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Shopping at Talat-n-Yacoub souk (Route 34)

I’ve seen a whole season of various groups trekking for three months with no upset tummy. And when they do get it, it is often in some city or hotel setting, not sprawled in a mess tent in the wilds. One thing I do insist on is that everyone uses Wet Wipes, or some such, on their hands before meals. An upset tummy can feel pretty awful, a night of the runs and vomiting is no joy, but 24 hours later all is well again and, oddly I always feel, it is often only one person in a group who is hit. There never seems to be a common cause. Well before departing for Morocco check with your doctor about whatever precautionary injections are recommended.

On bottled water, can I make an appeal to buy only those labelled ‘natural spring water’ – look out for names like Sidi Ali, Sidi Harazen and Aïn Saïss (Aïn means ‘spring’ and Sidi suggests a sacred site, which might well be a source). I emphasise this because the Coca Cola Company is selling bottled Casablanca water and undercutting the price of everyone else – which is morally abhorrent. I’ve seen the Sidi Ali site (which is also the source of Oulmès, the sparkling spring water), which employs and has created a whole village of families (600 people) in the middle of nowhere. I don’t want to see them destroyed. So avoid Ciel and any other bottled waters that betray their origins with the label ‘Table Water’ (Eau de Table).