Andalucia – Southern Spain

I was sad to be leaving the beautiful beach of Roquetas de Mar and the beautiful ‘tree of life’ but after two weeks of staying within a comfort zone it was time for me to go exploring once again. I had the most amazing sunset to send me on my way.

I only recommend staying on this beach out of season as I’m sure it would be very busy in high season and I believe that if there are too many vans the police will move you on, although there is a big tarmac area further down the beach where most of the bigger motor homes park and also a campsite (but it looked extremely packed even when I was there). The police cruise along the beach regularly during the day, so the van is quite safe. However, at night, especially at weekends, you will get a few cars coming along and parking right by this beautiful tree and sometimes playing very loud music. I regularly cleared up in the mornings after these people, as they have no respect for the environment they live in and tend to throw their rubbish out of their car windows!

So it’s now Tuesday 19th November and I am headed to the town of Orgiva in the Sierra Nevada mountains. I chose here as it is one of the easiest places in the mountains to get to from where I am and also because I read there is a bohemian atmosphere since it is a magnet for those seeking an alternative lifestyle. There is a travelling community that live just outside of the village in the mountains and that was where I was headed.

However, this turned out to be one of those oh no moments! After driving most of the way down the off road track to get there I realised that Lucy was just not going to be able to make the last bit, well at least not with me driving. I forgot at the time that I had her in Eco mode so her wheels were spinning and sliding on the extremely uneven grooved track. So I had a choice of reversing all the way back up the half a mile track or driving down a fairly steep slope to turn around. I did not fancy reversing all the way back up it, so I chose the slope instead only to discover that I was unable to drive back up it, Lucy’s wheels were spinning and kept stalling. In hindsight I think if she had not been in eco mode it would have been fine. So as I was just about to abandon her on the slope and start walking to get help from the travelling community, three Spanish workers turned up, and after a good laugh at my inability to drive ‘Lucy’ up the slope one of them took the drivers seat whilst the rest of us gave her a helping push. I think they were a little bemused at my over zealousnous of hugging them all to say thank you. I was just so relieved to be unstuck. So once safely off the track I settled for parking here instead and what a beautiful quiet spot it turned out to be, overlooking the village.

Just to mention on my way to Orgiva I needed to empty my porta potty and get water. The places you can do this in Southern Spain, when you are not staying on a campsite, seem few and far between. There was a petrol station near El Toyo, and a campsite in the beautiful small harbour of Almerimar. If I hadn’t been headed to the mountains I would have definitely paid to stay the night here as it was right next to the small quiet town, so you wouldn’t have to walk far at night after a meal or drink out.

After my night in the mountains I headed to the thermal springs of Santa Fe. See my full length YouTube video https://youtu.be/vQv9yGToEzk Oh my goodness the water in the pools felt so amazing after not having had a hot shower since Norway, over 4 weeks ago! It really is the simple things in life that you come to appreciate so much when you no longer have them readily available. The temperature apparently is 38 degrees! It definitely felt like it and of course the water is full of rich nutrients of calcium, magnesium and sulphates, which are so good for your skin.

Sadly though, the whole area has been spoilt by the people who have visited and those who have set up camp here. There is rubbish everywhere, even mattresses. It is also very muddy so I did not drive Lucy right to it, but left her near the small parking area about 1km walk away. I visited the pools around 9am the following morning so that I could have them all to myself as they get pretty busy during the day and the loud music seems to start at 9.30am. Not very conducive to a relaxing thermal spring experience, but all the same I thoroughly enjoyed it. The picture below shows the area where the thermal springs are and in the background the Sierra Nevada mountains with snow on the top.

The next couple of days were set for quite a bit of rain so I decided to wait it out in the hills outside Cordoba, which was my next place to visit and I wanted to enjoy it in the sunshine. Not a bad place to hole up and there were moments of blue sky.

