Gingilchaan ammas gulufaa jira...dhuma irratti!

Finally, at the end of January, we can pick up our Hummel from the workshop after two weeks. The cylinder head gasket was replaced, the head was plan-ground, the radiator crack was repaired, the exhaust was welded, the oil cooler was repaired, and finally, two new starter batteries were installed. The bill, which probably would have put us in a coma in Germany, doesn't bother us much here in Spain.

We check back into the campsite and decide to stay here for a few more days. I still need to digest my visit to Germany. In addition, our outdoor kitchen project is coming up, which we have now completed. Now we can cook comfortably outdoors on one of the exterior flaps. Kilian still wants to bleed the brakes and needs to repair our door lock. Moreover, it is so beautiful here that it is actually difficult to continue driving. We learn from other campers that many parking lots by the sea have been cleared by the police because there are simply too many campers in the country at the moment.

As we are just packing up, a Swiss couple drives into the campsite with their van. After a brief introduction, it is clear: this is a good match! Sometimes in life you meet people and immediately realize that you are on the same wavelength. And here, with Daniela and Michael from the Emmental, that was the case. We decide to stay for a few more days and spend time together. The two are the owners of 'Sonnenschmiede.ch' in beautiful Switzerland. With permaculture, seminars, their own products, and parking spaces for motorhomes, they are trying to make the move towards self-sufficiency. We think that's great and after some nice days together at the campsite, we decide to travel together a bit more before the two have to go back home. On February 9th, the time has come and we check out of our campsite after 11 weeks! We had an indescribably beautiful time with our friends Nicole and Karin and the countless other nice people who also spend the winter here. We laughed, celebrated, and chatted a lot. Farewell Werner, Birgitta, Markus, Thomas Christine, Barbara, and Karl-Heinz (our chief who turned 88 on February 9th) and everyone else. We felt very comfortable with you. Thank you for the wonderful time.

Together with 'our Swiss friends' Dani and Micha, we set off towards the south. Along the coastal road, we pass Salobrenia and leave the beautiful Costa Tropical. We continue along the beautiful (but unfortunately completely built-up) famous Costa del Sol to Nerja. We settle down on the free city parking lot, which is filled with over 100 motorhomes, and explore the beautiful city and the famous 'Balcón de Europa' with its fantastic view of the sea. The houses shine white in the sun, and although it is stormy and the sea throws high waves onto the beach, we enjoy the beautiful city and walk through the narrow Mediterranean streets. Nerja is definitely worth a visit, despite the many tourists.

Tomorrow we will continue along the coast to the unknown Costa del Sol. We are curious to see how we will like this southern part of Andalusia. We often hear about the police evacuating beaches and parking lots because there are simply too many campers in the country and they like to stay on a parking lot for many weeks. On the other hand, there are not enough campsites or paid parking spaces for everyone. Most places are fully booked for the next few weeks. We are curious to see what awaits us in the coming weeks.