Our first night in Algeciras we slept near the beach three in the car again and awoke early for a morning swim at the beach before cleaning and returning the car. After a few hours of nervously driving around this overcrowded Spanish port town unable to find the right address, a car came careening towards us head on, swerving out of the way in the last seconds. My heart pounding, I purposefully pulled the car over to a nearby parking space and started shaking fro the near miss. Although I was the only one contractually allowed to drive the hire car, I couldn´t drive any further. I checked the car over, which was miraculously unblemished, and called the car hire company. I was lucky they had an English speaking operator available to whom I could clearly explain that I was too shaken by the near miss to safely drive the car back in time. The operator was very sympathetic and suggested that instead of losing another 80 euros for another day´s car hire, she could put a call in to the towe truck company at the rate of 50 euros and have the car picked up.
My travel friends offered to go with the Spanish speaking towe truck driver and leave me for an hour or so to calm down in the park. While I was waiting, a lovely couple, Sara and Ralph, vacationing from Belgium with their two very large dogs (a one year old Great Dane and a Rhodesian Ridgeback cross) came to have lunch on the park bench next to me. They were visiting Algeciras from a camping ground called Torre De La Pena, on the Costa De La Luz (The Coast of Light). They told me that in the camping ground there were many international backpackers, a beautiful beach and acres of National Parks. They offered me a lift there, but were planning on leaving later that day. I thanked them for their offer and took their phone number. Soon after, my travel mates returned but had received word that their friends who had gone on ahead from Barcelona had been delayed. They had decided to try and find some accomodation in Algeciras for a few days until their friends caught up, rather than head straight to Morocco. Tired from all the dramas, haphazard travelling plans and miscommunications, I decided that this couple were probably not the best choice to go with to a country so foreign to my knowledge as Morocco. I also realised that I had already spent a good half of my allotted travel money and had not even paid for the ferry to Tangiers yet (which, I discovered, was twice as expensive as expected - 35 euros each way!). I decided there and then that if I could no longer budget for Morocco, at least I could have a few days relaxing on a sunny beach on the Costa de la Luz. So I wished the two travelers good luck and caught up with the Belgian couple.
An hour later I was jumbled into the back seat with their two huge ´puppies´ and on my way to Andalucia´s Atlantic coastline. We drove for about an hour, past an awesome landscape covered in natural scrublands and ancient ruins. Graceful, white windmills cut through the fierce Atlantic winds for Green electricity. ** The coastline overflowed with picturesque beaches and across the vast, blue ocean, we could see the Moroccan mountains looming like ghosts in the distance. (Morocco - I was so close!)
We arrived at the camping ground shortly before twilight to find it packed full (´completo´) and I was invited to try again for a vacancy after checkout in the morning. I was therefore left with just enough time to find a nearby camping spot for the night before sunset. Sara also happened to have a spare tent and a sleeping mat to lend me - although this was hardly suprising as the couple were traveling with EVERYTHING - all the latest camping equipment, a kitchen table, chairs, a king size mattress and even a chest of drawers! The couple also helped me set up the tent near some other campers, invited me to join in on their freshly cooked vegetarian dinner, and even waked me back to my tent afterwards!
I had to pinch myself: one week earlier I had been couch serfing in Edinburgh. Three days earlier I had my own flat and room in Barcelona. That morning, I had woken up at the other end of SPani following two unreliable travelers, in the back of a hire car, had almost been in a head on collision and was a few hours from going to Morocco. I felt like I had leapt head first into the rabbit hole and had landed safely in a place so tranquil and breathtaking that I had already nicknamed it "where Gd Himself goes for time out!" That evening I fell asleep contented, with a full stomach and looking up at the stars through the netting in my tent´s roof. I was lulled by the rhythmic waves washing gently ashore. Despite the setbacks, I couldn´t believe my luck!
Next time on Tempest Trails:
- How will Tempest survive the Costa De La Luz without sunnies?
- A vegetarian´s delight!
- What police?
- Who was Gus?
Same Tempest time.
Same Tempest Channel.
(which we all know is as soon as I can, especially considering ...)
** (NB. For all those who postulate that energy windmills would be an eyesore or devalue in property in Victoria: here, across the scrublands and Eucalyptus forested hilltops, they blend into the vista rather naturally and are about as out of place as the historic ruins are. Moreover this area has subsequently become one of the most valuable property markets in all of Spain!)
