Goodbye Portugal, Hello Spain…..

2nd January 2018 – 10th January 2018

The time at our little haven in Lagos was nearing an end. I say we, well actually me. David was ready to set off and find new adventures and I was quite enjoying the life in our little commune. The gym, spa, sauna and socialising with our new friends. We also at last caught up with our special Portuguese friend Jorge and his wife Suzanne, I have been friends with Jorge for over 30 years (shows my age) and he owns a unique restaurant Boneca Bar in Carvoeiro. A restaurant nestled into the cliff over looking the sea. As it is now closed for the season, we spent a great evening at their home. When driving there my words to David were ‘you know what Jorge is like, don’t get pissed’ As we left at 2am my words resonated as David fell out of the door and into the car. I drove back to Lagos, to find we were locked out of the Campsite, but prayers were answered, we were let in and finally got a lift in a golf buggy to our Motorhome and for David, his well needed bed. The next day was a wipe out for David, I had a lovely Spa day ! We have met some lovely people whilst we have been here, that we hope to see again on our travels, Margaret & Steve as we have mentioned before. Missed them when they went home for Christmas and greeted them like long lost friends when they returned. They gave us a wealth of valuable information being seasoned Motorhomers, top of my list to buy when we can find one is a slow cooker !. Thank you Margaret. We also met Lesley & Roger, an inspiration with a great outlook on life, we so admire them. Roger driving a huge Motorhome in his 70’s and still full of life. Chloe also made a friend in Sidney, a white terrier with a black patch across one eye and deaf. He is the splitting image of the dog in ‘The Artist’ . A brilliant film if you have never seen it. Sidney’s owner Lorraine is taking time off work, travelling on her own with Sidney and was off to Lisbon with him on the train as we left.

We originally drove into the Campsite intending to stay 14 days, 46 days later we departed ! Our destination as we left was El Rocio in Spain, a recommendation from Margaret & Steve.

El Rocio is in the Province of Huelva, Andalusia, Spain. It is home to the Virgin of El Rocio and is the destination of an annual procession/pilgrimage on the second day of the Pentecost. It also sits on the edge of the Donna National Park, a nature reserve which is home to African Migratory Birds, Deer and the endangered Spanish Imperial Eagle and the Iberian lynx. Now if anyone fancies visiting El Rocio make sure it is on the weekend as we later found out. This town has houses with stables, very few cars, no roads as it’s all sand and at the weekend they all come out with their horses and it is heaving during the various festivals and religious celebrations. The large white church is the centre point of the town and it is said that there are over 200 smaller churches hidden amongst the houses. It is an amazing sight even during the week at it looks like something out of a Wild West Film. We meandered around the town, walked around part of the National Park and had a long lazy lunch in the sun watching all the various birds and pink flamingoes skimming and feeding over the lake. This is the real Spain and hopefully we will be back one day at the weekend !