Planning for Morocco and visiting the Alcázar of Niebla

So, in 3 days time I fly back to the UK and then on to Los Angeles with my two brothers to spend a week with my sister.  When I return to Punta Umbría and recover from my jet lag (which I really don't want to think about!) we will be starting our trip proper.  We will move on through Seville, Jerez, Cadiz, into Gibraltar and then a ferry across to Morocco.

We haven't done a great deal of planning for our year away, other than setting a weekly budget and devising a spreadsheet to keep account of what we spend on food, fuel, campsites, etc.  That way (fingers crossed) we won't run out of money before the end of the tour!  We have a rough idea of the route around Europe that we want to take, but the main plan is to go where the mood takes us, and stay in that place as long as we want to.  However, Morocco is a country we have never visited before with very difficult cultures and we want to find out as much as we can before we go there next month.

It is a big country, and we’ve only got a Green Card and insurance for 6 weeks, and we want to do it at a leisurely pace, so planning is key.   So, armed with a map of Morocco, our laptop and tablet, and of course a strong cup of tea the planning begins!

Four years ago, when we bought our first motorhome and dreamed of giving up work and travelling around Europe, Scandinavia and beyond.  It was then that we started following a blog called ‘Europe by Camper’, written by a young couple Sophie and Adam, who started travelling and blogging in 2008 and have travelled through over 20 countries.  They have a lot of useful and helpful information on their blog that we have been able to use, especially on Morocco.  Another blog we have been looking at – ‘Our Tour’  is written by a couple in their 40’s who have been travelling and blogging for about 4 years, and again we have managed to glean a lot of info on Morocco. 

Planning almost done, we had a drive up to the Niebla, a village just outside Huelva enclosed in the remains of its old castle walls and overlooking the Rio Tinto.  The Alcazar (Moorish castle) was built early 15^th century. 

One of the entrances into the old town of Niebla

Also within the city walls is the church of Santa Maria de la Granada, an old Byzantine cathedral that was turned into an Arab mosque, only to be transformed into a Gothic-Mudejar Christian church in the 16^th century.

And, San Martin church,that was built over a western mosque and only the rear façade remains.

The remains of San Martin Church

Then a walk around La Palma del Condado, the next town to Niebla. Plenty of storks nesting in the tops of the Iglesia del Valle.

Iglesia del Valle (built in the 15th century

Sally x

The rain in Spain… and beach life!

“The rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain” (as the musical My Fair Lady goes) and there's a lot of it in Punta Umbría at the moment! It’s predicted to last for a few of days.

We're experiencing the cold and wet weather that has been making its way across Europe – it was inevitable that it would catch up with us!  Well when I say cold, it is still between 12° to 14° and forecast to be back up to 19°/ 20° early next week, so it's not all doom and gloom!  It’s hard to believe that a couple of days ago we were walking along the beach and paddling in the Atlantic Ocean.

And making silly patterns in the sun.  We may be retired but we haven’t grown up quite yet!

Most days we have a brisk walk along the beach to Playa La Bota and to a little beach café to people watch and have a coffee, beer or wine, depending on the time of day or how the mood takes us!

The view one way looks towards Ayamonte and across to Portugal. Most days you find fisherman down here looking for a catch.

There are always a couple of motorhomes parked up as well, usually French, German and Spanish, and even spotted a Brit the other day so had a quick chat with him.  He was out on his own just touring for a couple of months.  You're not supposed to camp over night here but the police don't bother during the winter months and there is access to fresh water.  By the look of this French one, they had stopped a while to wash 'their smalls' and grow a few herbs.  Anybody's guess what they are!

Walking back the other way takes us down to the sea wall – where lots of stray cats congregate. They all look healthy enough and there is evidence that people come down and feed them.

The waves are often quite wild down by the sea wall.  Mel just manged to avoid a soaking!

Then its round to the port. It's about an 8 mile round trip, and keeps us fit!  I'm not saying we do that much everyday though!

Not a lot to do when it rains here, so we spent this morning in the spa at the local hotel  - The Barceló.  Enjoying the pool, sauna and jacuzzi.

The roads and streets are like a ghost town when it rains here, all the Spanish stay inside. Not like the daft English, out in all weather!

Sally x

Picturesque Alte and border town, Vila Real de Santa António

Sonny (the motorhome) is parked up for our last day/night in Portugal on an aire at Vila Real de Santa António (N37°11’57.1”, W7°24’54.5”) looking east towards Spain and south towards Morocco.

We left Silves and headed for Alte and took the winding and scenic N124 road that traverses the Algarve without passing a single beach resort.  The roads in Portugal along the Algarve are bad so we were a bit apprehensive about what this mountain road would be like, but we needn't have worried as the road was perfect.  Alte is a pretty village nestled into the hillside with local springs – Fonte Pequena and Fonte Grande, where there is a rocky pool, old mill and a little stream running through where the local wildlife like to gather. 

The white-washed houses all have unique hand carved chimneys, that adds to its charm.

The bronze statue of Jose Cavaco Vieira is at the entrance to the village, he helped Alte maintain its Portuguese village look and make it the beautiful town it is.

Mel making friends with Jose Cavaco Vieira

Mel couldn’t resist an opportunity to take us for a scooter ride around the narrow, windy roads up here. 

