,” added Qubesser.
Photo taken from the Facebook page Les Camelles des dunes
Participants in Trek Rose Trip Morocco, including a group from Quebec, had a terrifying experience. (Photo taken from the Facebook page Les Chamelles des dunes)
She and her teammates questioned the sanitary conditions prevailing on the scene. Food preparation tents were located near latrines and their open exits.
Marie-Claude Gagne-Vailincourt, who was on a team from Lavaltry, lamented that the organizers had underestimated what was happening. Two of his teammates fell ill, including one who had to be rescued in the desert.
“Apart from volunteers, there were about 30 toilets for 800 participants. This is definitely not enough. In addition, our water was stopped at night,” said M.me Vaillancourt returned to the country on Wednesday evening.
class action
To take part in this adventure, many for a lifetime, participants will have to pay $2,425, M said.me Morin.
A joint Trek Rose Trip 2023 & Trophee Roses des sables pandemic group has been created on Facebook. Participants affected by the outbreak plan to seek compensation.
Clinical analysis is underway to identify the strain of the bacteria. Désertours officials did not respond to our interview request. 27 teams from Canada participated in this challenge.
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