Author: CaravanRamblings

We left El Rocio today. With mixed feelings about missing the festivities and pilgrimage but en-route we did pass a number of pilgrims with their horses and wagons all beautifully dressed up. Perhaps we should have stayed…

Anyway, onto the Costa del Sol and a category 1 campsite near to Estepona named La Bella Vista. Mixed feelings about this part of Spain as we don’t want to find every restaurant serving Fish and Chips and fried mars bars! Still we haven’t been here before so we should give it a chance and we understand Estepona is a well preserved town, far away from the high rise monstrosities of places like Torremolinos, Malaga and Benidorm.

We have heard and read lots of reviews about the campsite which is located with its own private beach and whilst the pitches are allegedly a little cramped, the facilities are reputed to be second to none.

We arrived at the site mid afternoon following a 4 hour drive from El Rocio. First impressions of the site were very good. Yes, the pitches are tight (a van over 7m and full awning would create issues in getting the car on the pitch as well). The hedges though have now grown somewhat from the pictures readily available on websites and there is some shade.

The view over the pool, private beach and ocean is stunning. Not bad for 29 Euros a night, discounted to around 20 Euros per night for a 7 day stay.

 

Another early morning walk although the definition of early seems to have slipped a little.

More like an early lunchtime walk across the sand dunes to the beach.

 

 

 

 

Mo on the way back…

 

 

This was our last full day in El Rocio and we’ll be glad to see the back of the dust. At times you can barely see a 100m and there’s so much activity preparing for the pilgrimage.

It wasn’t quite so hot today – it appears that the worst of the heatwave is behind us. Hopefully temperatures will stay warm but not excessive.

This morning we had an early start and walked a section of Donana National park, around 4 miles in total.

It’s good to see the EU is spending our money wisely – around 5 miles of boardwalk to stroll around on.

 

We didn’t see a Lynx today and in this region of the park, the marshland and lagunas are dry and there was little wildlife to observe.

 

Several Storks nesting on the electricity pylons and a large Black Kite hovering above, hoping to relieve the Stork of its chicks.

 

 

 

 

In the evening we cycled into El Rocio.

Just like the Wild West – townsfolk riding around on their horses and being pulled along in their horse drawn carriages. Away from the solitary tarmac road, cycling is impossible on the sandy streets and we should have left the bikes behind….

… Still, a million people will complete their pilgrimage to El Rocio next Sunday.

As I said in an earlier post, it isn’t possible to just take off and explore this National Forest on your own.

Hence we signed up to an “expedition” through the area on a jeep. Highlight of the trip was seeing a Lynx but sadly just wasn’t quick enough to be able to take a picture.

The area is a haven for birdlife and we saw numerous birds –  too many to recall. Lots of Red Kites, Black Kites, various eagles and a host of water birds.

Here’s a picture of Joe next to the tour “jeep”.

 

The El Rocio pilgrimage takes place next week over around 5 – 6 days, ending on the Monday. El Rocio will play host to 1 million pilgrims who will have made the journey mainly from Sevilla, along with 30,000 horses. That’s in a town of 900 inhabitants. Here is a leaflet we picked up from the campsite reception.

 

The main reason for visiting El Rocio was to explore the Donana National park. We expected it to be somewhat like the New Forest which it is and it isn’t.

Firstly, much of the National Park is not open to the unaccompanied public – so the idea of exploring the area on the bikes isn’t an option.

Secondly, it’s just so hot that the only time of day when it’s cool enough to walk or cycle is between about 08:00 and 10:30. Now I know why the Spanish enjoy their Siestas.

Today we visited the church in El Rocio which is home to the Virgin El Rocio. The Virgin is the reason 1 million people and 30,000 horses will descend on this village of 900 residents – next week!

Dinner was the 10 Euro three course menu of the day at the campsite restaurant.

As is not said on Game of Thrones “Winter isn’t coming”. We are caught up in the mother of all heat waves here amidst the arid semi desert of the south western Spanish province of Andalusia. And it’s hot. Very hot.

 

New Weather symbol

So hot that today we spotted a new symbol on the weather website. One which isn’t seen to often in blighty.

 

Tomorrow we had planned a full 10 hours tramping around Sevilla but the forecast is 41 degrees (for all you folks stuck in blighty at the moment, that’s centigrade not fahrenheit – it’s just shy of 106 F). So, trip cancelled due to inclement weather and the priority will be to keep cool.

Today we managed to walk to the supermarket and back in the centre of El Rocio.

What an interesting place. A few dirt (well sand actually) roads and next week, there will be a million pilgrims here.

 

 

The heat was oppressive, the streets are just sand (it’s better for the horses) and if one took away the cars, it’s just like the wild west.

Mo is struggling in the heat – so much so she even went in the cold swimming pool later this afternoon. More of that to come I’m certain, but sadly no photographic evidence.

El Rocio is famous for its annual pilgrimage which takes place next week. Campsite places top 150 Euros per night (we are paying 16 Euros per night via the ACSI scheme presently).

We were planning to be well clear by next weekend but, have to say, we are mildly curious about the festival. Mo has gone to find out if there are any pitches available – will report back on that tomorrow…

I think I might create a “special post” to cover El Rocio festival.

Time to move on from La Rosaleda. We’ve had a great time here and will return. It would be more than pleasant to spend several weeks stretching possibly into months at this site, area and time of year.

Still onwards to El Rocio, a pleasant 3 hour drive away, arriving at La Aldea around 14:00pm.

Initial impressions of the site are good but the weather is blisteringly hot.

Late evening high of 33 degrees outdoor.

Having pitched the van in the perfect south westerly position, we had second thoughts about full sun in the afternoon and evening so before we’d had chance to put up the awning, we upped the corner steadies and relocated – to face North East.

 

The site is quiet – here’s the view from our home…

 

 

 

Evening meal was Menu of the day at the Campsite restaurant. 10 Euros each and another 7 for 3 beers, 2 glasses of wine and a few cola lights.

Nice food and excellent value.

Very windy in Conil today. Everything is covered in a fine silt.

Little to report on Day 19. Recovering from our exertions the previous day with the mid-afternoon cycle ride to El Palmar.

Lazy day around the campsite and getting ready to move on…

Very hot day today. Temperatures reached around 30 degrees in the shade. Not that we found very much shade on our trip. We took the ourselves to El Palmar on the bikes – following the coastal path from Conil. Hard going because some parts of the paths are deep sand. When we arrived there was a small estuary and I guess at high tide it could be difficult to actually reach El Palmar by bike.

The route along the coast was a haven for butterflies.

In the evening we ate in Conil Old Town. A very pleasant evening and the first where the wind hasn’t had a chilly edge to it. Fantastic giant Entrecote steaks…