Hola my amigos, mi familia, y Dear Readers! While I know many of you have visited Spain, this was our first time in this beautiful country. We chose the coastal town of Estapona, outside of Malaga, as that was where we joined friends for this leg of our journey.
if we had to name one negative about our visit to Rwanda, it would have to be the air travel experience. For whatever reason, departing international flights leave after 10pm. I was told because connections in other countries leave at civilized hours so African travelers get the short end of the stick. We were scheduled to leave at 11:30pm, but due to unexplained delays we left at 1:30am. We had planned a four hour layover in London, to get from Heathrow to Stanstead Airport where Ryanair flies from. Given it’s an hour+ drive, a two-hour delay ate up a lot of that time. We had scheduled an affordable bus ride over, but it had left by the time we arrived. So, a taxi it was. We set that driver loose, and God Bless him and $300 later, we arrived in the perfect time to make our flight to Malaga! About four hours later, we arrived at the home we were sharing with our friends in Estapona.
Our first day there started off with an unexpected round of golf! It was a bit more challenging than we expected for the affordable price we paid, but what fun!! The boys had planned a more special dining experience, as it was Valentines Day. But we were thwarted as we learned a valuable lesson when everyone thought someone else was keeping the keys…..so we were locked out…..and by the time the host made it over to rescue us, we opted for dinner much closer to home. Oh well, the thought was there.
The next day was a walking tour of Estapona where we met friends of Carol’s who have retired there from the US. Kind enough to show us their gorgeous home, and walk us around the lovely town, Dan and Stephany were a joy and fountain of information!
Dan had recommended a particular guide for a tour of Tangier. So we all rose early to make our way to Tarife and take the ferry back to Africa. This day was the cultural highlight, between the architecture, camels, snakes, and food, the day just flew by. And our guide, Karim, was knowledgeable and fun!
The next day was a trip to Gibraltar. We navigated ourselves successfully onto “the rock” and parked at the tram to the top. And found it was out of service. So into a taxi we all climbed and worked our way up to where the Macaque monkeys hang out. More primates for Dale and I! Then Dale and I decided we would take the stairs down and meet everyone at the bottom. Thought maybe we’d all be down at the same time, except that what started as a straightforward staircase soon turned into pathways that wove back and forth until FINALLY emptying into town from where we needed to figure out how to get to the restaurant our friends were waiting at comfortably. We earned that lunch, for sure! I’m still not convinced that the ONLY reason this little spot is still British is due to the people’s vote, as we were told. I’m sure if we followed the money we might get closer to the truth. But in the end, it made for an interesting day trip.
The next day, Dale and I set out on our own to hike the Caminito del Rey. I was so proud of myself for scoring tickets at the last minute, it’s a pretty popular hike. So we navigated the mountain roads in the early morning dark to arrive before they opened….to find I had purchased tickets for the following week! Thank goodness for February travel, they were very accommodating and were able to change our tickets to that day. I did have to endure a bit of side-eye from Dale at first. Two thirds of the hike is on boardwalk hanging from the side of cliffs, so the first third was rather slow and crowded. We hiked it without guides, so as the crowds stopped and gathered for guide talks we were able to forge ahead. And as my husband is not a big fan of crowds, he made sure we maintained a pace guaranteed that only the youngest of folks behind us was going to catch up! By the time we got back to our car we were pooped!
Then we were off to meet everyone in the picturesque village of Ronda for lunch and a walk around town. Another crazy busy day which we completed with dinner at the place the boys had suggested for Valentines Day. Then it was time to get ourselves packed and ready for our travel day. The whole week was a great time catching up with old friends and meeting new ones.
Dale and I headed to Madrid on a high speed train to spend our last days in Spain. We explored by tourist bus, then did the whole thing by foot to get a better look at a few things, and ended with a Flamenco show. This is definitely a form of dance that will ensure nothing on your body will jiggle. But the emotion I saw on the faces just looked like anger. Or was it pain? All that stomping and bending has got to hurt!
We found Spain to be a beautiful and quite livable country. And one that deserves another visit…. Or two! But for now, dear readers, we are off for a weekend in Italy. More on that next time!
Adios! Lady Wanderingwise
Weise's Wanderings 
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