Calpe - Grazalema

Wednesday 24 October

We spent the day in Grazalema sitting in a bar taking advantage of the free WiFi and drinking beer. We also visited the local artisan textile and leather makers including a small factory that made beautiful woollen blankets.


Tuesday 23 October

We have still not got used to how dark it is in the mornings, we generally wake up at 7 - 7.30 and it doesn’t get light until around 8.15. This morning was particularly dark as the sun rose behind a large mountain to our East. We set off at 09.30 and drove the 1km to a power wash in Olivera. For €1.50 we had the lance with hot soapy water which lasts for a good 10mins. It was very rewarding to give Campy’s wheels and wheel arches a good blast off. We then set off to our target for the day of Ronda.

The drive was about an hour and over beautiful mountainous terrain. We arrived at 10.50.
Ronda was bigger than we had anticipated and much busier. The streets are narrow and street parking is the norm. After going round in circles a few times we found a fantastic car park that was gated and had 24 hour security cover (and toilets). We left Campy safe in the knowledge that she would be there when we came back.

Ronda is famous for many things - one of them is that it was the birthplace of modern bullfighting and also the new 18th century Ronda bridge that spans the deep El Tajo gorge that splits the town in two. It spans a 100m chasm below and has unparalleled views over the Serrania de Ronda mountains. 

We walked through the park which opens up to magnificent vistas coming out at the bullring, Plaza de Toros. From here we walked to the bridge, took several photos of the bridge and views as did copious amounts of tourists and a very loud party of Spanish school kids. It is very difficult to get the classic photo of the bridge without climbing a zig-zag and (as the sign says, dangerous) path down deep into the valley. 

We wandered down the narrow cobbled streets looking at shops, houses, museums and many churches. Ronda is one of the many white villages in this area, precariously built on the sides of mountains and very picturesque. In this old quarter we found a small Tapas bar and sat outside on the terrace which overlooked the village and surrounding mountains. We sat in the shade enjoying a large platter of salad, a plate of marinaded and sizzling hot meats with a basket of bread. All swilled down with 2 bottles of cold beer and a couple of expressos. A very filling lunch and not bad for €20.

After lunch we meandered along the main shopping streets and went into some very interesting shops selling everything - hats, knives, gloves; everything a tourist could wish for. We came away with a new bottle opener. Result! Everywhere then stopped for the siesta and we thought this would be a good time to leave and find somewhere to stay tonight. 

We drove to Grazalema, another of the white villages. The drive involved a 16km stretch of single lane, winding road, with hundreds of blind bends through craggy mountains. We took our time and enjoyed the drive. This village is small but very picturesque. It’s over 800m high up with a Plaza in the centre lined with bars and restaurants. The cottage industry here is producing woolen blankets, rugs, ponchos and scarves from the sheep who graze the lush mountain pastures (hint - it’s a wet climate) but thankfully not today. 

We spent the night on a campsite at the top of the village with wonderful views.

Monday 22 October

It was with great relief that we woke at 7am and found our wheels still on the van, we had prepared Campy ready to go the previous evening so within half an hour we were on the road and it was still dark. In discussions the previous evening we decided that we had had enough of the Costa’s and the coastal route. We agreed that we were wanted to make our way inland to do some sightseeing near to what would be our winter home base. Our destination for today was an Aire at Olvera 10km north of Ronda. 

The route we had decided to take took us through the Sierra Nevada, a huge mountain range. We climbed continuously for a couple of hours. until we were in the clouds and the tops of the mountains were covered in snow. The landscape was ever changing, one minute multicoloured rock, the next weatherworn sandstone. Sometimes barren of vegetation, sometimes quite lush. Throughout the journey there was very little traffic on the road and on several occasions there was nothing in front and nothing behind. By the time we reached Guadix Campy needed refueling and we went into a Repsol garage along with some truckers. A very nice lady came out and served us to our fuel. (We cannot remember when we were last served fuel). Finally, much to our relief, we started our descent. A relief as the fuel consumption had taken a hit. We skirted past Granada. It was about this point it dawned on us that the Spanish don’t do anything by halves. we have already mentioned the polytunnels. It was now the turn of the wind turbines, solar panel farms and olive trees. All of which were done on a massive scale. Particularly the olive trees which covered the undulating trees in perfect symmetry for mile after mile after mile. 

It would appear once the Spanish have hit on a good idea they push it to the limit - it makes good economic sense but does nothing for the view. 

We were approaching Loja on the motorway when Kevin came off the motorway as he had spotted a caravan sales area. We had been looking for a supplier of Camping Gaz for a few days but it is not available from garages. A very kind man there said that although he did not sell it his colleague would take us to the place where w could get some. 10 mins later we had a full bottle of Gaz exchanged for the empty at a cost of €14. (£11.20 - in the UK the same bottle would cost £25)

By lunchtime we had arrived at our destination, Olvera and made our way to the Aire, which we decided not fit for purpose. We then booked ourselves into the local campsite for €16 .

