A pretty cove and a beautiful walk near San José Spain
We went on holiday to San José in Almeria Spain this Easter hols. This is a description of one of the best bays/beaches we found and a good coastal walk. We used the tourist hiking map Capo de Gata-Nijar (1:50.000 same scale as an standard OS map here) which we bought from the tourist information in San José, it comes with an accompanying book about the routes marked on the map. It also contained information about camping, apartments and other local information in Spanish. Dearly beloved can read some Spanish and I found I could follow a lot of the instructions fairly simply, you may be able to get an English copy. I will check this out .We found this a very good map and guide I would certainly recommend it.
One
morning we set out in our hire car, with a loaf of bread, some cheese, some fruit and some water to Cala el Playazo Map reference 888804, this is about 15k from San José. I will describe how to get there, first you head east about 12 km from San José/El Pozo de los Frailes to Rodalquila. Then head for Horticheulas and Las Negras, about 2 km out of Rodaquila towards Horticheulas you come to a turning on your right posted Playazo. Now this is more of a farm track than a road. It is possible to take your car down here - slowly. It had rained the night before we went and was very muddy. So, after about 1 km when we passed the ruined Castillo de Rodalquilar, we stopped the car and walked the remaining track. From the road to the cove it was only about 2 km.
We came across a small beautiful cove, waves crashing onto the rocks, seabirds calling and with only a couple of cars parked in the parking space. No one on the beach (no bar, no ice creams, no deckchairs). I suspect it gets busier in summer - maybe 8 cars then!? The beach is of the palest sand and behind it there is a small pool of freshwater (or at least there was after the overnight rain) with a palm tree fringe. The water might last as a sign declaring this to be part of the National Parque Gata-Nijar had a 'don't disturb the frogs' icon alongside the no fires, no camping, leave the flowers alone symbols. I gazed out to sea listening to the rhythm of the waves, the gulls and the enveloping peace. I could imagine pirates landing their bounty here, secretly, years ago.
Then we began the walk behind the Castillo de San Ramón along the coast path, which was very easy to find, well maintained and quite wide. The vegetation is sparse but it is a beautiful walk up to the top of the cliff. We saw a few butterflies. Not many as it was cloudy: Lang's short tailed blue, Spanish marbled white, swallowtails and whites. Birds we saw included kestrel, raven, avocet and linnet and the astounding trumpeter finch. However when we got to the top I was slightly nervous (nearly petrified would be more honest -db) and walked very carefully. The cliff was steep and high. I do not like heights but dearly beloved was skipping along gaily chasing butterflies, not a care in the world. He said it was easy, "no problem", but then he doesn't get queasy thinking about going up a ladder. The path is only 2 or 3 km long to where you descend towards a camping site with lots of blue awnings (for shade, the dryness of this area makes trees hard to grow) this is Cala del Cuervo. Where there is a beach of grey gravels and some very impressive cliffs that give protection from the wind. We decided to return by a circular route rather than go back the way we came - and avoid the precipitous drop. After some trouble getting past the camp site fencing we took a track along a dry riverbed where we ate a late lunch and then joined the road, the scenery, flowers and insects along this route were good. At first it was a small country road that joined a more major, but still quiet, road back to Rodalquila. Only 2 or 3 cars passed us. Along the way we saw the various brightly coloured rocks that give the area its name (Cape of Agate in translation) and evidence of small scale mining of the vermilion, scarlet, orange and green rocks. We then found our track back to the place we had left our car.Iwould certainly recomend this walk and the Almeria area in Spain
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We propose some unforgettable holidays in "El Capistrano Villages", in Nerja, the privileged balcony of the Costa del Sol. "El Capistrano Villages" is, possibly, the most beautiful and exclusive Urbanisation on the Costa del Sol.
Advantages: Still Spanish, Nice and quiet but there are pubs and clubs if you want them Disadvantages: depending what you are into, there may not much for you to do in the daytime.
fudgee_babee 24.07.2002 ·
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Review of Almería (Spain)
Sep 24th, 2002
(Nov 23rd, 2007)
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