Goldmine

Posted on November 3, 2012 by Peter and Nia — Leave a comment

Friday November 2nd…We drove to Los Escullos, parked just past the Castillo de San Felipe, and walked about 10 km through a spectacular volcanic terrain, with the sea on our left, towards San Jose.

Past an abandoned Guardia post.

Until one of us decided it was time to turn back.

We had lunch at a tiny village called Las Isleta, a couple of km up the coast from Los Escullos.

Overlooked by 2 long inactive volcanoes, called Los Frailes. Frailes apparently means Friars in Spanish. But we couldn’t see the connection. Nia said it was more Madonna than Friars.

After lunch we headed to Rodalquilar. This is an abandoned goldmine high in the mountains, surrounded by the old mining town. There are derelict buildings, over and through which you are free to wander, and a mining museum which we missed owing to turning up at Siesta time (afternoon).

Nia above the goldmine.
We drove back along the old mining road (we stopped half way….there is a large pile of gold just behind me on this pic).
And past fields of prickly pear cacti. These bad boys were fruiting.

Tagged with: La Isleta, Los Escullos, Rodalquilar
Posted in 2012 Autumn, 2013 Spring

San Jose…. Startling Offer from young French Couple

Posted on November 2, 2012 by Peter and Nia — 1 Comment

Buoyed up financially by an unexpected second place in the quiz night in the campsite bar ( what English word has 6 a’s?, What is a clanky?, Is Fidel Castro still alive?……) we won €2 and I ventured in to Almeria airport and hired a car for a week.

First stop on our motorised tour of the peninsula was Cabo de Gata lighthouse. We had tried to get up here on our bikes a couple of days ago, and almost made it, but were defeated when the near vertical up gradient became single track, with blind bends…we bottled out. Easy in a car though.

The lighthouse is built on a chunk of volcanic rock.

This is the view looking East.

We retraced our steps…both our maps showed that we could continue around the headland, but this did seem to involve driving over a cliff, so we did a U turn instead. We had lunch by this restored windmill in El Pozo de Los Frailes.

Next stop San Jose….a small coastal village with loads of bars and a harbour full of very smart boats. We met a young French couple, disembarking, and, unless my French is worse than I think, I’m pretty sure he offered to trade his kids for our dogs. Must have been a long passage….

We moved up the coast to Los Escullos and walked up past El Castillo de San Felipe, built as a coastal defence around 1800.

There are some weird, partially weather eroded volcanic formations here. There are a number of very descriptive boards dotted about, explaining how everything formed, but not in understandable spanish (to us).

There is a good light on the cliffs, as evening falls.

Tagged with: border terriers, Cabo de gata, Colin, Mavis
Posted in 2012 Autumn

Cabo de Gata

Posted on November 1, 2012 by Peter and Nia — Leave a comment

On the 27th…..the Missus’ birthday….we drove along the Andalucian coast to Camping Cabo de Gata. This is a good site, on the Cabo de Gata peninsula, which extends East from Almeria. There is a little collection of Brits here, most of them here for six months or so to avoid UK weather, and a lot of dog owners as there is a lot of good dog walking around…..it is quite a remote site, with little traffic.

The site is about 500m from the beach, which you reach by cycling, or walking, along a track along side long saltwater ponds, full of flamingoes when we arrived.

Not sure if the whiter ones are younger, or maybe not eating as many prawns, than the pinker models.

This one did a dance for us.

There are a lot of Egrets here.

And some colourful ducks…we forgot to pack a bird book so please comment if you know what they are.

OK…not a duck I know.

This is one of the Cabo de Gata beaches, with the Cabo de Gata mountains in the background. We went to the campsite restaurant for the birthday tea….olivey salad thingy to start, then chichen in pepper sauce and frites….very nice. We didn’t risk cycling down the coast for a meal away….we don’t balance on bikes so well after a glass or three of vino blanco any more.

Sun setting over the Med.

Posted in 2013 Spring

Costa del Rain.

Posted on October 29, 2012 by Peter and Nia — 2 Comments

Yes, I am a bit behind with the blog, and this is me catching up. It is October the 25th, Thursday, and we are heading East along the Costa del Sol, to Cabopino, which is close to Marbella.

We walked along a breakwater…about a mile out to sea..before we set off. The rain kindly didn’t start until we were at the end. But it was a good walk and we exchanged pleasantries with various joggers and fishermen we met along the way. We have seen loads of guys fishing on our trip round the med but never a fish caught, so it may just be one other way of getting out of the washing up.

This is a prickly specimen I came across in Puerto. There’s quite an interesting cactus in the photo as well.

This was an odd structure we passed on the road to Marbella. Anyone know what it is?
We weren’t very impressed with the costa del sol. Apart from the rain, we found it very busy and touristy. We stayed at Kawan village Cabopino, 12 km east of Marbella. There was a good beach, but you had to cross a 4 lane dual carriageway to get to it. We weren’t brave enough to cycle anywhere and we only stayed one night. The site itself had very closely packed pitches, and a couple of pricy restaurants. Not a good site for dogs.

