The drive into Spain was just perfect, we enjoyed sunshine all the way and the heavy rain of Portugal was forgotten. We stopped to refuel and have lunch, a lukewarm dish of slow cooked pork ribs and chips, equally cool.
Full marks to Mr Garmin who I have cursed so many times in the past as he didn’t seem to understand foreign addresses. The new 2010 camp site books now include lat long coordinates, I enter these instead of the address and post code, and hey presto, like magic Mr Garmin behaves impeccably.
All the grid roads in El Rocio are sand!
We arrived at La Aldea camp site who charge 22 Euros/night. Thank goodness we have membership to ACSI as the price dropped to 15 Euros/night. Their membership is widely accepted throughout Spain and Portugal, on the other hand, being members to “Camping Cheque” discount scheme, whilst great for France is not so good in Spain and even less so in Portugal. (only 7 sites in the whole country).
La Aldea is a level site with good facilities. We settled on a pitch and the next day I assembled the Safari/carpets/BBQ/tables and chairs/ uncle tom cobley and all! We mean business here as we shall stay at least 10 days.
Like the site in Portugal this site is also quite busy, lots of English who appreciate being 10/15’ warmer than being at home, rain or no rain, however it’s not warm enough for Mary.
So far the weather is mixed, Wednesday was a cool day Ideal for the big shop and lunch out. The best super market is 15 miles away at La Palma Del Condado. We decided against eating in the super market restaurant as the staff were smoking, yes, I did point out why we were leaving, like the UK, smoking is prohibited in restaurants, one lady was smoking as she prepared food. Yuk. The place stunk like an old fashioned English pub. We left our trolley with the checkout explaining we would finish our shopping after lunch. We found a restaurant a 100 yard away,we ordered chicken soup, (clear chicken stock with chopped hard boiled egg, rice and croutons) The waitress then pored a little Tia Pepe Sherry into the soup. The combination turned out to be very palatable. A 10 oz entrecote steak followed, which was by far the best we have ever eaten. We paid 55 Euros which included coffee, expensive, but no regrets. The next day was bright sunshine, but still cool, we drove to the town El Rocio, only 1/2 a mile away. What a surprise to find a large town without a single tarmac road, they were all sand, ideal for horses, most properties had hitching rails, more important than car parks here.
Some cars did brave the roads, we included, but it’s not for the faint hearted, pot holes are the norm and were invariably full of water, you didn’t know how deep they were until it was too late.
We decided to park up and walk/wade.
This is the best mode of transport if you must have wheels, but 4 legs are preferred.
Of course it’s not all horses and pot holes there are other interests for the refined!
Not forgetting a first rate junk shop.
The Church has a huge alter highly decorated with gold leaf. We were not allowed to take photos, however, I had taken one before I read the notice, the picture does not do justice to the detailed images which are truly magnificent.
Later that day we drove to a national park near El Rocio, where they are trying to breed Lynx, the strain of which are all but extinct, only 16 pair left. In the reception area they monitor live video of the cats who were sleeping in the sun, not very exciting to watch I’m afraid, but then you can’t help admiring the patience of the people who take on this dedicated work. How they know where to place the cameras is a mystery. The Lynx certainly have the room to succeed as the area of woodland is immense joining up with another area known as Parque Dunar.
The landscape of trees has taken over thousands of square kilometres of sand dunes. The trees (Pino) are peculiar in that they have no lower branches, you might think it’s because animals have eaten the lower branches, apparently not so!
, 
Azure Magpies were in abundance, but not as tame as the ones we saw in Palencia last year. Look for a high building or post and you will see a storks nest, but rarely will you see the stork.
The largest town in the area is Huelva, we decided to drive though on the way back to our site. This meant a round trip of 85 Km. We thought we would see what the area had to offer. Not much I’m afraid as Huelva spreads it’s industrial tentacles well beyond it’s boundaries. Once we left the holiday town of Mazagon on the coast with it’s marina, which incidentally also marked the end of the forest area, we hit the beginning of the oil refineries and all the back up industry that it requires.
We drive for half an hour with these images as far as we can see.
Huelva itself consisted of a huge array of high-rise flats that provides accommodation for the massive work force required to feed the Port and it’s petroleum industry. We now know what the area has to offer, or do we? There are other tributaries into the estuary, who knows what they may offer?
Wow it’s Sunday again! Tomorrow I will start packing up to leave for Seville Tuesday.
