Walking in Andalucia

We are walking in the Andalucian reserve of Cabo de Gato park with friends. The trip has been meticulously planned and started, last night, at Gatwick. Today’s flight was an early one and we didn’t trust Thameslink trains or the M25 to get us there on time.

Up before 5, our luggage checked by 5:15 and on the plane by 7. Everything was running smoothly until the pilot announced our take off slot had been delayed by a French Air Traffic Control strike! That gave fellow passengers the opportunity to mess up the schedule even further. The first was an elderly gentleman who felt faint. A paramedic arrived and it was agreed he needed to leave the flight. While we waited for an ambulance, another passenger was discovered to be so drunk he couldn’t be woken! Quite how it’s possible to get that drunk that early is beyond us!

Passengers were removed, safety checks carried out and we were off…. or not as it turned out. We taxied back to the terminal -the luggage door was showing a fault. Finally, 4 hours later than scheduled, we left the ground accompanied by applause and cheers from fellow passengers.

We flew South West over Normandy and the Pyrenees and as Almeria approached we were greeted by the Greenhouse Revolution. It is the largest number of Greenhouses in the world, in reality thousands of plastic greenhouses, which grow most of the fruit and vegetables eaten in the UK. It’s a huge contributor to the local economy but with significant environmental costs.

Our approach to Almeria airport was accompanied by more cheers and the Captain announced how emotional he was at the thought of us leaving. We had been together for such a long time.

We headed into the Almeria Miracle which is a tiny corner of Almeria preserved from development by Francisca Diaz Torres who refused to sell her family estate to commercial pressures. It became the Cabo de Gata National Park where we will be walking for the next few days.

Our hotel is unusual to say the least, located five minutes outside Rodalquilar, with glorious views.

And the ‘rooms’ are quirky, set inside what look like Nissen huts.

We wandered into town and found an open bar. Run by a motorcycle enthusiast, the beer was good and music even better

Finally, after a very long day, we dined out at a local restaurant where we sampled grilled artichokes, beef cheeks and rosemary smoked cheese.