Sofitel Las Dunas Estepona

... smaller group, though I think I had a slight ulterior motive. <br><br>Today we are heading to the ferry to where the real journey begins and we ascend onto the African continent. I am so excited! Though I did prepare, I enjoyed my last hot shower immensely before leaving the camp ground in Spain. All in all it seems like a great group of people but 43 weeks with anyone is *************e such multi cultural groups like this. It should be really amazing.

... I saw a bullfight my first week here and it really wasn't my cup of tea, but it was interesting to be where all the action takes place. I then proceeded to go exploring on my own, which I actually do quite frequently. I love people but I find I really enjoy some things better when I make my own experience not surrounded by what everyone else wants to do. I started by going down into the Ronda Gorge, which literally looks like a city built on a cliff. It is just ...

... mes nuits dans la nature.. et bien je la revis un peu avec lui et lire ce livre me sert en quelque sorte d'exutoire... Je ne compare pas son aventure avec mon voyage, nous n'avons pas les mêmes sources d'angoisse (lui, c'est les ours!!!!).. mais il délire sur un endroit où il décide de camper un soir et explique "mon esprit chercher à se distraire, à fuir les pensées négatives qui renaissent à chaque tombée de la nuit"<br>Nous ...

7.20am rise and shine... ahhh the first of the early mornings... hmmm I wonder how long before the novelty wears off. Not the best of sleeps last night - I think due to drastic change of environment.... sleeping on a half inch mat in the cold with next to no pillow. Still managed to wake up quite spritely so that was good. Bread and scrambled eggs for breakfast, once again all cooked by Kate... something which I ...

We leave Ceuta early as the wind has been strong on previous days and Pete wanted to nip across the Straights of Gibraltar before the wind and tide chop it up. This morning it was still and the Rock of Gibraltar was shrouded in fog. It is only 8 miles across, but it's the 2nd busiest shipping lane in the world, so we need to keep an eye out as we duck between ships. It should be easy to locate the marina as the place is only a couple of square kilometres ...

... with moth experts from Denmark and Germany visiting. I spent the next four days lazing in the sun, finalizing flights for the main trip and catching up on emails. On the last day we had lunch out at a Chiringito (beach bar) in the old fishing town of Sabinias...we feasted on sardines, fresh pork (usually the best meat choice in Andalusia), monk fish and prawns washed down with a few glasses of Tinto Verano and then collapsed on the beach in ...

... a colony of the United Kingdom . Traveling there is somewhat of a culture shock because you don't feel like you have left Spain but it becomes very obvious that you are in a different country as soon as you get through immigration. The natives of Gibraltar all consider themselves British and are educated and brought up with English as their first language but speak Spanish as a native language as well. The tour guide that my group had was a proud 4th ...

... along an expansive but shallow bay. Flanked by dunes and then a low ridgeline, the wind howls over peaks that continue the natural gateway between the Atlantic ocean and the Mediterranean sea. This literally is the most southern part of Spain and the closest point to Morocco, so is a natural crossroads both north/south ...

... as one of the Pillars of Hercules, but the pictures on the Internet just don't do it justice. The rock is just a massive object in the middle of the sea and the flat land nearby. When we walked across the border, the Gibraltar guard just shook his head when I asked if he had a stamp for my passport. You know someone isn't motivated about their job when they won't speak. I had really been looking forward to getting the stamp and this is ...

... the apes remain. There have been talks about returning the land to Spain but the residents don't want to go. So now the apes are protected and fed by park employees. We were walking up the road and then suddenly they were there. They mostly keep to themselves, and ignore you until you get too close and then move away. A lot of their time is spent pensively staring out over the town and to Africa. We spent a lot of time hanging out with ...