While waiting for the next physio appointment in Ronda, we tour around the surrounding mountain ranges.
Europe has an incredibly good system of hiking trails. Canada’s trails are disappearing – the long hikes of my youth have disappeared back into the boreal forest.The Karst landscape of Andalucia produces big cave systems, all of which are closed. We are breaking the rules even getting this close to the Cueva del Gato. I don’t see what the concern is – this cave has only killed 23 people.Europe is almost always cheaper than I expect. Maybe they are lagging on GDP growth (compared to the USA) because they haven’t figured out how to make everything more expensive.
Our experience of the cost of Europe may be a little skewed – we are driving and boondocking in our own car, spending about $20 a day on gasoline and $15 on food. Your mileage may vary.
We stop in a small mountain village to kill an afternoon in the shade. Two cervezas, 2.60 Euros. Two days later, we see a plume of smoke, and the village – Igualeja – is in the news.
A drone is an excellent tool for those of us who are compelled to find a better way down.We see plenty of marble quarries, but they are producing a relatively fine white gravel, rather than huge blocks. I wonder what it’s used for?As we are hiking by this quarry, they set off a blast. In 2024 I was flying over the coal mines in Sparwood, and a very large explosion made me think my plane had just disassembled itself.Chestnut harvest is in October. Europe is like China – there’s no wilderness. Every square meter has been modified and used by humans for thousands of years.
I love the safety of Europe, but you can travel for months without meeting the locals. Mexicans are way more inviting.
This beautiful creature is all eyeballs and ears.
We are having a hard time finding places in Spain empty enough to fly our loud drone. We got reprimanded by some local police-ish guys shortly after this flight.Spain is still hot in September. We get a few days of +30C, and have to drink > 4 liters per day each. Marta developed severe leg cramps after a 9 hour hike. Scary.
Unfortunately, Spain closes all the swimming pools once kids go back to school.
Water reservoirs provide occasional relief.
We see surprisingly few Van-lifers and other foreigners. I think they migrate south as winter hits. Clever.
Clearly these villages were built before humans invented explosives.Even small towns have a bull fighting ring. I’m no animal rights activist, but this seems like a brutal sport.The white villages are spectacular, steep and stressful to drive through, even in a vehicle built for Tokyo. And then Google maps sends you the wrong way down a one-way street. I don’t know how the Sprinter vans cope.
After Marta’s physio, we hit the road east, to the Pyrenees. Our first stop is the Caminito del Rey, where we learn the next available spot is in 8 weeks. So we have a beer in the shade and watch Spain pump the tourists through.
Europe has lost high tech to the Americans, and now manufacturing is going to the Chinese, but they sure know how to sell vacations.
