Aguamarina Estepona

"Yes" it is possible to to experience a different Marbella.....
Normally one does not associate "authentic Spain" when coming to
Marbella or the Costa del Sol in general! The picture we all have of this part of the world, is big
concrete buildings from Malaga right to Gibraltar! Big hotels, big resorts, Golf Courses and obviously lots of sun! Not to forget the bling bling factor!
When looking for the "Real ...

We decided today we would stay in the area and just go driving. We wanted to check out some wineries and take a cave tour. But we didn't get a chance to do either one. The cave tours were 5 hours long. The caves are amazing but not sure Shae would be able to hang that long. my guess is not. And we drove and drove and didn't find one winery. I think we got close one time. But anyway the ride was beautiful and there was a great restaurant in a white village ...

We got up and headed out to the tourist office in Montejaque. We didn't have a plan for the day but we thought we might head down south to Gibraltor. Mike spoke with the tourism guide and he said "don't waste your time. It's just a rock". He suggested we head inland a bit and hit up a town (one of the white hillside villages) called Grazalema and then head over to local lake in another hillside village called Zahara ...

... to you? Well when i was younger than ten i was warned to watch out for stuff like this. But, well, 22 now, so we accepted and hoped that it wasnt laced with rohipnol. and to be fair he did have a girlfriend with him.

A while back olly tried to eat 2 kilograms of jelly after drinking a litre of juice. So now it was my turn to step up to the plate ...

... check. After shopping we headed to the big city of Gibraltar... a rather strange place... centered around a bloody big rock with apes running wild over it. Yeah weird. So after stopping by for a delicious Subway lunch we wondered through the main shopping street and caught a cable car up to the top of the rock where we were greeted by cute fat apes staring blankly at us in boredom. One so bored in fact that he ...

... we stumble upon an eager taxi driver with a minivan and he agrees to take all 7 of us on a private tour of the rock. St. Michaels Cave is a magnificent cavern once set up to be used as a war time hospital protected within the fortress. The Summit has spectacular views down sheer cliffs and is covered with old gun emplacements. The Siege Tunnels where the british held off approaching forces by tunnelling inside the rock and creating holes so they could ...

... Gibraltar native who was quite the comic. As we drove by the McDonalds of the town he pointed to it and said, "here we have the American Embassy on the right hand side." Probably the most enjoyable part of the Gibraltar trip was looking at Northern coast of Africa across the Mediterranean from where I stood. A view that I will never forget. It was also fun visiting the monkeys that live on the giant rock of Gibraltar too. They are smart little things. As ...

... port of Tarifa. The area is generally known for one thing - wind - and it was here that veteran kite surfer Blake was hanging out through the early summer honing his kiting skills. By the time I arrived in mid July the school holidays were in full swing, so the area was jammed to the gills with families from central Spain ...

... to say the least that if you were elderly or not quite sturdy on your feet that you could have ended up in the sea with one wrong footing. So, we turned around and headed back in the direction towards Estepona and seemed to walk for miles. The beach is very stoney at Playa Atalaya and it is more residential than full of holiday makers.

One day after class someone a friend asked me if I wanted to go to the rock of Gilbralter before we went to Marbella. I didn't really think about it, just said, see the rock, sure. As I travelel on the eight hour night bus to a southern port where we could walk to the rock, I thought to myself....why am I going all this way to ...