The plan is to change locations again today, leaving Al Houara and Tangier for Tamuda Bay, a coastal area on the Mediterranean and technically part of the city of Tetouan…….a large spread out affair in the Martil River valley with development spreading well up its side slopes for miles along the highway. Given that it is only a two hour ride, Jutta and I have decided to squeeze in another round of golf in the morning. Mohammed is in the shop by 8:30 and has said we can go whenever we like.
Somehow two guys, probably members, in their own separate carts have made it to the first tee ahead of us, so we hit a few balls to give them a heads start before teeing off. It didn’t take long, and we were seriously on their asses, so we drove around them on #4, played #5 quickly and we were gone……..saw them again on #12 tee as we were playing #15 , and the only other golfer we saw was a single playing the tips (beast) who we let through on #13. Other than that, the course was ours and we played in sub 3 hours, weather warm, wind howling a good one, but fun to play some fast golf with my honey. I found out there were memberships here when I said hello to a golfer who plays every morning with his dog Layla (LB,YB 💛) He plays every day with her first thing in the morning and she obviously knows her way around……..very well behaved and loads into the golf cart on command.
You might have noticed a lot of floodlight poles in the golf course pics……originally I thought they were just to light up the driving range and practice area, but there is also a 9 hole par 3 course here. Mohammed tells me you can play it at night but would have to pay for the lights to be turned on……..$$$$$$$$$……usually larger groups who make that happen.
Our driver Tarik is on time to pick us up at the Hilton and we are off…….after our Chez Abdou experience yesterday we wish we had explored the area a little more, but not having wheels, and being removed from the city made that harder……we could have worked around it and found a driver and more interesting places/restaurants I’m sure.
It is just an hour and a half to Tamuda Bay……lovely countryside as we navigate through the Rif Mountains, and eventually find our way to the shore after going through a busy stretch in Tetouan. We have booked at the Sofitel right on the waterfront and once again find our rooms to be a little less than desired…….not being snooty or anything but major equipment running in a concrete pit a short distance away from our garden view patio. The goats go to work 🐐and get their horns into a front desk concierge that speaks good English and offers up a number of alternatives. The best of the bunch was a smokin’ deal on a beachfront suite……cool little individual buildings in a great location. There was just no question this was going to be it, so here we are.
Dinner tonight will be at a Spanish themed tapas heavy option here at the hotel. I am finding that English is not readily spoken by most of the staff we have encountered in northern Morocco. It’s Arabic, French, or Spanish, with English a distant 4th. None of the servers at tapas central speak English, and there is no English menu option…….actually lucky the menu is via a QR code which I download, screenshot, and use chat GTP to give me an English version. Technology is just wonderful. Dinner was very good, but surprisingly only one Spanish wine on the menu……we had two!
No golf tomorrow……rain is expected……going to the Blue City.
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