This was a defensive towery thingy on the way to the beach. The front door is about 7 metres above ground level. Good for when you are besieged by marauding Moors, but not so handy when you come home late at night after a few beers too many.

These are the instructions for repelling boarders. Looks like you throw fireworks at the unwanted guests, whilst the Missus prepares tapas on that campfire on the roof. Neat.

Tagged with: blog, Colin, Mavis, motorhome
Posted in 2012 Autumn

Sandy started here

Posted on October 29, 2012 by Peter and Nia — 3 Comments

I have news for all you weather buffs (anoraks?). Hurricane Sandy started here in Puerto de Santa Maria, or possibly just snuck over for a visit on the quiet. It is soaked to the skin in under a minute weather. The site is called Camping Playa Las Dunas and is close to a lovely big sandy deserted (but note weather) beach, and a short ferry trip away from Cadiz. Unfortunately the ferry does not take dogs, and in any event was closed due to “mal tempo”. I thought this meant bad weather, but Nia pointed out it more likely meant the captain was in a bad temper.
However it was a good site, friendly, good restaurant on site and very inviting cycle ways, which we would have tasted was the weather not so inclement. Good dog walking on the beach.

There is a large population of feral cats here, living in crevices in the breakwaters, and popping their heads out from time to time to see whether the rain had stopped.

We walked in to Puerto old town, in search of a bar. This is an old Castillo. Note my less than careful positioning of the boss, who seems to be sprouting a lamp post from her hairdo.

This is a plaque commemorating Christobal Colon, a citizen of Puerto in times gone by, and a bit of googling confirmed that this was Christopher Columbus. Apparently he was born in Genoa, and subsequently moved to Spain from where he ambled over to the New World, just a while after Leif Ericson. Anyone know why he left Italy? Perhaps the Spaniards had faster boats? Prettier girls? Better drivers?

Tagged with: border terriers, Colin, Mavis, motorhome
Posted in 2012 Autumn

Flamingo Croquet

Posted on October 26, 2012 by Peter and Nia — 8 Comments

I spent Tuesday morning landrovering round the Donana National Park, with Javi Tosar, a local guide, in search of the local fauna. Donana is just next to the El Rocio site, and is one of the two remaining habitats for the Iberian lynx. We did see a lynx, but too early and too fast to photograph. The red deer above was pulling acorns off the cork oak, in the early morning light.

It was soon joined by some Fallow deer…..spotty, different antlers.

And then the wild boar joined in the acorn feast.

As we drove on, another wild boar trotted over the track in front of us.

And we spotted another group of red deer, watching us.

Good Camouflage.

Easier to see the little owl when it is zoomed.

Stonechat.

Lift off. (I also have a lot of pictures of empty sky and twigs, where birds were).

Nice little yellow bird, whose name I’ve forgotten….suggestions please….

Purple swamp hen.

Female Marsh Harrier, ,looking for prey to harry.

White crane. There were a whole stack of these, feeding on recently harvested rice fields.

Black and white cranes. The black ones apparently are less common. There were certainly fewer of them.

Glossy Ibis.

Flamingos in tight formation, looking for a nice prawny spot to land in.

Thanks Javi for a brilliant day.

Tagged with: blog, border terriers, Mavis
Posted in 2012 Autumn

El Rocio. We have Snails.

Posted on October 22, 2012 by Peter and Nia — 3 Comments

Does the gastronomy of Spain know no bounds?

br />;;;;;;;;;;;

This is Queen Nia the wise, tucking in to tapas and vino, in El Rocio, a wild west town transposed somehow to Southern Spain. El Rocio was founded in 1270 by King Alfonso the wise, and is composed of houses, bars, restaurants and fraternity houses, criss crossed by wide sandy streets, with wooden railings everywhere to tie your horse(s) to.

Outlaw.

There are horses, ponies and traps for hire.

And you are as likely to meet a horse as a car on the streets.

This is our Lady of El Rocio.

And this is her shrine.

We cycled about 15 km South to Matalascanas, a pretty empty beach on the edge of the Donana nature reserve.

Looking the other way along the beach.

We stopped for lunch in a restaurant close to the beach. The menu was beyond my Spanish and the waiter had no English so we just let him choose. I had tortillitas de merluca, aka hake fritters and Nia had tortillitas de camerones…shrimp fritters. Washed down with a cold beer. Delicious.

Resting between courses.

The co-driver pausing in contemplative mood on the way home. I must cut down her fish rations.

Poor Colin exhausted after the long cycle ride (he was in the dog cart all the way).

El Rocio at nightfall.

Sunset.