Two days later, the rain stopped as forecast, and I made my way to Cordoba. This was an important roman city and a major Islamic center in the Middle Ages. It’s well known for its Roman bridge and for La Mezquita, an immense mosque dating from 784 AD featuring a columned prayer hall, over 850 double-arched columns. It became a Catholic church in 1236 and a Renaissance-style nave was added in the 17th century. Never have I seen a more impressive Cathedral, and I’ve seen a few. I felt a real sense of spirituality here and I sat on the floor of the church staring up into the magnificence of the domed nave. It was well worth the 10 euro fee.

Cordoba has such a pretty old quarter, with lots of moorish flavours in its architecture and so many pretty courtyards and romantic patios, oases of cool and colour. The Feria de los Patios is held every May, where the courtyards and patios of houses are opened to the public and the locals compete for the honour of having the prettiest space. UNESCO declared the event protected cultural patrimony in 2012. The star of this is the 15th century Palacio de Viana, a residence of the Spanish royalty. It has thirteen patios and gardens, some of Cordoba’s most gorgeous public spaces. Can you believe it I forgot to go there! and it only costs 5 euros.

Next stop Sevilla. I decided to do the tour bus as this is always a good way of learning about the city you are visiting. I had parked outside of the main town in what is the remains of the Expo ’92, where over one hundred countries were represented. It was spread over a huge area and it is the kind of fascinating modern decay that has a beauty in its return to nature. Picture bottom right, it even has a huge space rocket. As a walked into town to get the bus I passed the 18th century Plaza de Toros de la Maestranza bull ring, and the Torre del Oro, a dodecagonal 13th century military watch tower.

The bus tour was enjoyable especially as it was a grey drizzly day, so it was a great way to see the city without getting wet. Afterwards I headed to the resplendent Plaza de Espana built as the centrepiece of the Expo 29 and was used in the filming of Star Wars Attack of the Clones as the City of Theed on the Planet Naboo. It was wonderful to listen to various musicians playing spanish guitar, flute and there was even flamenco, for which Sevilla is renowned for. The Parque de Maria Luisa is a beautiful oasis and a very romantic affair with white doves and horse drawn carriages. And of course the noisy parakeets, whose population is now over 3000!

Other major landmarks include the ornate Alcazar castle, built during the Moorish Almohad dynasty and the Gothic Cathedral which is the site of Christopher Columbus’s tomb. I did not visit either of these places as by this time I was getting wet and hungry as I had skipped lunch. I had been recommended to try churros and it just so happened I was walking right past a churreria so it would have been rude not to stop and try them with hot chocolate. OMG, the taste was so delightful, particularly as I was so hungry. I even closed my eyes whilst eating them to get the full pleasure. You should try it, taking away one of your senses always heightens the remaining ones.

After doing two cities in a row I was ready to get back to nature so I headed to the Donana National Park, 100,000 hectares of protected sand dunes, Mediterranean forest and marshes. If you are following me on instagram/facebook or YouTube you may have seen the video footage I have posted. You can click on links for these at the bottom of this post.

I was parked up at the very end of the road near a village called Almonte, right on the edge of the sand dunes that back onto the beautiful beach and at the edge of the park. I stayed here for five nights. There was a lovely board walk to walk or cycle along to the beach interweaving between the sand dunes and beautiful pine trees. The sunsets were incredible every night. And I did my own exploring in the National Park! although sadly I did not see any wildlife at all, not even a lizard! which was surprising as there are 300 bird species, and 37 mammals including the Iberian lynx. In this part of the park the wetlands dry out in the summer and although it is now November there has not been sufficient rain to replenish them. I have since read that in other areas of the park, there are lakes, and I guess that is where you will find the waterfowl.

I am now sat on a beach somewhere in Punta Umbria, under an hour away from Portugal. I am going to stay here for a few days as the weather is great 18 degrees with sunshine, I have a beach shower and a water tap just a short walk away. And it will give me an opportunity to catch up with my missing blogs of Europe.

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