A lazy start to the day and further sorting out of our campsite pitch. The pitches are all covered with a high mesh screen to keep the sun at bay. Probably useful in July and August but in April?

It’s all held in place by lots of wire and chunky steel rebar (re-inforcement bar). Some of this looks a little precarious, particularly if it becomes somewhat windy. The pitch behind us already had several multi-metre lengths abandoned on the ground and another loose piece poised to join them.

 

 

 

Later in the afternoon, we walked into Los Escullos via a far from picturesque service road.

 

 

We are in the Cabo de Gato / Nijar national park and it’s bleak, remote and quiet. Los Escullos was like some kind of abandoned wild west town (it is of course near here that the Spaghetti Westerns were all filmed back in the 60s / 70s). By the time we reached Los Escullos the wind had picked up and the walk had become rather unpleasant.

Evening was a BBQ under our new awning in chilly and rather windy conditions. That’s when the phone beeped to tell us of a severe weather warning for the Almeria region – extreme winds from 03:00 to 18:00. Time to check everything is secure…

So we are finally leaving Camping La Rosaleda and heading for Camping Los Escullos, near to Los Escullos, and about 25 miles east of Almeria.

As usual, we left later than anticipated, although upon our arrival at the campsite reception (to check out), we hadn’t factored in Sunday and its late opening. We had to wait until reception opened to settle our account, finally hitting the road circa 09:15. It took around 6 hours to cover the 300 miles to Los Escullos. Our journey times were considerably improved due to the recent opening of the A7 all the way from Malaga to Almeria. It’s just as well, since the old N340 road would have been a very slow journey.

There was some spectacular scenery along the way but nothing had quite prepared us for the endless polytunnels. Mile upon mile upon mile of plastic greenhouses and “structures”. Apparently this is where the UK gets most of its tomatoes from – an all year round operation. Maybe they supply all of Northern Europe too…

We arrived about 15:30 and were fully set up within around 4 hours – including our latest edition, an Isabella “Sunshine” awning.

Doesn’t she look splendid and so much space for all our toys and comforts. Of course there aren’t any front panels but then, this is Spain and the weather will be hot and dry…

Dinner was at the campsite restaurant, which was pleasant enough but the food not in the same class as the Camping La Rosaleda fare.

Mo returned yesterday from blightly and brought back with her an additional 2 days of rain, giving us the perfect opportunity to catch up with some chores.

Later in the week we hiked to our favourite restaurant at the Port of Conil.

 

 

Most of Friday and part of Saturday was spent packing and preparing for our move to Almeria. Friday evening we headed into town via the beach bar and ate Pizza!

Monday, Day 8 and a much earlier start in order to drop Rich off at Malaga airport and to pick up Mo, who is returning on an easyjet flight from Bristol.

The journey by car from Conil to Malaga was much better timed, arriving at Malaga airport around 09:45, just in time to swap my Rich guest for the wife, Mo.

Except that Mo’s flight was an hour late. I’d heard from Mo whilst the plane was taxiing to the runway, on-time at 06:05 BST just as we were leaving Conil and had been informed that everything looked good for a timely departure.

So why the 1 hour delay.

Well, you may find this a little far fetched, but the delay wasn’t due to air traffic control nor as a result of the French being on strike again – easyjet had left a passenger behind at the departure gate. A disabled octagenarian lady had been abandoned at the gate and presumably some kind of last minute head count had revealed a missing passenger. So, the flight returned to the stand retrieved the said little old lady and helped her board the flight.

I think someone probably got their backsides kicked that morning…

 

Rich’s final day in Spain and a trip to Cadiz. We toured mostly the same route as Mo and I had done one year earlier. The details of that trip are here – Cadiz.

Rich, however, is living up to his name – he is currently waiting for a tooth implant following a botched NHS root canal filling. His entire procedure is costing just shy of £2,500 and that’s from one of his dentist friends at the Tennis club. With friends like that…

On a more serious note, dental implants were being offered in Cadiz for a total price of Euros 660 and from what we have seen and experienced of health care in Spain, I’m sure the work would be fine.

 

Rich and I had arrived back at the campsite the night before in time to reserve 2 seats for the trip to Gibraltar and this weekend, the coach would be departing.

 

We arrived around 11:00am at Gibraltar and had no delays crossing into the UK. It hadn’t occurred to us of course that some UK sterling might have been convenient but fortunately, everywhere seemed to accept Euros as well as pounds.

 

 

 

We were booked on an Island coach tour – the campsite had charged 35 Euros per head for the day and this included the coach from Conil to Gibraltar and the excursion around the island. This seemed pretty good value for money and I think had we done the trip independently it would have been somewhat more expensive.

