Small world
As the dead pan US comedian once said, "It's a small world..... but I wouldn't want to have to paint it". I forgot to mention that when I was in Oualidia, there was an English couple that I spoke to very briefly in the evening and then again as they were departing the following day. They had to maneouvre past my van so they wound down the window to say goodbye. We chatted a bit and asked where I lived in France. Their faces lit up when I said Chamonix. Turns out they are the parents of (and only you Chamonix readers will know these people) Marting Bathgate who is married to Shelagh McNabb of Kommunity snowboards fame. They are not on my social circle but I know Martin because he came very close to buying my van last year. And then today I had a coffee with (again, a Chamonix face) Julian Fontaine who I've known for a few years. I knew he was not a permanent Chamonix resident anymore but only found out very recently that he lived in Essaouira.
Essaouira is a great place place to visit, but not entirely my cup of tea. The markets and the Medina are amazing. If you want to shop, this is the place for you. But shopping for me is like having a poo - it occasionally brings some pleasure but you only really do it because you have to. So I thought I would move down to Sidi Koauki about 25kms away. Before that thought I wanted to look at the campsite just outside Essaouira and of course the brand new Gary Player designed golf course.
The golf course (courses as it turned out, there's 2) was very close to Essaouira town, only about 1 or 2 kms past the campsite. It was more of a resort or complex than simply a golf course. The courses are finshed and playable but the rest of the infrastructure is just a building site - not very advanced in completion either. The 2 juxtaposed are quite an odd site. A beautifully crafted, immaculate links course surrounded almost on all sides by monstrous concrete shells of buildings. It will be an impressive set up when finished though and I couldn't help what it would be like to buy into it at this early stage. A nice cosy 2 bedroom apartment bought "off plan" way below it's real value, complete with air-con, covered parking and of course a lifetime membership to both courses. I had to settle for a bucket of balls on the range for the time being but you never know what the future holds.
The advantage of it being only half built is that green fees are reduced before the official opening. The forecast price for a round once it's all opened is an astronomical 750 dirhams (which to you and I is about 70€, but to your average Moroccan is a good few weeks wages. The reduced price is 350 dirhams which renders it an affordable weekly treat which won't upset my budget too much.
The campsite just outside Essaouira was very nice and at 4€ for me, the van and an electrical hook up, not a bad price.I sought out a UK registered vehicle and parked up next to it. Sam and Pauline are retired and again are old hands at the camper van life. They seem to spend half their lives in it. Next door to them are a couple with a dog, Roland is Dutch, Olga is Finnish and the dog Sunny is Greek. Olga and Roland are in their 30's and 40's respectively I would guess. They had a business in Finland importing specialist beers from all over the world for Finnish bars. They also brewed their own beer which they too sold to bars. They sold the business and are now half way through a one year break. We spent a great evening together talking, drinking beer and tasting their array of specialist shots. My favourite was a fisherman's friend flavoured vodka.
