Andalucia Day 45 The Tabernas desert area and Almeria alcazaba

Back in the car we head for the desert. Almería has the largest area actually classified as desert in the whole of Europe. The drive into Almería the day before had already crossed the area but going to Tabernas we are in the heart of it. After visiting the castle in Tabernas we park outside the Hollywood oasys (yes, spelt like that) theme park. Many westerns and also the first Indiana Jones film, for example, were filmed in the area and so there are Cowboys and Indians theme parks and some of the original film sets.

We, instead, set off in the opposite direction on a route which Andrea has found on Wikiloc. Tina is not quite so enthusiastic about 10 kilometres in the 'desert' but we off we go. It's a very unusual environment, a sort of beginning of the world effect in places with bare rock, sometimes covered in dried mud, deep canyon-like ramblas with some vegetation, not a sandy desert but a harsh grey landscape, spectacular but uncompromising.

There's a lot of up and down the sides of the canyons, it's warm but not hot, indeed dark clouds are looming towards the mountains inland. About one third of the way in we see people, gosh, people, for once it doesn't bother us, brought by Jeep with a guide. We press on, the raw rock formations change continuously and need looking at, but the dark clouds are definitely near, although surely it won't rain in the desert.....

We don't see anyone else, just a few birds. The first spots start as we push up the final hill to the car and there's a heavy shower as we are finally eating a cheese sandwich in the dry. An interesting experience and thanks to the person who put the itinerary on Wikiloc, not knowing the area it would have been impossible to do such an interesting circular tour without.

Back in Almería we go to visit the Alcazaba, the largest Arab castle in Spain. There's not much left inside the walls but the gardens and pretty and the walls themselves are picturesque and, indeed it is a large area so we spend over an hour exploring.

Along the seafront the wind is strong but nowhere near as strong as it was in Tarifa. Nevertheless there are enormous waves sending spray across the promenade as the sun sets behind the lighthouse.

To end the day we investigate other options but return to Café Paris for more tapas, from there we watch the waves crashing on to the beach as the sea turns black and merges with the sky.

Kilometres by car: 74

Kilometres on foot: 21