Our daughter is presently camping in the New Forest with her friend Em, basking in the glorious bank holiday weather. We did offer them the chance to stay with us at the National Park, Cabo de Gato but flights were expensive so it didn’t really work out.

They had challenged us to a weekend steps competition via our fitbits and whilst Mo and I are trailing heavily after day 1, we felt we ought to make more of an effort on day 2 of the weekend.

We decided to hike from Las Negras to Cala San Pedro and whilst we hiked some 6 – 7 miles in the afternoon, this doesn’t begin to tell the story.

Not only was the hike tough, but the scenery along the high coastal path was stunning and breath taking. As always, the pictures don’t recall the true beauty of the landscape nor just how close to the cliff edge much of the walk meanders.

Cala San Pedro itself is an isolated village – so far as we can tell there is no road access to it – around a 1.5 hour hike around the mountains being the only land access. Perhaps it would be better described as a commune as the place had a distinctly “hippy” feel to it and the village was dotted with various tents, ramshackle buildings and shelters constructed on the side of the mountain and lower down near to the beach.

It is worth noting that there is a boat service (via rubber dinghy) from Las Negras to San Pedro – not for us because we need the steps!

At one point, the coastal path crosses a natural spring and a group of locals were busy taking it in turns to bath in it. Completely naked. Mo says its the most naked men she’s seen in a day during the entire trip!

Following our return to Las Negras, we sat outside one of the beach bars and enjoyed a beer or two. Another glorious day and a late evening BBQ to round things off. Despite our exertions, we came a poor third and fourth in the steps challenge.

Day 26, Friday and Mo has a migraine so a lazy day at the campsite. Another hot and sunny day.

Day 27, Mo is feeling a little better and despite waking up to rain, the clouds slowly cleared and so later in the day we decided on a short hike from Las Negras, following a river bed into the mountains.

Although the route claimed to be signposted, we saw no evidence of this.

The terrain was rugged and progress was slow but the peace and quiet of the region was once again most evident. We only saw one other group of ramblers on the trip.

 

There isn’t a great deal to tempt the traveler to El Argamason, near Carboneras – there are no shops, bars or cafes – just a random selection of traditional white Spanish dwellings.

 

 

There is however a signposted and little frequented, circular walk starting and ending in the village.

 

 

 

 

Heading out of the village and downhill to the bridge, there is a left turn some 200m further ahead and here one can pick up the trail along the semi-dried river bed. The vegetation, typical of humid areas, acts as a shelter for various species of animals – apparently, according to the guide book – we just saw lots of frogs!

 

During the earlier sections, the river is wide but the final stretch of the river is slotted between two large masses of rocks, revealing a part underground basin at the source.

 

 

 

There were many different species of wild flowers on both the route out and the track back high above the river bed.

 

 

The weather again was hot and sunny with highs in the early 20s. Dinner was another BBQ back at the campsite.

Today we visited Texas Hollywood / Fort Bravo near to the town of Tabernas. It was here that in the 60s and 70s, Sergio Leone produced among other films, the Spaghetti westerns. Films like “A Fistful of Dollars” and “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly”.

The location was chosen due to many similarities in the landscape with the Wild West of America and particularly because it was cheap to mass produce films here.

This is Universal Studios on a beer budget!

The film sets and buildings remain largely in tact and the “actors” at the site produced a couple of western “acts” during the day.

 

 

 

There was also a film crew at the site, the main presenter arriving by helicopter and judging by the number of selfies, he must be a famous TV presenter.

 

He’s the chap in the picture with the white shirt and blue shorts. Answers on a postcard please. Seriously, I’ll leave the comments section open so comment to me your suggestions as to who this famous personality is!!

 

 

Evening was a BBQ back at the campsite.

Day 22 and 23 were quiet days. On the Monday we drove to Almeria for a large shop at the Carrefour hypermarket before lounging at the campsite. Another lovely day weather wise with highs in the early to mid 20s.

