Turquesa Almerimar

... it turned into sand and stones. We could barely walk the bikes. This seriously slowed us down. Whats worse is that it meant that we ended up on the grotty outskirts of Almeria as it got dark. Desperate for a place to sleep we went to check out under a motorway bridge. Whilst we were down there we saw some kids needlessly kill a goat with rocks and sticks. Not a great site to be honest. I still thought it would probably be alright to stay. They were only kids after all. Quote ...

I had to wean myseft away from the area, and the next day just drove a bit up the coast, past more un(der)-developed beaches at Escullos and El Playazo, and ended up staying in Las Negras, another fishing village which is sleepy by the water-front but with massive construction going on behind it.

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.

... 20 bornes en rebroussant chemin vers cabo de gata....magnifiaue endroit, on arrive en 4x4 carrement sur la plage, on trouve une petite epicerie qu on a devalisem pates, saucisson, courgettes, lard au bord e l eau, etla, surprise, une bande de chats loubards nous barre la route et essqient de nous manger notre repas...il faisait un peu frais et beaucoup de vent SAMEDI 02 ...

Wij zijn weer thuis Vrijdag huren we voor drie dagen een Fiat panda en maken een tocht naar Almeria nog eens 30 mijl langs de kust oostwaarts. Almeria ligt in een baai waar ook het monumentale Alcazaba de Almeria ligt. De Alcazaba is een moskee en een fort dat in 955 op eerdere ruines van fortificaties is bebouwd. Met Europees geld is er een prachtige restauratie op touw gezet en mogen we als Europese bewoners de zeker geslaagde ...

Door de Straat Dinsdag 4 september, weer een stralende dag die ons verwelkomt, maar het wild is ver te zoeken en een beetje gedesillusioneerd halen we het anker op als de uitstroom van de Rio Guadalquivir dik twee uur na hoogwater begint. We kunnen met het grootzeil wat wind vangen en samen met de uitstroom en een beetje motor maken we al snel 5 knopen. Straks moeten we over bakboord de oceaan op en dan lijken we gunstiger wind te hebben. Als we bij de laatste boei ...

Our time in Almerimar has been productive. Quest is now looking like a vessel outfitted for an ocean crossing. We have bags of fresh produce hanging around the main cabin, cans of meats and veggies and fruit and bags of rice and noodles galore. We were enlightened by Mike on Gilana that the food prices were much better here than in Gibraltar and so we rented a car and shopped! At the first store, we had a cart full of stuff and a British gentleman in the next ...

We left Puerto de Torrevieja with the early morning light. We raised the main and sailed off the anchor. We had wonderful winds and following seas all the way. Along the way we found ourselves inside a "minefield" of fishing pens. We didn't notice the boundary and were smack dab in the middle of many large floating fish pens. The Pilot Book states that these contraptions are strong enough to stop ships if caught in ...

... 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.