Around the winding mountain roads near to Alte

We came across a lemon grove, which made a change from all the orange ones we have seen.

Unfortunately, there wasn’t anywhere to stop the night around Alte, so we dropped back down to the campsite at Moncarapacho (N37°11’57.1”, W7°24’54.5”), where we had stayed earlier on in our Portugal trip.

Back along the Algarve beach road it’s potholes all the way until we get to Vila Real de Santa António.   A short walk along the riverfront takes you to the central square, surrounded by orange trees and white buildings. 

You can get a ferry from the river front across to Ayamonte, Spain.  You can see the splash of white in the distance!

Ferry coming across from Ayamonte and down on the riverfront

Just a couple of kms down the road between Vila Real de Santa António and Monte Gordo is a mile long narrow bumpy road going out into the sea, looking south-east to Cadiz, Spain and Morocco, way, way in the distance.  There were a few motorhomers wild camping down here (Brits, Swiss and of course the French!).  A great spot to watch the sun go down.

A short scooter ride took us to Monte Gordo, where we sat a while at a beach café watching the fisherman prepare their nets for the next day and enjoy a nice cold beer.

To round off our Portugal trip we treated ourselves to a night out at a 'Di Vino' in Vila Real.  A lovely, intimate restaurant that only had 6 tables and was run by a friendly Portuguese couple, who spoke perfect English! I had Bacalhau à Bras, a famous Portuguese dish made with salt cod, potatoes and eggs (yummy!) and Mel had steak that you cooked how you liked it on a hot stone by slicing pieces off it as it cooked.

We have had a great few days in Portugal (another sticker added to our map) and will definitely be back again next year to explore the northern area and western coast.

Sally x

Historical towns of Lagos and Silves

After a bit of rain through the night it was great to wake up to sunshine again and another unusual looking motorhome parked nearby to us.  This time a German custom built off-roader, something you expect to see on the Paris to Dakar rally!! Must be planning to do some off-roading on the sand dunes!

A further 30kms west took us to Lagos.  This is a far west as we have planned to travel down the Algarve before heading inland to mountain country.  The old town and river front are really attractive and the beach has some more of the unique rock formation and coves similar to Alvor.

Next to the small sandy beach and guarding the harbour is the remains of the Forte Ponta de Bandeira.

A short stroll further round took us through the ancient city walls and up to the old town. 

Then through the cobbled streets to the market that is built on 3 floors.  A fresh fish market on the bottom, fruit and artisan products on the second and a terrace café and view point on the top.

View of the harbour and river front from the market terrace

From here we headed north to the mountains and tried to get on an aire at Caldas de Monchique, unfortunately it was full and with there not being anywhere else nearby we headed slightly east to Silves, known as the historic Moorish capital of the Algarve.   We had a nice walk along the river, around the cobbled streets and a quick walk up to the castle.

They have a couple of aires in the town, but are all full, so like a lot of motorhomers we are wild camping again just on the edge of the town outside the Aire  Park Do Rio Silves. We decided to eat out tonight and went to Café Inglês, next to the castle. We had a really nice meal and a great night listening to a live jazz.

Café Inglês

Roast duck with red fruits sauce for Mel and Tuna steak with mango sauce for me - yummy!

 Sally x

Further West to Alvor

Our first night wild camping in Portugal and it was great! We were up early this morning to the sound of the waves, to make an early start.  Well, when I say early it was 8.30am and an early start of 9.45am but when you’re retired that’s early!  We’ve travelled 53kms (33 miles) further round the sunny Algarve coast to a place called Alvor.  We are parked up on an aire (N37°07'30" W8°35'43") right next to the beach, which unfortunately is a bit wet and very sandy due to a downpour a couple of nights ago.  It’s only €4.50 a night for everything we need (€2.50 more if you want electric) and only a 30 second walk to the beach, so we’re not complaining!  Once again there is a variety of motorhomes and nationalities parked up near us (mostly Brits and French), including this bad boy - a 5^th wheel, owned by a Brit parked across from us. 

We strolled across the boardwalk and turned eastwards down to the beach 

Over the boardwalk to the sea

towards these amazing large rocky formations, known as Praia de Três Irmãos

then round to the pretty palm tree lined port, to sit a while and watch life go by.  As we walked down the port you start to get the lovely aroma of freshly barbecued fish – unfortunately we had already eaten a picnic on the beach earlier, prepared by Mel's own 'fair hands', otherwise we would have been tempted!

A short walk up a small hill brings you into the old town. The building that dominates is the 16th century Igreja Matriz.

Igreja Matriz, Alvor Old Town

The town is a maize of narrow cobbled streets and an abundance of restaurants and cafes, unfortunately, there were too many English type ones for our liking!  Actually,  everywhere we walked we heard English speaking people, I think most were parked on the aire we were on and had been here for weeks.  I know we’re retired but we still struggle to stay put in one place for too long, as there is too much to see and do!

A Stroll back via the boardwalk that has been built through the sand dunes, mudflats and lagoon with lookouts for the natural wildlife that gather here took us back to our aire.

Not sure where we will be tomorrow, but we will just go where the mood takes us!

Sally x