Almerimar

One of our favourite stops - Almerimar harbour

Almerimar (day 94)

What a lovely surprise it was to reach Almerimar, after driving through the fields and fields covered in plastic, greenhouses where they grow all those tomatoes that end up in our salads. We reached the town and drove round the port, there was a very pleasant harbour with lots of small bars and shops, and thought this is the place for us!  We headed slightly out of town to the wild camping areas, initially we thought there were actually campsites, as there were about 100 motorhomes spread over three parking areas, some people had been there since November.  We parked up and went to explore, the town, arriving at the harbour we noticed that there were motorhomes parked right on the harbour, and moved there the next day, at a small cost of 8€ per day. Well worth it just for the views, over the harbour for sunrise (from the bedroom window) and sun setting out to sea and the snowcapped Sierra Nevada in distance.(thru the cab window). We explored the area, sampling the local tapas and cycled to the Roman Fort.

Our view of sunrise in the port of Almerimar



I looks like there might be a storm on the way (salty sea dog)



Our other new friends Pam & Kenny



They get everywhere

  A small paragraph about the Spanish law enforcement (Guardia Civil). In our experience so far they have been very good and we have been told from other travellers that this year they are much better than previous years. We think that the Spanish are finally warming to the motorhomer. On the flipside there does always seem to be a Guardia Civil patrol vehicle everywhere we go, I mean everywhere even on Almerimar harbour carpark, at the big guns site…everywhere!!!!     They haven’t actually moved us on yet, and they do always seem to be busy having a ciggy (fag) or walking about looking important. Watch this space.



A view of our camping spot on the harbour wall


 

 On the other side of the harboue is the toilet block with great showers and all the facilities needed for the motorcaravan traveller, we also wers treated to some of Spains great graffiti, the one above was in my opinion the best.

Si's favourite picture!

Friends John and Carol

A view from one of the bars in the harbour

Almeria - International Rally

La Garrofa (campsite)South of Almería

A Unimog with a caravan on the back -  a nice couple from Jersey

We stayed at this campsite just south of Almeria, we took the bus into the city for the afternoon and had a wander round, the cities are starting to all look the same (with the exception of Barcelona),  later we visited the campsite bar purely for research purposes and people watching.  Although the campsite was very compact, it was well equipped with hot showers & washing facilities. The highlight of our stay was the arrival of the  Intercontinental Rally Team and support vehicles with members from all over Europe, who were starting the rally at Almeria port and heading across to North Africa and onto Dakar (Senegal).  They had the look of the famous Paris Dakar Rally.  (Si was extremely jealous) “I want to take part next year” only if the boss will let me!!



Intercontiental rally support crew



Looks like they have a couple of stowaways in their kit



Natural Parc - Cabo de Gato

Cabo de Gata – Parc Natural (day 88)

The night after we stayed on a beach carpark sandwiched between the fisherman’s hut’s and the town of Cabo de Gata. We walked into the small town, had a glass of wine in a local bar then back to the van for the evening.



San Jose



Jo at the top of a hill



San Jose  (day 89)

Up early (9.00 ish), we drove to San Jose a little further round the peninsular, arriving we saw this beautiful whitewashed town set in a sheltered cove with a small port area and sandy beach. We drove round for a while and spotted a number of motorhomes parked on a municipal car park. We pulled in parked up and went for a walk round the town, which took all of 15 mins. Back at the van a couple more campers turned up so we made camp and ended up staying 4 days.  During which time we tried out the local restaurants and bars, we found San Jose and it’s residents to be a very pleasant, along with the warm sunny weather & temps in the mid 70s .  We did find a cool hippy bar near to the local Spar supermarket at the side of the promenade, which was a little odd but very good for people watching, which happens to be our new favourite pastime second to drinking beer/wine.  There are other good beaches quite nearby but we were informed that the Guardia were not happy about people camping due to it being a “Parc National” which is only fair, it does seem that Spain is trying to preserve their park areas. One day we went for a hike up one of the peaks close to the restored windmill which then overlooked the Guardia Civil’s local headquarters (see how they like  being watched ).



When we get really bored we head to the swings & sandpit





Si posing for his new Facebook photo again in that tee shirt, it's never off his back Nigel



Out and about in the Mojacar area

 

More unfinished urbanizations!!

We set off towards Mojacar and some good 

wild camping we had been told about, passing thru Aguilas town stopping for lunch in San Juan beach. We went for a stroll after lunch to have a look at some ancient cave dwellings on the beach.  The terrain around the area was made of a very soft sandstone material which made for easy digging, some of the caves were quite large with adjoining rooms. After our lunch stop we moved on a little further spotting numerous wild camping spots with many motorhomes parked up.




San Juan where we stopped for lunch - not too busy

A nice two room cave with views of the sea...very cheap

   

Our friend Jan in Villaricos

I think some areas are more tolerant of motorhomes than others. We drove onto Mojacar and stopped along the beach road for a coffee and to work out where we might stay for the night. While we were pondering, a couple walked into the café and we recognised them as Jan and Ian  we had met in Javia over Christmas, we quickly caught up on the last  three weeks, and they invited us to park outside their house in Villaricos, just a few kilometres back from Mojacar which we had driven thru with a view to camping earlier in the day.



 



Paella time.. I always wanted to be a chef



strangely similar

  So off we went following their car back to Villaricos, a beautiful small traditional Spanish town along the coast, we park outside their villa, Ian hooked up the electric, we both freshened up, for our night out on the town – quiz night at the local English bar.  The following day we went for the usual breakfast in the town, after a lazy day for a change at the villa, Si made paella for the four of us and we sat on the veranda until the it became cool!!.  Another sunny morning, we had breakfast with Jan, Ian and Baz the dog (Si’s new best mate), they offered to take us on a tour of Mojacar, visiting the old town, with its fuenta, natural spring and views over the plains.

