Cabo de Gata

On Monday we headed back to the coast towards Almeria and on to the Cabo de Gata. As we turned East we had the Alpujarras to our left and the sea to our right. Some development has taken place here but vegetable growing is the main occupation and there are acres, mile after mile after mile of plastic covered growing sheds. After Almeria we turned onto the Cabo de Gata peninsular and headed for Las Negras, a small village on the coast. The scenery here is arid and is supposedly one of the driest places in Europe. It was the setting for the spaghetti westerns of the 70’s. John had always thought that these had been made in Italy but evidently the “spaghetti” in the title comes for the fact that the director was Italian. As we drove along we could imagine Clint riding over the very next bluff! De da, dum de da, dum de da, da da da!

At Las Negras, which is at the very end of the road East, we camped next to the beach and the weather was set fair for a few days sunning ourselves. The water was not warm but warm enough to allow a dip and sand was not white but soft enough.

Tuesday was a little cloudy and so we decided to make the two hour hike to the next bay along the coastal path. The scenery was spectacular and the hills and valleys covered with a multitude of flowers. This bay can only be reached by foot and has a ruined castle and abandoned hamlet that has been taken over by hippies. Sure enough there were a number of buildings that were being used by youngsters looking for the simple life and plenty of tents in the undergrowth of the valley that led down to a beautiful sandy beach in a bay surrounded by high cliffs. We found a small cove at one end and spent a pleasant few hours reading, sunning and swimming before returning to Las Negras along the cliff path.

The following day we decided to explore the coast to the West and again found ourselves on a quiet sandy beach. We are still travelling out of season and we are sure that in July and August these places become crowded but the lack of roads and decent transport means that walking the coastal path will still mean that you can find a quiet spot.

We have enjoyed our short time here in this relatively undiscovered and unspoilt part of the coast and hope to return for more of the hippie lifestyle at some time in the future – solid gone man!!!!!!!!!!!