Extreme beach-ing!

After leaving the dogs we were a little down, not really in the mood to go to a new place. And yet we did, of course. 

We stopped in Cartagena for a couple of hours, had a look at the Roman theater there, which was only uncovered around 30 years ago. When the Romans left, the residents just started building their houses on top of the theater, using the stones and rocks from it and so fully covered the whole site.

The Roman theater in Cartagena

Since the city itself held little attraction for us, we drove on to Bolnuevo, which is a sandstone formation, carved out by wind and water over thousands of years. It's a small site and after giving it all the attention we could muster, we headed for the last place for the day, Villaricos. We had planned to stay at the harbor in town, but just outside we found a spot right on the beach. Any closer and my tires would have gotten wet!

The day-trippers had left by the time it got dark and we were all by ourselves. It was a bit windy and my human was slightly concerned if we would be OK there for the night, but, as it turned out, we were. In the morning she opened the back doors and watched the sunrise from bed with a cup of coffee. Yes, we were OK!

After a quick dip in the ocean we drove on to Las Negras, a tiny fishing village at the Cabo de Gata. 

Just 400m before the entrance to the caravan park, which we had intended to use, there was a free spot next to a little soccer field where some vans were already parked. And since there were showers on the beach, we could dispose of our rubbish and the toilet was not yet overflowing - it was the perfect spot for us. I'm sure the owners of the caravan park are super excited about this spot.

Walking around town my human discovered a dive center. She has been playing with the idea of going diving for a few weeks now, but wasn't sure if it was worth the effort. After all, she is pretty spoiled when it comes to diving. But just getting under water and blowing some bubbles after two years would be nice enough. So she signed up for a double dive the next morning.

After spending a couple of hours on the beach she got a bit bored and with some hills looming over the coast, she set off for a little hike. Walking up a steep slope a few guys came down that way and tried to talk to her in French. Not being able to communicate, they kept going after a minute. Not five minutes later, another two guys came down that way and the scene repeated. These guys said the name of a town about an hours drive away, which she tried to tell them somehow. They thanked her and kept going.

By now it dawned on her that these guys just came over from Morocco on an illegal boat. This was confirmed by a small boat she saw leaving a little cove when she crested the hill. Further down the track, she met a couple asking if she'd also seen some men walking around these hills. They had just coaxed a few back onto the track who seemed lost in the bushes. 

Nothing you think about when you go for a hike, that you might come across some illegal immigrants who just risked their life crossing a wide stretch of the ocean in a tiny boat. 

After reaching her destination, a small lighthouse on top of a hill, she decided to take a circular route and go back down a different way. It took around 5 minutes until she regretted this decision. But she battled her way down, getting scratched up pretty nicely and being rather pissed off by the time she got back to me. Nothing a cold beer couldn't fix, though!

She started the next morning with a Yoga session on the beach and then got ready for her dives. Well, what can I say, she wasn't exactly euphoric when she got back. There were some fish, yes, and some sea grass. And rocks. Oh, and a crab, too. A small one.

But it was nice to get out on a boat, be underwater, blow some bubbles. And she was happy to know that she hadn't lost any skills in the last couple of years.

After lunch we drove on for an hour to Roquetas de Mar. We parked right on the beach again, just not alone this time. There were quite some campers parked here, even a couple of German ones. The more South we get, the more Germans we meet. The beach here is very wide and super long. In the afternoon my human went for a bike ride and the beach just wouldn't stop.

On the way back she drove through the city, which consisted of one hotel next to the other, karaoke bars, restaurants and shopping malls. From the beach side she had already had a glimpse into some of the hotels and their pool areas, full of children and animation staff. One of those places.

The night was relatively quiet, though and in the morning she went for a nice run along the promenade, watching the sun rise out of the ocean. Not too long ago is was bright daylight by six, now the sun doesn't rise till 8 o´clock!