Old Mojacar - Very old ..iron age time

The day after we went for a walk to the nearest town Palomeros, which apparently is one of the richest towns in Spain for a very unusual reason.

Palomeros

  During the cold war the Americans flew B52 bombers around the world carring nuclear weapons and one of the bombers collided with their refuelling plane over Spain, both planes crashed into the sea – misplacing three of their bombs, one was subsequently found in Palomeros, 1980ish?????.  This started a massive clean-up exercise by the Americans, which involved paying compensation to all the locals.  The other two bombs were found in the Med.

Palomares doesnt glow in the dark..look at the snow in the distance

The Churros man in villaricos market obviously eats his own product

 

Herbie

Day 4 and 5 in Villaricos – we said our goodbye’s and headed off to a wild camping spot outside town and travelled all of half a km, if that. Parked up with a number of other Motor homes on the beach. The next day was market day in town, so we went to stock up on supplies and take in the atmosphere – you can buy anything from clothes to churros, cooked chickens and all manner of local produce.


Churros - A deep fried dough type stick which goes very well with the Spanish Hot Chocolate,which you can stand a spoon up in, not good for the heart.





On the way to Cabo de Gata we stopped one night in Cabonaros at a wild camping stop near Antonio’s bar, the main thing that was wild about it was his 30 or so hunting dogs that were locked up in a cage at the back and howled all night long, (important tip always carry earplugs). We would have stayed longer if it hadn’t been for the noisy dogs, a beautiful spot quite near to an observation fort and a short walk to another tower which looked onto a house perched on a hill which we found out belonged to the famous director Roman Polanski.

Antonios dog pen only 50 metres from our overnight stop







Roman Polanski's house

some of the quality roads we have driven on..gulp

 





Murcia Region (La Marina, La Manga and Mazarron)





Si hiding from the Guardia Civil





We passed through Alicante town along the N332, straight to La Marina, we had spoken to many fellow motor homers who had recommended this location, right on the beach, sheltered by the sand dunes and a lovely beach restaurant to hand for a cool beer and local Spanish food.  We parked on the beach in the daytime and returned to the carparks further back in the evening, to avoid attention from the Guardia Civil.  This area is a well known stop for wild camping, there is a whole community of motorhome owners who stay in this spot for the winter months, mainly Germans and Dutch, with the occasional Brits, we stayed at the here for 4 days, visiting the town for supplies, then went to a camper park in Guardamar (San Fulgenco).



La Marina Beach



The Spanish Seafood Restaurant in La Marina



After parking by the beach in the day, everyone returns to the car park for the evening

 La Manga



After leaving the camper park in San Fulgenco, Guardamar, we visited Elche for the morning, an area that grows the palm trees and harvests the dates from the female trees.   We drove down the coast through Torrevieja, on our way to La Manga where we were told there was a new campsite just opened with good rates.  The weather took a slight turn for the worse, and the sun disappeared behind clouds.  Our chances of finding wild camping diminished, as the wind started up, we drove along the La Manga peninsular, lined with modern hotels and bars, so we headed for campsite we had spotted on the way in and stayed for the night.

Si attempting to fund his drinking habit selling pegs and lucky heather to the campers



Mazarron

We drove to the port Mazarron a little further down the coast,  we wild camped in an unfinished urbanisation, we are finding that this is a popular spot for wild camping as they are quite numerous, as an observation most of Spain seems to be ‘for sale’.  The next morning we drove up to Mazarron town and spot in a local bar for coffee and tostados (toast spread with tomatoes, garlic and olive oil.  This is always a popular time to avoid filling up the Thetford cassette.



A wild stop in Mazarron on an unfinished urbanization - a sign of the times.



Moraira, Calpe and Altea

Si isn't the only one with a headache! (Moraira)

Moraira

The next day we set off south 15km and stopped at Moraira just to check the town out; we are back here from mid Feb for a month, renting a Villa for our Mums to visit.  It was so nice we decided to stay the night before moving onto Altea.  Early evening we walked into town and there was a wedding taking place in the square, so we stayed and watched the celebrations, more fireworks, those ones that are set off and run along the floor and make a huge bang like a big version of a riprap. While this was going on we were sat in a Spanish bar opposite the church watching all the celebrations, then we headed back to our camp just back from the beach on a car park area with two other vans. The next morning (Sunday) we were woken by the Guardia Civil driving around in  two 4x4’s making  suggestions that we move on   it’s amazing how you can pick up on the vibe when they keep driving round until you move on, anyway we took the hint and left quickly and set off for Altea about 30 km south.

Moraira Harbour

Calpe - We drove through Calpe on the way the Altea, passing the dramatic rocky outcrop known as the Penon de Ifrach, Calpe itself is a huge concrete jungle of high rise hotels along a promenade.

Calpe - Penon de Ifrach

Altea - A short hop we arrived in Altea, a smallish tourist resort with a beautiful hillside old town set around a Christian Church with Moorish domes. We drove down the front to a campsite we saw in the travel books and set up for one night to get our laundry and cleaning done before we wild camped again.  After setting up camp we walked up to the old town and took in the panoramic views of the skyline of Altea and Benidorm in the distance.  We sat and had a drink in the square and Simon dipped further into the next level of relaxation and said “how can we extend this” I replied “you need to sell more pegs”

Si posing for his next facebook profile

Jo at a no 8 in the happiness charts - almost there 

Altea with Benidorm skyline in distance 

A great photo of two buildings that captures Spain's History

Every photo is a picture postcard in Spain

A Typical street in Altea (old town)