Spain - Part 2 ☀️
Through the Desierto de Tabernas (the only desert in Europe) and past the Sierra Nevada (Spain's highest mountain range), we continued on to the Francisco Abellán Reservoir - a beautiful blue lake surrounded by mountains. Once again, we were lucky to have a spot with a view of the lake. The next day, we even went swimming before continuing on to Granada. Granada is a city with a rich history - it was once occupied by the Arabs (Kingdom of Granada). Of course, we also visited the Alhambra - an old Arabic fortress. In the parking lot, we noticed something again - we had another rock chip! For some reason, our Sprinter seems to attract stones.
We spent the night at a reservoir again - we were headed back to the coast! ☺️ Here, we had a dreamy starry sky and an absolutely cloudless night. 😍
After another short stop in Malaga, we continued on to Gibraltar. Here, we parked at a campsite for the first time (right at the port of Gibraltar), as there are actually no free parking spaces and Gibraltar is known for its parking shortage. The border was only a 10-minute walk from there, so we grabbed our backpacks and walked to Gibraltar over the famous airport runway. There, we explored the typically English city center (Gibraltar is actually part of England, so the pound is the currency) on foot and then walked around the famous monkey rock, including its attractions, in 35 degree Celsius heat. The main attractions include, of course, the impeccable view of the surrounding area, but also a cave with impressive audio and light effects. Finally, we also checked out the old bunkers in the monkey rock, which couldn't be more historic. 😬👏
Unlike some others, we were well equipped... as soon as we arrived at the top, we were surprised by Spanish tourists who were completely exhausted and asked us for a sip of water. 😂
But Gibraltar was not our last stop in Spain... we headed to my long-awaited kite spot - Tarifa. 😍 In the last 2 years, I've learned a bit of kiting in South Africa and Bali, but never really mastered it. Here, we had enough time and of course the best conditions - Tarifa is not for nothing the top spot for kiting in Europe. At the same time, a friend of mine was also in Tarifa, whom I met a year ago in South Africa - also while kiting! 😁 Head over heels (as always), I decided to buy a kite equipment, which turned out to be very affordable in Tarifa.
With absolute half-knowledge, it was the first time in over a year that I went back on the water. The first time, however, I spent more time in the water than on it... The second day was also far from successful because my chicken loop (attachment of the kite) broke on the first attempt, and I had to save myself from the water with the kite for the first time - practice makes perfect! 😂 After the chicken loop was replaced in the store, I went back on the water two days later, and finally spent more time on the water than in it for the first time! 😋
In total, we spent two weeks in Tarifa and met many great people during this time. In Tarifa, you can stand directly on the beach in large company (dozens of campers line the beach car park). Additionally, there's a lot going on every evening at the two beach bars and twice a week there are also parties. However, due to Covid, they are currently only allowed until 10 pm. This didn't stop us from continuing the party afterwards at our camper, which escalated a bit since there were sometimes around 100 people around our camper and the party was only disbanded by the police the next morning at 6 am. 😂🥳
At some point, it was time to leave Tarifa behind and head towards Portugal. After a short stop in Cadiz, our next longer stop was in Seville, where we explored the city center and celebrated Janet's own little birthday party in the camper. 🎉☺️ From there, we continued to Portugal - passing another completely open border station. 😁
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