Activities Didim Ex-pats Do In In The Summer, Autumn, Winter and Spring-Part Two

ARCHERY

Something I only learned about recently is that there is an Archery Club in Didim and at the moment there are only around 10 Ex-Pat’s who are members that go regularly for lessons. I think once more people know about its existence there will be a lot more Ex-Pat members. It is called ‘Didim (Okçuluk) Archery Efe Sports Club Association’ It’s aim is to promote Didim in national and international competitions for our Didim district, to make archery popular and to give archery education to everyone from 7 to 70. It is run by Ebru Aydemir who is the President of Didim Archery Efe Sports Club. You’ll find them on Facebook if you wish to learn more about the Club. Photos and videos taken by me on a visit to the Archery Club.  

ANIMAL SHELTERS

Since there are many street cats and dogs in Didim and surrounding areas there are a few Animal Shelters that have been supporting and taking care of them for many years now. One Animal Shelter I visited to find out about was ‘Care Of Didim Animals’ a.k.a CODA, and is run by the local Didim Council. Around 15 Ex-Pats, one of whom has been volunteering for just over 10 years, others not so long and some maybe even longer, and Turkish volunteers have been doing a marvelous job seeing to their needs, which range from the essentials of food and water, flee and mange care, and also surgery for females to be spayed and males neutered.

Street cats and dogs need to be spayed and neutered not only to stop the increase of further street animals but to also reduce the risk of health problems such as eliminating the possibility of uterine or ovarian cancer in female cats and dogs and greatly reduces the risk of breast cancer. Male cats and dogs who are neutered have a reduced risk of prostate cancer. Overall, the cats and dogs that are spayed and neutered should live longer, healthier lives. They also re-home dogs as well and cats if anyone asks. Dogs that have been abandoned and others that need ‘rescuing’ are brought to the shelter and looked after, though some abandoned dogs are sent to the UK to be re-homed as they cannot be sent back out on the street.  

There are 2 Ex-Pat groups volunteering at CODA and between them they raise money to refurbish the shelter and buy the essentials the animals need. At the moment they are building a ‘dip pool’ and ‘cooling down pool’ for the treatment of mange. In winter time the dogs are treated via injection and summer time they have been bathing them by using a hose but this coming summer they will be able to walk the dogs through the dip pool and cool them down in the cooling pool. The initial idea for the shelter was to spay, neuter, tag and release until people began bringing in sick dogs and the local Zabita brought dogs that had reported to have been run over, so now it’s also for sick dogs and rehabilitation, though the 3 legged dogs are not sent back out, they either stay at the shelter or are re-homed. Between the 2 volunteer groups, they both walk the dogs 2 days a week, so overall they get walked 4 times a week.  

One of the other shelters belonging to the local council is called DAS and is short for Didim Animal Shelter. They have been going for about 17 years and have many Ex-Pats who regularly volunteer with walking and caring for the animals. They also raise money to pay for vet bills, medical items, food and water, shelter repairs, amongst other things and also re-home cats and dogs. One recent event to raise money for the shelter was held at a local Restaurant & Bar where people bought a Ticket to participate in a fun night of Horse Racing, Bingo and Raffle. The volunteers go to this shelter twice a week to help and walk the dogs and always welcome new volunteers. DAS and CODA both have a Facebook Group page if you’d like to learn more. Thanks for use of photos supplied from DAS Facebook group and some I took while visiting CODA recently.

DARTS CLUB

If you enjoy playing darts and you’d like to brush-up on your dart playing skills, why not join the Didim Darts & Social Club. Darts is the main thing though they have away matches, shopping trips, museum trips, functions and more. There’s a Monday League of 14 Teams and a Players League on a Wednesday. Regular games also against other towns which include; Kuşadası, Içmeler and soon Çaliş. They also offer private coaching by appointment. On the social side of the club there is Yoga, art, cribbage and games nights. Members benefit from discounts on purchases at various businesses in the town, so as you can see, they are far more than just a Darts Club.

I discovered after speaking with the Ron Brown, who is President of Didim Darts Club, that they have introduced Darts to a village school and hosted the local language school to mix with some of their members. Last year they hosted a touring side of Ex-International players called UK Arrows. They have also played darts around other areas of Turkey as well as northern Cyprus.

Photos supplied by Ron Brown and a few I took while at the club.

DANCING

Every Thursday afternoon in Didim, there is a Café/Restaurant where Ex-Pats meet up to either practice dancing Ceroc to Latin style music beat or watch and have a drink while catching up with friends. On Saturday evenings there is another Café/Restaurant venue that began Latin Dance Night at the beginning of February and seems to have quite a crowd attending by Ex-Pats and locals. And if you can’t make it to either of those, or want to dance on a Friday evening to start the weekend off in style, you can go to a 3^rd Café/Restaurant venue in Altınkum and dance the night away to Salsa/Bachata to Latin style music.

Apart from the Latin style of dancing, many of the Restaurant/Café/Bars have weekly music nights where either a DJ/Karaoke/or Live Band/Duo perform giving the Ex-Pat’s much choice of when and where to go or whatever takes their fancy. Many birthdays and anniversaries are celebrated throughout the year in the venue of their choice and can book one of a variety of Turkish live soloist/duo’s or bands that can perform in English. There are of course, daytime and evening entertainment for Bingo, Quiz & Karaoke, though mainly in the summer time.

Thanks to Gillian and her dance teacher Onur Uzun for their photos.

There’s also an Indoor Bowls Club, walking groups and I’m sure there are other activities I’m not even aware of, and have yet to find out about them.

SHORT BREAKS

It’s been quite normal for many years now, for large and small groups of Ex-Pats to come together and organise a few 3, 4, or even 5 day ‘get-away’s’ (to other places in Turkey after the summer season ends), through a local agent and stay in 5* All Inclusive Resorts with entertainment to break up the boredom of ‘same old’ quiet daily life throughout the winter months. Some Ex-Pat’s also take advantage of the local 5* All-Inclusive hotel ‘Special Event Packages’ such as for Christmas, New Year and Valentines.

If you’re coming to Didim for a couple of weeks or more this year and would like to book day trips or a Short Break, 3 or 4 Day Tour somewhere out of Didim during your stay, ask us about our tours and day trips to see what we can offer you. You can check from the links below.

https://bit.ly/AvestaTours or  https://bit.ly/DidimTours 

~By Aleyna~