It was very hot on the site but we had a spectacular view. Probably the best view we have ever had from a campsite. Great showers etc. The only drawback was lots of flies. 

Sunday 21 October

Thankfully the weather had changed when we got up and the campsite looked a much brighter place. Inspired and feeling refreshed, we decided that we would take a walk up to the village of Mojocar. The walk up to the village is of course steep and we had no idea what to expect when we got there. As we neared the village the streets got narrower to the point where it would be impossible for a vehicle to enter and the climb continued until eventually we reached a point where we didn’t know which way to go. A very nice local English lady showed us the way and we all puffed and panted our way up the hill.

We eventually found ourselves in the centre of the village which had a contemporary feel about it even thought he outskirts were clearly old. The white painted walls and the morning light made it feel fresh and cool and a delight to be in.  

After  a short conversation with 2 English couples we started looking around the back streets of the village. We discovered a labyrinth of back streets and stairways leading to delightful flower-strewn passages to houses and shops. We saw a delightful Pharmacy which was bedecked in a trailing and flowering tree. Thought of Josie. We also poked our heads into a courtyard restaurant which had the most stunning views across the valley below.

Mojocar is one of those places that you could easily find yourself living in. A pure delight to walk round and a feast for the eye to see. By now it was approaching lunchtime and we made our way back to the campsite and headed off towards our next destination. 

5 km down the road along the coast Kev suddenly realised that he had left his Crocs under the van when we left the campsite. A very short debate followed and we were then on our way back. Sure enough when we arrived back at the site there they were with a nice tyre mark over each one but nevertheless unscathed after their ordeal. 

Setting off for a second time along a now familiar route, we left the coast behind us and were taken up into a very steep and windy road. We steadily climbed very quickly up the Sierra Alhamilla to what seemed an enormous height and the drops at the side of the road were very sheer. It took a lot of concentration to drive and a lot of gear changing. 

The destination for the day was La Isleta which is situated in the Sierra do Cabo de Gata, part of Europe's on desert. As we came down from the mountains we were advised that there was a huge white hotel that had been built without planning permission. We saw the hotel and couldn’t believe the size of it (see photo). This area is designated a National Park so how they got this far in the build is unknown. Traveling this route we have come across several oddities which took us by surprise, for example, imagine driving through the Welsh mountains, all craggy and slate like and then turning a corner and seeing lush green grass golf course  snaking it’s way up a valley with a terra cotta urbanisation slapped onto the landscape. It seems so out of place and totally inappropriate for the natural beauty of the area. What’s more these places appear to be unused. 

We came into a huge valley which was completely covered in polythene greenhouses; the scale was simply enormous. Try to imagine a valley at least 15 miles across stretching as far as the eye can see, glistening and reflecting white. We drove across the valley to get to La Islata, a small town with a beach and we recognized it from the photo in the Camperstop book as being a possible free place to stop the night. Unfortunately we were the only camper there and so not safe to stop the night . e decided to move onto to Cabo de Gata. This area is know for the filming of Spaghetti Westerns and it is easy to see why. The landscape is arid scrubland. We passed through one town and caught the eye of every person hanging around at the side of the road. We would not stop in this town. Finally we arrived at Cabo de Gata and almost immediately fell upon our fellow wild campers who were all parked up facing the Med with the wind blowing hard and the sea quite rough. 

We were grateful to find somewhere to stay the night and we had fellow campers with us. some were only there for the day and a sit got dark they headed off but 7 of us remained. It was not a comfortable night as we both felt a bit nervous as this was our first wild camp and seeing the locals on the way in had unnerved us slightly. It is too easy to become paranoid when free camping. Anyway once the curtains were shut we were in bed by 9pm as usual but had a restless night’s sleep. We could hear the waves breaking on the shore but no other untoward noise at all. 

Saturday 20 October

What a day......We were awake at 8.10am but quite frankly all the worse for a poor nights sleep. Not sure if it was the copious amount of wine or the anticipation of the journey ahead. We didn’t rush as we weren't going far about 150 km to a place called La Marina.

The weather was foul, pouring with rain, but undeterred we paid our dues to the campsite and set off having said our goodbyes to Trevor at 10am. We set off in the direction of Calpe and stopped at a Garage to see if we could get a replacement bottle of Campingaz. We couldn’t. The climb out of Calpe is steep and the volume of water coming down the hill was impressive. We drove slowly and made our way to the safety of the open road.

