Day 36: Almeria to San Jose

March 25, 2025

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Having the car for these few days has certainly been a boon, but it has also been a bug. Last night the thing was parked in the hotel's slightly distant parkade, and it was my job to retrieve it and bring it in front where we could load our bags. The car was on the fourth floor of the structure. I backed it out of its spot and continued in the direction I had come to originally park it. But it turned out the narrow ramps I had followed to reach the fourth were it. There was no down ramp! So when I reached the dead end at the very top, I had to back it around, and descend, hoping not to meet someone coming up. As the ramp wound its way down, the turns were quite tight. I had to stop and reverse twice, to be sure not to wrap the car around the concrete. By the time I reached the street, my pulse was racing! But I was then quite proud to take the correct turns and to wind up with John Lennon, and Dodie at the hotel.

Dodie was quite confident that with her GPS she could get us out of town, though for that we would need to avoid turning onto one way streets or pedestrian only walk ways. We set off, but after a bit were back with John Lennon! We tried again, twice running into trucks that had just stopped in the narrow street, and put their flashers on. In principle we could have squeezed by. Europeans would have, but we waited for the trucks to clear off.

Our actual track for getting out of Almeria does not look too bad, I guess:

When we reached the waterfront, we pulled into some parking, to breathe a bit. Here then was the bikeway, the one we would have so easily been on had we stuck with the bikes. Not complaining, you understand!

This might have been our bikeway for the rest of today.

The beach here is beautiful, and the landscape flat.

We were excited today, because between us and our hotel at San Jose lay the Cabo de Gata salinas and bird reserve. This consisted of a long lake, just in from the sea, with a road down its seaward side, boasting several bird watching hides.

We arrived at the first blind, at the beginning of the lake, where there is the sign below, announcing the Salinas, and teasing us with all the birds and creatures we are supposed to see. While in fact we did see ten species today (here and at San Jose) it was not like the poster depicted, since it never is.

Perhaps it is the wrong season for a lot of these species.

What we saw from the blind, and from the other blinds, were distant scattered Flamingos, and yes, some Avocets, Stilts, Terns, Gulls, and Godwits. Normally it would be a thrill to photograph even these, but all were so distant that while the camera could make the id, there were no great clear shots.

A Black-winged Stilt trying to increase the distance from us.

The hides were each just a few minutes' walk from the road, and would have been great had there been really a lot to hide from!

This is not a hide, but a fort looking to the sea, maybe to spot pirates.

This little church can be seen from all over the area.

The general appearance of the land here.

It is dry Mediterranean scrub, fragrant to walk on.

We did get close enough to make a photo of this lizard.

This photo puts the goatherds, goats, fort, and town of Cabo de Gata in context.

One blind further teased us with these birds we mostly did not see.

As we could already sense from our stop along the beach at Almeria, we are in a new ecosystem here, with flat beach walks, palm trees, and weather that has turned quite warm. The weather part is so great now that I might dispense with the tights, maybe!

Here is our street in the beach town of San Jose. It's like we are on vacation.

San Jose marks the beginning of the "sugar cube" housing style. Tomorrow we will be staying in one of them.

These beach front houses are quite nice.

Up on the hill of white houses, the architecture is unique.

We walked out to the beach, and found a few people lying on the sand, and one braver one in the water. Swimming would have been feasible for me, marking a change from when I needed hand warmers to survive, under a month ago.

Our walk did turn up a few birds, though I looked in vain for parakeets in the palms.

A Jackdaw that we hoped might be a crow. Surprisingly a crow would be new for this year.

In season, this is a crowded tourist town, and so there are many restaurants lining the beach front. We chatted with a waiter in front of one. He was born in Morocco, though his mother was French. The chance to meet such "exotic" people is still a thrill on these trips.

There is a Spar grocery right across from our little hotel, and that is too great an allure for us to go to the Moroccan's restaurant. For seven euros we bought bread, cheese, pastries, flan, and mandarins. That's quite remarkable, and we will be fine for food until tomorrow afternoon.

The terrain and weather will remain gentle tomorrow, as we shift to Agua Amarga. After that, we remember the steep cliffs. But the Batmobile absolutely does not care about that!

Today's ride: 4 km (2 miles)
Total: 1,063 km (660 miles)

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