Do You Know the Way to San Jose?

The song in my blog title has been going round and round in my head for the last 2 weeks and all because we have visited a pretty beach and town with the same name for the day which is located right on the southeast coast of Almeria part of the Cabo de Gato Natural Park.

San Jose is one of a few towns  located in the desert landscape of Cabo de Gato, a unique part of Spain in the Andalusian region. The landscapes geological origins created from volcanic activity and lava flow of both marine and land eruptions have formed a very arid mountainous landscape rich in minerals and flora and fauna that is protected due to its ecological value. It has 63km of coastline and is home to cliffs and seabed’s of the highest quality in the Spanish Mediterranean Coast. Thanks to the UNESCO protected status this area is undeveloped and very natural – just the type of surroundings that we both like. For the last 2 weeks we have spent time exploring the area in a combination of campsites and wild camping along with a lot hiking. Spain is great for walking there appears to be lots of trails and tracks to follow some marked and some not. We have really enjoyed being able to go ‘off-piste’ and ended up walking down dry riverbeds and boulders for the safest route or over rocky mountains and coming across beautiful sandy coves where  my desire to swim has led me to swim in the sea in my t shirt as the water was so clear and inviting. ( Now I always have a swimmer and towel on our hikes!)

We usually took a packed lunch with us and found a spot with a view for our picnic or if we were lucky we found a bar or café at the end where we were so hungry that we would enjoy the ‘menu de dia’ along with a cold beer or chilled glass of vino blanco!

We have camped up in ‘free’ places where there is tiny village nearby with no shops and just a couple of bars to eat at or booked into a campsite that was like an Oasis in the middle of no-where, no village nearby apart from the onsite shop and bar. All these places are busy with motorhome’s, staying for a night, a week or the whole winter! We even went to a small Aire  – no local shop, no electricity just water and emptying facilities where a German woman who was on her own had been there since November!

Spain is a haven for those who are escaping Northern Europe winters and I totally get why…we have had 90% sunshine since we have been here and been in our shorts all the time. You can do this very cheaply if you want to  – Spain is still cheaper than the UK and much more tolerant of motor homers especially if they respect the area where they stay by leaving no trace behind them and spend money in the local economy.

For the last few weeks, we have walked around 6/7 miles a day over rocks up and down uneven terrain, Bobs knee has been amazing – he’s been totally surprised and puts it all down to these patches he’s been using since before we left. Whatever it is –  I am also surprised!

In this area we have also come across so unusual flora and luckily the app on my phone that tells you what the plant is has been much used. Some of the plants and flowers that we have spotted are wild and invasive here coming from South America and many are plants that we buy at the garden centre to plant in our gardens or grow indoors. There is also an interesting mix of wild herbs that gave off their scent as we walked through swathes of them.

We also came across some very interesting coloured rocks showing the diversity of the mineral deposits of the area. Some of the rocky areas we explored had quartz crystal seams running through them and hundreds of large lumps of quartz.

This is an area of Spain that we hadn’t seen before and I have really loved exploring it – it is away from the built-up tourist traps of the main resort areas of Spain. I would return another time.  But after 2 weeks slowly moving south we are finally getting to the city of Almeria on the Mediterranean the south coast of Spain, our destination before we then start heading North again.