The road continued to climb and became increasingly twisty, we were following a yellow VW van like ours and at one right hand blind bend we heard a bang and the van in front came to a sudden stop. Luckily, Kevin was keeping a safe distance and also managed to stop but, in the mirror the vehicle behind struggle to control his car. In the nick of time he managed to pull up short of our bumper. Looking forward it was clear that there had been quite a bang involving 3 cars, one a BMW which was in the ditch and the other two cars, an old red Fiesta and another small white hatchback had hit head on. All the people in the cars were ok but looked very shocked and you could see they were confused. The owners of the white car were an elderly couple and he had a cut to his head. The lady bless her was just wondering around in a daze.

In no time at all people were out of their cars and a man took control. The casualties were taken to one side and before we knew it a group of men were at the car blocking the carriageway and pushed it away to allow free flow of the traffic. We were amazed by this as we would never think of moving the wreckage of such a serious accident until the police had been to do their investigations and taken photos etc. We stayed in the van as we thought we would only confuse matters to have two brits wondering around and besides it was all under control. We were waved through and carried on with our journey, a little shocked but grateful we were not two cars up the flow of traffic.

La Marina arrived soon enough and we started to look for a place to camp for free. There were some isolated vans on a beach but didn’t feel comfortable so we moved on. We then drove into the hills between Murcia and Cartagena, we were on new dual carriageways and the driving was nice and relaxing as we ate up the km.

In front of us appeared a new range of mountains called the Sierra De Almenara these are quite impressive and reminded us of Wales and the slate hills. They are very jagged and course and made up of slabs of rock. How the Spanish smashed a road through these hills is beyond us, you could see the old road which snaked the route before as it criss crossed the new road. The men who built the road are remembered with one of their tarmac steam rollers put on a pedestal. 

Dropping down from the De Los Filabres mountains to the plains at the bottom towards the coastal area of Punta Del Rio it was clear that there had been serious flooding. Although the region was now dry the remains of the devastation was absolutely clear to see. all of the fields were washed away. and now cracked from where they had dried out. Sides of roads had been eroded and we could see that houses hadn’t escaped. Everything was covered with the same colour silt that the river had deposited on it’s retreat. As we ventured down matters got worse and we crossed the Rio Almanzora by the coast where a bridge had been totally washed away and we drove down and up the bed of the river. It was at this same point that the concrete turnpike began which finally washes out to sea. Incredibly the force of the water had ripped huge pieces of concrete from where they were placed undermining the ground behind them. We carried on only to pass over the river again and looking up the turnpike we could see deposited silt rippling like giant sand dunes. These were interspersed with uprooted trees and all manner of debris. 

It was quite shocking to see and showed us the enormous power of the waters coming from the mountain and we could not help but think of the Tsunami devastation. We went through Puerto Rey, a very unattractive modern metropolis of apartment blocks and villas all painted in very bright colours interspersed with blocks of monotone terracotta. This town had not escaped the ravages or the flood and we crossed the path of the flow which had swept away everything in its path, racing through peoples’ homes. Piled up at the side of the road were peoples’ possessions waiting to be removed. 

We tried a number of places for campsites all to no avail, by now we had done over 300km and been driving for 5.30hrs excluding lunch so we were getting tired. The Camperstop book gave us a site in a small town called Mojacar. For some reason the coordinates in the book are always wrong and put up some 50km to the east of our supposed destination so we put into the GPS the centre of the town and thought we work it out when we arrive. Unfortunately, we forgot we had done this and as we approached the town it was clear that things were not going well for us. The road got steeper and narrower until we arrived smack in the town centre looking at dead ends all around and cars parked everywhere. In the end we had to turn the van around by reversing it up a very narrow street and retrace our way out. It was at this point we decided we had had enough and on the way out Kev saw some camper vans on a campsite. Within 2min we were on the site, tired but relieved to be off the road and tucking into a welcome bottle of Lidl’s best lager.

Friday 19 October

Today saw a change in the weather, It started at dusk last night with a huge dark cloud coming from the direction of the rock. It had a funny colour a sort of red, dark, menacing and foreboding. As it happened it didn’t rain in the night but the cloud had deposited a lovely red dust over all the vans including poor Campy.

The weather hadn’t got any better by morning and it now looked like the heavens were about to open but unfortunately, it never did. It did try all day and we did try to visit the old part of Calpe but we were beaten back by a sudden bout of large spots of rain. Kevin decided as it was already raining it couldn’t hurt to wash the van. He even cleaned the wheel arches, a job he had been putting off for a week. She did look very smart by the time he had finished and strangely this sort of thing is contagious as several others were seen with their cleaning gear giving their pride and joy’s the once over.

in the morning we met Trevor and he invited us to take a look at his motorhome. He has a huge Frankia with a garage at the back big enough to put his Triumph motorbike in. As you can imagine the motorhome has all the luxuries you can imagine and we thought it was great.

