We parked Sonny (the motorhome) up on a free Aire
at the edge of the town next to a disused tourist information office N36.44611 W5.27833. The town has kindly provided free
water and facilities to dump your waste, so we will be repaying them by eating
and drinking in their town – well it would be rude not to!
Circling high above us are 15-20 griffon vultures,
riding the thermals back and forth between the rocks. It is an amazing sight to see.
Casares is built high up on a rock face, a
cluster of white houses with terracotta roofs.
A short walk down from the Aire and across the
medieval bridge of La Albarrá beneath Casares.
And back up the other side brings you into
the centre of the town and to the remains of an old castle, where there is a great lookout point where
you can sit in the shadows of the griffon vultures as they soar above you.
The castle dates from the Arab-Moorish period and
is the origin of the town. Built on top
of the rock it held a good defensive position. Heading out from the motorhome we got on a
circular walk around the Sierra de Crestellina and to the top of Cerro de las Chapas.
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| That’s where we are headed - red arrow marks the spot! |
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| You can see North Africa and The Rock of Gibraltar in the distance from here |
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| A hazy Rock of Gibraltar |
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| Mel trying to find the way - there’s a path in here somewhere! |
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| That’s where we are headed |
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| At the top of Cerro de las Chapas and very windswept! |
We made it off the mountain just before more rain and high winds set in.
From Casares we headed south to the Costa del Sol in search of some sun. The weather in Spain this year, like all over Europe has been terrible. Speaking to a German/English couple on the Aire, who had been in Morocco for 3 months, they said even the weather was bad there with quite a bit of snow.
First stop Estepona, where we found another free Aire down by the marina (N36.41488 W5.16024) and sun! There are no facilities but a lovely spot to call home for a couple of nights.
From Casares we headed south to the Costa del Sol in search of some sun. The weather in Spain this year, like all over Europe has been terrible. Speaking to a German/English couple on the Aire, who had been in Morocco for 3 months, they said even the weather was bad there with quite a bit of snow.
First stop Estepona, where we found another free Aire down by the marina (N36.41488 W5.16024) and sun! There are no facilities but a lovely spot to call home for a couple of nights.
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| Sonny, enjoying some sun at last at Estepona Marina |
Walking up to the town we couldn’t believe how
many English voices we heard and English owned bars/cafés, shops and estate
agents. It is obviously popular with British expats. Data sim cards are cheap here though, we bought a 4GB card for one month useage for 10 Euros. In the UK we paid £15 (approx 17 Euros) for a 3GB data only card that lasts 2 months.
The paths along the coast are tree-lined and planted up with a lot of palm trees and cactus, plus a lot of high rise holiday apartments and neon signs. We can imagine in summer this place is chocka with tourists.
The paths along the coast are tree-lined and planted up with a lot of palm trees and cactus, plus a lot of high rise holiday apartments and neon signs. We can imagine in summer this place is chocka with tourists.
The old town is very pretty and we enjoyed walking
up and down the numerous white washed streets. All of the houses have different coloured flowerpots outside, that would appear to be paid for and maintained by the town.
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| Plaza de las Flores |
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| Andalusian style courtyard |
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| Mural paintings on the houses here |
It appears that we have swapped the vultures in
the mountains for another type of bird here – it looks like a parakeet hiding in the palm trees by the
marina.
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| Mel relaxing and watching the boats come in an out of the marina |
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| Watching the sun set over Gibraltar |
Sally x
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