Following the Sun Diary: Mon 7 Feb

Our last week at Los Gallardos was rain every day. It was too muddy along the tracks I take to the gym in Turre to cycle, so we were taking the motorhome out each day to get around. We would pack up quickly each morning after breakfast, then head off. Moira would drive, dropping me at the gym for an hour’s workout while she did some shopping. When she picked me up again we would head for the beach, and watch the waves as we had lunch. When we left last Monday the weather was beginning to improve but we were happy to get to pastures new.

San Jose

We didn’t travel very far, about 70 kilometres, to the Cabo de Gata National Park. This is situated at the south east corner of Spain where the coast turns towards Almeria and the Costa del Sol. It is a very dry region with very low rainfall, our week here has so far confirmed this, with blue skies every day. Our campsite at Los Escullos is near the coast in a quiet area, the nearest town San Jose is 8 kilometres away. When we arrived we had a walk around looking for a good spot. We spoke to an English guy, who had a big satellite dish, and asked how the TV reception was. He said that he had a multi-point LNB on his dish and if we were close enough we could hook up to one of them. I found a pitch behind him and later connected up to his dish, we now get all the BBC and ITV channels.

The area is a walker’s paradise with numerous routes along dried river beds or rambla, up beautiful mountains and on coastal paths. Our first outing was along the coast to San Jose; after a short climb to the cliff top the trail was fairly flat with the rugged rocky shore below and towering peaks on the other side. San Jose was a lovely little seaside resort with beautifully white painted houses and a packed marina where we sat to have our picnic lunch feeding little fishes with crumbs. Another day we climbed a track that cut diagonally up the side of a mountain to a huge white dome at the top, the locals call it the golf ball, and is a metrological radar station. This spot on top gave us magnificent views of the Mediterranean coast and the surrounding mountains. Those circling mountains are actually the crater of an extinct volcano, Vulcan de Majado Redonda, formed between six and seventeen million years ago. Yesterday we hiked into the crater along a rambla which was the only opening into the gigantic bowl. The area is quite fantastic and these outings are only in the vicinity of the campsite, many more pleasures are waiting when we drive out to the other walking trails listed in our guide book.

The White Radar Dome or 'Golf Ball'

The site has its own gym, nothing elaborate, plenty of barbells and dumbbells, and some exercise machines. The big plus is that it is free and I have had a few good workouts to keep my muscles in shape. So far I have been on my own pushing weights; nobody else on site appears to be interested. The other facility available is a Wi-Fi area but it isn’t very good. Our attempts on the internet amount to a very slow check of our e-mail, downloading material, such as podcasts from the BBC, takes nearly a day for a half hour programme.

Where the ‘population’ at Los Gallardos was all English, here there is a mixture of nationalities. In our section of the site we have German, Dutch and English but we have come across some French and Italians as well. The Dutch like to get together for pre-dinner drinks and can be very noisy, but once they return to their own ‘vans for their meals everything becomes quiet and peaceful again.

The Mediterranean Coast

We are thoroughly enjoying it here so will stay for at least a month. The weather is excellent and we still have lots more walking to do. Maybe as it gets warmer I will be tempted to have a swim, there is a beautiful beach at San Jose.