 

 

Tuesday, Day 23 was another lazy day. I helped Mo with her jigsaw puzzle – am struggling to recall just how many years this has accompanied us in its part completed state.

Anyhow, with a joint effort, the puzzle is now complete.

 

Another hot and sunny afternoon so we waited until early evening before walking to La Isleta del Moro; enjoyed drinks outside the harbour restaurant before heading back to the campsite for a late dinner at the restaurant.

We awoke to another bright and sunny day at Camping Los Escullos and spent much of the morning and first part of the afternoon lazing around the campsite.

Late afternoon we set off on a cycle ride along the coastal path from Los Escullos to San Jose.

On leaving Los Escullos the track climbs steadily for around 3 – 4 miles with beautiful views over the cliff edge and across the Mediterranean sea.

We knew we wouldn’t be able to complete the entire journey because on the outskirts of San Jose is a large volcanic mountain and it isn’t suitable to cycle over it.

 

In fact, much of the path was barely suitable to cycle along, without at least a decent mountain bike. Still, we managed to complete a circular tour of about 8 miles over the rugged and hilly terrain.

 

 

 

 

Today’s route

Day 20 and there was some catching up to do with respect to work and admin. Another fantastic day weather wise with unbroken sunshine from dawn to dusk.

In the evening we hiked to La Isleta del Moro.

 

La Isleta del Moro perfectly embodies the typical fishing village of the area, the small boats near the beach, the white houses of modest fishermen and the extraordinary peace and tranquility. Save perhaps for the summer months.

 

We found a waterfront restaurant at La Isleta (or more precisely, the waterfront restaurant) and dinner was served from 20:30.

It’s not ideal the Spanish eating times when there’s a 3 mile hike at the end of the evening in the pitch dark.

The food was good. Mo in particular enjoyed her sole.

After Mo’s exertions on the bicycle yesterday, another bike ride today was not on the cards. Instead we drove to Nijar and had a look around the hillside town. Níjar has been described as one of the most picturesque towns in the whole of Spain. It therefore comes highly recommended as a place to see.

 

 

The most notable site was the tower or Atalaye which is situated high above the hillside town. It was quite an effort to climb up to the tower and slightly disappointing that the tower itself was closed.

 

 

Still, the viewing area provided nice panoramic views across the Cabo de Gata National Park, all the way to the ocean at San Jose. Apart, that is, from the sea of polytunnels!

The weather gradually improved as the day wore on and the evening was nice and sunny and pleasantly warm. The early part of the evening saw a group of Brits descend on the bar (well, it is Friday). We joined them for a beer or two before heading back to the van and cooking a rather nice piece of steak.

 

Day 18 and the bikes were dusted off for a ride into San Jose, which is probably the largest of the little coastal villages within the Cabo de Gato National Park.

We started along the track behind the campsite but it wasn’t really suitable for hybrid bikes. Maybe a proper mountain bike would have been fine but the dirt track was littered with stones and small boulders making cycling difficult to say the least.

At around 2 miles, abandoning the dirt track, we re-joined the road for the remainder of the trip to San Jose. The roads are fairly quiet and the drivers very cyclist aware, considerate and patient – just like blighty (not).

We ate at a restaurant in the port with stunning views across the bay and town. Menu of the day was priced at 10 Euros each – Mo had Sardines and Sole, I had the Calamari and Grouper – all very good and a long leisurely lunch.

 

It’s now Day 17 and the stormy weather has passed. It took much of the morning to re-assemble the contents of our awning and begin to plan what to do during our stay here in Los Escullos.

In the afternoon we drove to Rodalquilar, which has a number of abandoned Gold mines and it was here that at least one of the Indiana Jones films was shot.

There are lots of old abandoned mine workings but despite heading up the mountain dirt track (by car!) we weren’t able to locate the mines but perhaps we will return a little later with some additional information.

We then drove to El Playazo, which is also the location of Castillo de San Ramos. From there we walked along a coastal path to Las Negras but we weren’t able to complete the entire walk as we’d set off without any supplies and in particular without water.

Dinner was at the site restaurant.