Tagged with: blog, border terriers, El Rocio, Mavis, motorhome
Posted in 2012 Autumn

Montfrague National Park

Posted on October 21, 2012 by Peter and Nia — 5 Comments

We stopped at Camping Montfrague, on the edge of the Montfrague national park, for a few days. Montfrague is in Extremadura, mid Spain. Half way down, on the left side, quite close to Portugal, to be precise.
The flower is a crocus variant, which sprouts up all over the place here after the first rains of Autumn, and they have just had their first rain since Spring.
We met a lovely couple here…Vivien and Robert…who had managed to fit a few weeks touring in around their large families, running marathons, triathlons, writing books and house renovation. We traded sites over a botella or two. Actually I think the data flow was all in our direction.

This is the Salto del Gitano, a peak in the centre of the Park and popular meeting spot for the Griffon vultures which are plentiful here.

This is the Gypsys Leap, named after a legendary gypsy who leaped over the water here, to evade the pursuing rozzers. The tide mark shows how low the water is at the moment, after months of drought.

Victor the vulture standing guard.

They take off and soar around looking for food once the sun heats the ground and the thermals start. Apparently they can soar with minimal energy expenditure, ideal when you may have to go 40 days or more between meals.

This one has spotted the torpid Colin…

Getting closer….we had to wake Colin up and move him on.

The Cardinal bridge. Built by some apparently benevolent Cardinal in the 15th century, to link east and west Extremadura. He knew a good business opportunity and proceeded to hit all crossers with a massive toll. The two rivers which cross the national park which end up in Lisbon, were dammed 60 years or so ago, just before they crossed into Portugal, and the Cardinal bridge spends almost all it’s time underwater now, except in times of drought.

This is me, looking a bit more camp than usual. The Missus insisted I replace my baseball cap with something more serious. Please don’t feel you have to comment.

On the second day we climbed up to this castle, on Robert and Vivien recommendation.

There are great views from the top.

It is quite windy on the top. In fact the hat blew off, but Nia managed to retrieve the errant titfer.

Looking down one of the two Rio’s from el Castillo.

Squadron of cormorants on anti fish patrol.

Success.

Blue Rock Thrush (I think…feel free to enter alternative suggestions).

Azure-Winged Magpie (Thanks Angus)….Apparently restricted to certain parts of Spain.

Heron. Anyone know which variety?

Sunbathing Lizard.

The park is full of red deer.

Sunset Montfrague.

Posted in 2012 Autumn

Burgos……Colin under fire

Posted on October 19, 2012 by Peter and Nia — 2 Comments

We set off from Zarautz and pointed Mavis South, through the mountains of Northern Spain.

When you see Toros appearing through the mist you know you are in the right country…..these large and striking silhouettes are placed along roadsides throughout Spain.

By the time we got to Burgos, the sun was out. We stopped at the Fuentes Blancas campsite. This is beside the river, very pleasant and has a cycle track running along the river side, all the way to the centre.

Towards the centre of Burgos

This is the way in to the old city. We left our bikes here and carried on on foot.

View from just outside the old city.
We met a delightful couple from Australia/New Zealand here…Kate and Lawrence, on a (very) extended tour of the wineries of Europe. By chance they were staying on the same campsite as us and we met up that evening for a glass or two of wine.

Burgos cathedral; third largest inSpain, first stone laid in twelve hundred and something.
We walked up past the cathedral to the castle. Unfortunately there was a wedding going on and someone let some firecrackers off near Colin. He was certain someone was firing at him and would have been past Madrid in a thrice, whatever that is, if he hadn’t been attached to Miss steady under fire Penny.

We moved on to the castle above Burgos with poor Colin shaking like an aspen.

View of Burgos from the castle.

Posted in 2012 Autumn, 2013 Spring

CapBreton to Zarautz…Estamos en Espana.

Posted on October 18, 2012 by Peter and Nia — 1 Comment

We have had some blogging gremlins….hopefully this post will appear, if a bit late..if so thanks to Chris…technical back up from Wales.

Last night in CapBreton

On Friday we drove to Zarautz, which is a small town in Northern Spain, just over the border, on the coast. This is the view from the campsite, showing Zarautz in a bay extending to our East.
The site was quite busy, full of surfers here for the weekend and some travellers like us, stopping en route South. It is an ideal site for dogs, with a large open field adjacent. Cycling probably not so good unless you are super fit. It is very hilly and we didn’t venture out on les velos. The site staff are friendly and helpful.

We arrived in time for the heavens to open.

When the rain stopped we walked down the hill to an old iron ore processing facility…built at the end of the nineteenth century to export iron ore.

Today we walked to Zarautz old town, past another surf beach. This is the Zarautz surf lacrosse team coach.

Zarautz is a Basque stronghold, by the look of the posters and graffiti.

We decided to head South, not West, in view of the poor forecast for Finisterre, and left on Sunday morning en route to Burgos, a cathedral town about 150 miles away.

Posted in 2013 Spring