Non-French TidbitsTanger to Algeciras

By Jim and Emmy Humberd

Due to a mix-up, our guide (we were the only remaining members of his tour group) took us to the wrong dock in Tanger, and by the time we got to the right place our scheduled hydrofoil had already left for Spain.

An hour or so later we got aboard the next hydrofoil, and found it was crowded with members of a large tour group. We had been told the customs and passport inspection of people on the boats coming back from the "free port" of Cueta, and the country of Morocco, would be very thorough, and could be time consuming. Jim strongly suggested to Emmy that we be among the first off the boat, to beat the crowd. ("Strongly" you can believe, but the word "suggested" might be a little hard to accept.)

About half-way across the 12 miles of the Strait of Gibraltar, one of the engines quit. A hydrofoil normally rides high above the water on small "wings," but without all its engines, the hydrofoil settled back into the water, and now went even slower than a normal ferry boat.

It was well after dark when we arrived in Algeciras, and as we had been told to expect, the regular harbor was closed for the night, but a small building near the dock was ablaze with lights. A place to secure the hydrofoil was finally found, but now we had to scoot across a wide parking area, lugging our suitcase and the rug and copper trays we had purchased in Tanger.

We got ahead of the crowd all right, then scurried to the temporary customs office, to be about the first to enter the building. We could see several officials waiting for us at long tables.

But hurrah! Who do we see in charge of the whole operation but the uniformed (Customs) officer from the leaky ceiling episode of a couple of days ago.

He recognized Jim, smiled, saluted, shook our hands, and escorted us past the inspection stations, through the gate without even a glance at our passports or packages.

A perfect end to an up to then, less than a perfect evening. The taxi took us back to the campsite, our camper bed and the goodies in the refrigerator were a welcome sight.

Books by Jim and Emmy Humberd:
Invitation to France
Invitation to Germany
Invitation to Italy

French Video Immersion