At 5.30pm Trevor came over to see us and we were just settling in to the white wine outside Campy when it started to rain. We all picked up our chairs and made our way over to his super motorhome. Trevor unrolled the awning and we were made for the night. This sort of thing has happened to us on a number of occasions now and we love it. Fresh bread, oil and vinegar dips, nuts, crisps and well, anything we can get hold of really and we talk the night away. The white gave way to the rose and in turn it gave way to a full blooded tinto reserve.

We were all chatting away when an enormous camper arrived, the owner was a Brit and was towing the biggest motorbike I have ever seen, Think, the rear of a Honda Goldwing, the middle and front end of a huge skidoo and three wheels, two at the front and one at the back. This was a mega machine and the owner was justly proud of it. Apparently it cost £24,000.....we helped him to unhitch the trailer, as the ground is a very fine gravel the weight of the trailer made the jockey wheel sink into it and as we turned the monster the tyre popped off. The owner was a really nice man who had driven all the way from Malaga that morning and once settled he came over and gave us a can of Fosters each. Totally unnecessary but a kind gesture.

We stumbled into bed at 10.30pm very merry but rewarded by the good company and interesting evening.

Thursday 18 October

What a corking day we had today! When we woke up we were a little concerned as it was a cloudy morning and the sun was barely breaking through. We had debated whether to move on and discussed it during the night but decided that as we like it here in Calp and if you stay on the site for 4 nights or more there is a reduced tariff so we thought we may as well take advantage. If we stay four days, the 4th day would only cost €4. The problem is the weather is about to change - Kevin had cleaned the van and that usually means rain.

We wandered down into Calp still hunting for the elusive beach mats, some flip flops and a beard trimmer for Kev. Both of us were in desperate need of a haircut and have been looking for a hairdresser for the last couple of days. Today we managed to find one - Pierre Phillipe, stylist. A mediterranean tanned, dark haired gentleman with the same mannerisms as you would find in most hairdressers around the world. He was a very nice chap indeed and we asked if he could fit us in and to our surprise he could, within and hour we were both duly cut and styled and very pleased with the results. €42 for us both we left very happy with our new haircuts. Strangely looking blonder than when we went in.

We walked down to the beach and headed towards the harbour it was now around lunchtime. We stopped to sit on the sea side wall and admire the views out of the blue a lady offered to take our photo together, at the same time the party of 4 that she was with started chatting to us about local restaurants. They advised us of a very good Chinese restaurant near the harbour. Hungry we set off in search. We walked along the seafront and turned left under a bridge and sure enough there it was. 

We had been warned about the waitress but were slightly taken aback by her officious demeanor. Clearly either this person was not happy to be at work or enjoyed shocking people. We decided to sit outside which was undercover, each table had 4 chairs but stacked in pairs. To be helpful we decided to separate the chairs at our table only to be told ‘NO TWO’ so we stacked them again and sat down immediately understanding why. Either the table was too high for the chairs or the chairs were too low for the table. 

Sorted, we were given menus as you would expect but we had been advised by the people on the seafront to go for the menu of the day. This includes a three course meal and a bottle of wine and after-luncheon liqueurs. However, we were quite hot from the walk and asked the waitress for 2 bottles of San Miguel as a thirst quencher. She then took our food order and we opted for the white wine. 

Our officious friend disappeared with our order and immediately returned with the chicken noodle soup plonking it on the table (spilling some in Petra’s saucer) and the wine. No sign of the San Miguel but as the wine was very good and really cold we didn’t worry. Kev had beef, bamboo shoots and mushroom. Petra had chicken with almonds, both with fried rice. We both had ice cream for desert. The food was excellent.

It was extremely hot today, in excess of 30 degrees. Whilst waiting for our deserts a German couple arrived and sat not far from us. After a few minutes they complained about it being too cold and moved to a table inside the restaurant!

Anyway, when we had finished we asked for the bill and it arrived with a choice of 3 spirits. Cognac, Peach Schnapps and a mystery bottle of Chinese stuff. Petra opted for the safe Schnapps and Kevin braved the Chinese stuff. Two amazing events then ensued. Firstly the waitress left us with the bottles to help ourselves (we liked her now) and secondly was the cost of the meal. An extraordinary €12 all in. 

It is our view that you could become a serious alcoholic in Calp. The alcohol flows thick and fast and costs next to nothing. There are huge amount of Brits that live and winter in Calp and it must be very easy to be swept along with the cheap lifestyle.

After lunch we stumbled back to Campy and slept off the wine and Chinese stuff. 

Following dinner we were joined by Trevor for a few drinks. He is a Scot traveling and following the Moto GP. He is joined occasionally by his wife when she gets time off work. A lovely evening exchanging our life experiences.