Playazul Roquetas de Mar

... of cheeses at the breakfast buffet. Had I known how the rest of the day would shape up, I would have had double.

I headed off to town. The morning had been a little cloudy but it seemed like the sun might break through so I opted for my swimsuit as undergarments. The town is teeeeensy. And most of the shops are closed for the season (aka 'personal rest'). So I quickly found myself on the beach, and much to my contentment the sun was shining. The water was cool but not ...

... nor American helped me.

Rather than just going back to the train station and sitting there for four hours, I stopped in a little Argentinian restaurant. Knowing Gaby, I was well versed in the fact that I should check the menu before sitting down. The Argentinians (and Uruguayans, who really fed Argentina everything their famous for, right Gaby?) are big meat eaters. But, they had pasta on the menu. Hurray.

The waiter was an older guy that found it amusing ...

... around a bit and then headed on our way. Our main destination was Almeria to see the Fort there called Alcabaza, and then we planned to visit Parque Natural in Cabo de Gato. This area is know for it's conservation efforts and beautiful natural beaches. Mike asked around to find out what other areas are interesting on our way to Almeria. A woman (park cleaning lady) told him Roquetes de mar is a beautiful spot. We drove right there and hated it! Ugly, overdeveloped town ...

... someone had been waiting behind a rock near us. I couldnt have left faster if i tried. Very stressful moment.

So we cycled to the other side of Almeria but our journey was cut short due to a coastal windy road with no lights. We had no choice but to sleep where we were. which happened to be up some steps near a light house in the view of hookers. Seriously no other choice. Also, where we slept the happened to be 1cm by 1 inch orange woodlice crawling everywhere. Lovely.

Returned to San Jose. Next day drove around to the town of Cabo de Gata, saw the salt-pans, went up the the "Cape", saw the incredible beach of Cabo de Gata, had great lunch there, then went around to the beach at Monsul. Eventually decided I HAD to leave!! 

... me €2.50 to park, I then paid an exorbitant €19 entry, and since it was getting on went and had an OK self-service meal - also over-priced. There wasn't much to see; a museum of old cinema projectors, old buildings, and a zoo. The latter was rather curious. I stayed around for the "shoot-em-up" show. About all that was worth it in an overpriced trip. As for the countryside, I was underwhelmed as it was nothing like as spectacular as the Copper Canyon in Mexico.

... 2009 ESPAGNE vers GRANADA on les fait fuir et on se couche...lendemain matin, grand soleil, on voit un pecheur arrivee de son bateau et decharger sa cargaison directemet sur la plage, du coup, on prend 1kilo de seiche a 8euros et les lave dans la mer. On se baigne apres mangerm un peu fraiche mais trop benefique... on se decide enfin a reprendre la route pour granada...

... ik geheel bezweet veilig beneden. Met een imbus sleuteltje van 1.5 mm geleend van een Griekse schipper krijg ik de muurvast gelopen windschoepen weer aan de praat. Inmiddels is het donker en bewaren we het feest om weer de mast in te gaan voor morgenochtend voordat het schip gehesen wordt. Gelijk met de rijzende zon klim ik de volgende ochtend de mast in en zijn we zeer voldaan als ik na een veilige landing de eerste aarzelende rotaties van onze windmeter ...

... Karim was not a happy bunny. It was the first time I really sensed that I wouldn't still be with him in a year and a half's time. "It's just that she wants me to meet her halfway", Karim said. "She knows how important the trip is for me, but it's like, if I came back to Nottingham for a week after Europe, or came back a month or two early from Australia, you know what I mean?" Now this was a situation for me. For selfish reasons, I probably should ...

... lui donner le « papier vert » pour rentrer la voiture au Maroc. On ne nous donne pas le papier, il faudra le demander à terre. On continue à manger et on va faire tamponner les passeports. On va un peu dehors et avec Flo, nous avons une discussion avec un marocain qui est pas très ouvert, mais gentil. Et voilà, on est descendues et il reste environ deux heures avant l'arrivée à Nador. On y arrive à 23h30, heure locale. 109980km au compteur.