Spring in Cabo de Gata

View towards Las Negras near the end of the coastal walk.

We're still enjoying great weather in Cabo and there are lots to see and do in the area. We did a coastal walk from Rodalquiler to Las Negras parking Hilary's camper at Las Negras and ours at Rodalquiler.This involved a little road walking, pista and then a narrow coastal path above the cliffs passing several fortifications dating back to 18th century built to protect the Granada region from pirates and Berbers (north Africans). There is also a vehicle assessible beach at El Playazo near the Castillo de San Ramon.

View up the Valle de Huebro from above Nijar. The road finishes in this valley but the GR140 continues.

We also did a day visit to the town of Nijar which is north of here in the mountains and is famous for its rugs and pottery and has a long history, much influenced by the Moors. We went on a Sunday and many tourist shops were open but selling much the same things but pleasant enough. After lunch we strolled along a road uphill to see the valley in the photo with many almond trees in blossom. I also spotted a couple Black Wheatears with their distinctive white patches. We returned by a coastal route via Rodalquiler to Cabo de Gata.

Today we did a longer cycle trip from the campsite to San Jose along the coast. Hilary parked at San Jose to do some walking and we met up later to get the bikes back here. The road to the lighthouse is steep enough but we managed without dismounting this year. After the light house the road narrows but remains tarmac (with a few potholes!) until the pass, Collado de la Vela Blanca (photo is the view north towards San Jose). From here it was down hill on a pista to reach the beaches. We had lunch at the second beach, Ensenada de la Media Luna, in sunshine with no wind can you believe.

This photo is of Helen walking along the beach at Media Luna with the tower on the cliff behind showing the position of the pass; it is hard to believe our poor abused bikes made it down from there; well almost, as shortly after this Helen had her first puncture. We used the "slime" to fix it but this didn't work for long but enabled us to get to San Jose by pumping the tyre up a couple of times. We've now fixed it after finding a glass shard in the tyre which was preventing the "slime" from doings its job. Our tyres are certainly taking some beating with the rough rock tracks and scree. Anyway as you'll guess, a beer in San Jose was welcomed. We're pleased we did this route as we didn't last year and also earlier in the week we had advised two dutch long-distance (lots of baggage) cyclists that it could be done on bikes after several people had told them it couldn't. We did warn them it was steep but they seemed happy to walk if needed and the prospect of out-of-the-way camping was a great incentive for them I think.

We have less than a week left here as we plan to head north next Tuesday; maybe time for another post before we then though.