The excursion took in all the sites and wound its leisurely way to the top of the rock. Stopping at all the key historical sites and entry to St Michael’s cave at the top of the rock was also included.

Lunch was at an Irish bar and the afternoon was spent walking around Gibraltar. Lots of cheap Whisky on offer but we didn’t take advantage of the low prices.

There is also the possibility to take the cable car to the top of the rock. Here’s a picture of the cable car and in the distance one can see the Gibraltar airport runway which crosses the main road to the island. Cars and pedestrians need to queue when a plane is taking off or landing.

Day 5 began with breakfast at the Hotel – the Hotel Puerto de la Sierra – which as it’s name implies, is situated at the head of the via verde we had cycled 1 day earlier.

After breakfast was a medium drive to the village of Ronda and a whistle-stop tour of this fascinating ancient village with its spectacular bridge(s).

Ronda is a mountaintop city in Spain’s Malaga province that’s set dramatically above a deep gorge. This gorge (El Tajo) separates the city’s circa-15th-century new town from its old town, dating to Moorish rule.

Puente Nuevo, a stone bridge spanning the gorge, offers sweeping views. New town’s Plaza de Toros, a legendary 18th-century bullring, is one of the city’s most recognisable landmarks.

The tour was brief as we needed to be back at the campsite early evening as there was a possibility of places on a coach tour the next day to Gibraltor.

An early start and drive to Puerto Serrano to cycle the Sierra Greenway. We would take a taxi from Puerto Serrano to Olvera (complete with our bikes) and cycle back to Puerto Serrano before spending the night at the hotel at the start of the trail in Puerto Serrano.

Vías Verdes / Greenways are the product of converting disused railway lines into cycling and walking routes. Easy, accessible, far removed from motorised traffic and with hardly any steep slopes, they are specially recommended for nature lovers and people who enjoy outdoor exercise.

There are already 7.600 kilometres of disused railway lines throughout Spain and the Olvera to Puerto Serrano ranks as one of the best not only in Spain but throughout Europe.

No trains ever ran along the 36 Km of the Sierra Greenway route which lies at the foot of the southernmost mountain range of the Iberian peninsula,  between the towns of Puerto Serrano and Olvera in the province of Cadiz.

We will absolutely return in a future year and camp at a site near Olvera to cycle the route again and explore some of the natural beauty of the region.

This outstanding route, running parallel to the banks of a number of rivers, passes through some truly spectacular scenery such as the Peñón de Zaframagón (Rock of Zaframagón), home to one of the largest colonies of griffon vultures in Europe. In fact there are some 200 breeding pairs present at the Rock.

 

The Sierra Railway, which was to run from Jerez de la Frontera to Almargen, was a project conceived at the turn of the 20th century. It had been the dream of generations of people living in the Guadalete basin and on the higher land near Olvera.

The military were also keen to have a railway link between their bases at Cartagena and Cadiz. With the blessing of all, work began swiftly under the auspices of dictator General Primo de Rivera.

The Spanish Civil War brought the work to a halt, and once the war was over the austere post-war years were not the best time to re-launch the project. Finally, in the mid-sixties, the project was finally and definitively abandoned following a report from the World Bank.

All the stations, tunnels, and viaducts had been built but no tracks had ever been laid.

Of the 119 kilometres of this vast project, only 21 kilometres from Jerez to the Jédula sugar plant ever went into operation.

Tracks were laid as far as Arcos de la Frontera but only test trains ever ran on them. A family of railway workers lived for a few years in the station buildings as if waiting for a train that was never to arrive.

 

The journey took most of the afternoon but the ride was taken at a very leisurely pace.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dinner was fully deserved and the steak didn’t disappoint!

It took some time to shake off the excesses of the previous night and the late arrival, 2:00 am, back at Camping Rosaleda.

On the agenda today was the cliff-top walk to Puerto de Conil and the now familiar port restaurant. Weather was excellent and the return walk is around 8 miles.

See this previous posting for more details. Lunch at the Port of Conil.

We both ate the tuna main course. As good as ever and of course, a stunning location.

Day 2 and a cycle ride with Rich to the location of the battle of Trafalgar.

You can see details from a prior trip. Cycle ride to Trafalgar.

The weather had cleared up somewhat and the day was relatively warm and very sunny. However, a wicked Westerly wind was present all day and the ride back from Trafalgar was particularly difficult.

 

Rich found it all a bit much at one point.

 

 

 

 

 

 

When we finally made it back to Rosaleda, we were impolitely late for dinner at Paul and Andreas. Paul was leading us on a pub crawl around Conil that night, our arrival back at Rosaleda being around 2:00am, Tuesday morning.

Paul is a keen pool player but Rich pulled out a few surprises and came out on top including an ‘eight ball’ break.