Cabo de Gata

Mileage: unchanged

Yesterday at the beach, we thought it would be a beautiful area for hiking and decided to stay one more night.

For breakfast today, we had Huevos rotos (scrambled eggs) with tomatoes. The bag of vegetables we bought yesterday was so full that we didn’t want to use all the tomatoes for salad.

As soon as breakfast was ready, the black-and-white cat, which had visited us for dinner yesterday and had snagged a couple of small pieces of bacon, meowed outside the window. When you think about it, it was to be expected to see cats here at Cabo de Gata - at the Cape of the Cat.

After breakfast, we packed our things and set off on foot toward the lighthouse, which the maps app directed us to. The same app had already informed us that we would either have to walk the narrow winding road, where motorcycle riders made their machines roar, or we could hike the narrow path through the rugged rocks. We, of course, opted for the supposedly nicer - because car-free - route. At first, the path was very clear and passable. However, after we had followed the path for a while, it became narrower and the slopes steeper. At a break in the terrain, we saw two fishermen sitting by the sea below the path, who must have used the way. However, the further path that lay ahead of us was hardly recognizable. The cliffs were not only steep, but the gravel on them was also dusty dry and slippery. We tried to reach the approximately twenty-meter higher road from there but failed while scrambling on the sharp-edged rocks and the slippery gravel. After a few minutes, we concluded that visiting the lighthouse was not worth the risk of falling and turned back.

All in all, our hiking and climbing adventure took about three hours, and when we returned to Gary, we both felt it was urgently time for a siesta.

In the late afternoon, we set out in search of food. The tapas bar, which was only a few steps from the parking lot, had unfortunately just closed the kitchen when we arrived. So we searched for the nearest restaurant and walked in that direction. This turned into a walk along the salt pans. On Sunday, production was paused, but we could see heaps of salt over the fence. We had more luck at the restaurant by the salt pans and got two seats in the full dining area. The portions were not generous, but fairly priced and delicious.

Once we were full, we continued our walk to the lonely church behind the salt fields and then went down to the beach to return to Gary with the setting sun before it became too dark.

We had perfect timing. Just before we were back at the parking lot, we could go for a swim in the sea with the setting sun.