Saturday, December 10, 2016 | Spain – Andalusia, San José | Petra
SURPRISE IN ANDALUSIA
CHANGEABLE MOOD
For more than three months we’re on tour now. One highlight follows the next and all of a sudden it happens. Slowly and unexpectedly a kind of „travel despression“ attacks me. I am no longer interested in getting new impressions, changing the location again and again and moving on all the time. I don’t want anymore. I’m tired and I’ve had enough. I long for cosiness and an familiar background. Simple would be fine enough for me right now. But it has to be nice.
Win, for his part, can’t bear camping sites anymore. To stand around on plots is bugging him. He’d rather stand alone in the open countryside, wild and free like Winnetou (with his truck instead of a wigwam).
Since we’ve left Barcelona it’s raining most of the time. Due to the fact that we neither can speak spanish nor french yet, we only have little chances to talk to others substantially. „I wish friends to talk to or at least sun after all that nasty rain. And a beautiful countryside“, I complain to myself.
Oh heck! Should this be the end of our journey? In the middle of Andalusia, only 2210 kilometers far away from home?
This depressing feeling and the doubts are completely „normal“, I can learn from other travelers. Sooner or later the most long term travelers get caught by it. „Driving home or carrying on?“ is the question then. I don’t think, that my momentary mood is the perfect point in time to make an important decision like this. So let’s wait and see. In the first place Win and I try to manage the crisis in good humour.
But it’s a good thing that there is universe with it’s first-class delivery service. Hardly had I complained about it for one or two days, miraculous things happen.
MIRACLES HAPPEN
Everything begins when San José turns out to be a cozy treasure. It’s a nice village with houses well cared for, restaurants opened and a nice wine bar with great vinos.
We can stay for the night on the big parking area in the village, for free. It’s bothering nobody in winter time. In summer the Guardia Civil is very busy in expelling campers for overnight stays officially are not allowed.
Superfluously the sun is shining. Perfect to grab our hiking boots for a walk to the beach and the bays.
Voilà! – here it is: the beautiful scenery, which I longed for. We ramble on narrow paths over mountains from one bay to to the next.
It is fantastic, we’re happy and our faces are beaming with joy.
On our way back at Playa de los Genoveses we are astonished at a bright red fire truck. 48 years of age, type Magirus Deutz, we learn from it’s happy owners Susanne and Stefan from Germany.
They’re on their way to Morocco, as we are. They are parking at the beach, free and with no camping sites. That’s exactly what we want. We grab our truck and put it there, too. From now on we’re friends and traveling companions.
The same afternoon we get a message from Miriam, Bart and their 3-year old son Tijn via our blog. They’ve seen our truck in San José and are curious now. They would pretty much like to meet us, as they are travelers, too, spending the winter in cosy San José, where they’ve rented a house for some months. If we would like to do some washing or just for talking, they would be happy if we would come by for a visit.
For the next day we do have an appointment. We click from the very first moment and we get three new friends, this time from Netherlands. Little Tijn is keen on Win within minutes and Win vice versa. Mail bonding!
In the evening we meet again Susanne and Stefan with their fire truck. They already sit together with Ulli and Helmut and their dog Yari. The sweet Austrians are on holiday and want to be back home on December 23rd.
We set our truck next to the cute fire truck and the impressing Mercedes 1824 truck, which Helmut fit out with ambrosian swiss pine by himself.
Until late we sit together, talk about all sorts of things and have a good laugh together. Magnificient!
Everybody knows there is no such thing as a coincidence in this world, there is only the inevitable. That’s why no one is surprised when the truck number 4 arrives. Rita and Rudi are experienced long term travelers, who are on tour for ten years already. Six years they spent only in the North and South of America. Now they travel around Europe before the leave their reliable Volvo truck to the new owner. In future they will be on tour in Australia with their new vehicle, a handy Amarok. They intend to go to Morocco, too. That’s how we like it!
Having breakfast with friends is one of the best inventions ever.
HOME-MADE ADVENTURE
Our tourist party has grown quite a bit and we took everybody to our hearts. It’s a fantastic feeling and Rita says what I have in my mind: „It is always the people, who matter when traveling.“ We’re happy about all the liveliness and ease. And we’re astonished at the concentrate charge of different talents that find together in such a company. If it is the technical know-how, the knowledge about traveling or the feel for the perfect place to spend the night. Or if it is the talent to arrange a diverse dinner buffet of food everybody has in stock and without having a conference before. Again we are enthusiastic about it.
It doesn’t take long until there is the decision to drive to the desert of Andalusia all together. Right now. While some get fresh water and fill their food storage, Susanne and Stefan find a great place for our four giants in a dry river bed near Tabernas. As soon as our private camp is arranged, the campfire crackles and each chef creats delicious dishes of all kind. We have a good laugh together, talk, philosophize and discuss technical stuff until late. Loyal Yari in the meantime takes his business seriously to protect us and to sniff and listen to the darkness. We very much enjoy the wonderful days and nights we spend together under the sky and in the wilderness of Andalusia.
What a life!
To give it the perfect highlight Rudi suggests a off road tour through the mountains of Parque Natural Sierra Alhamilla to Nijar. We don’t know if the track can be done with our vehicles but exactly this is the attractive part of it, especially for the boys.
It only takes some kilometers of a bad and rough road up the mountains until even the girls of the tourist party are completely enthusiastic about it. The route is bumpy and curvy, but it is wide enough and the view with endless mountains and shining sun is just splendid. The more we go up the better it gets. It takes quite a time to do 50 kilometers and some 1200 meters in height. Short before dusk begins to fall after five hours of driving we reach the village of Nijar.
It’s a good thing that none of us expected the last meters from the mountain path into the village to be the hardest part of the long tour. Now we squeeze our big trucks into a narrow lane always being concerned to scratch no corner of a house, no balcony and no street lamp. With wide eyes and holding my breath – how helpful – I sit next to Win and long for the promised parking area. The residents of the village are quite astonished at the colossal tourist party and waving hello. And a street worker shovels his pile of sand smaller for our truck so that we won’t tear off the christmas lights from the power cable. Mamma mia, what a drama! Everbody is happy to arrive at the big parking area after this exciting tour.
It’s really worth an after-work beer and a nice dinner.
GREAT ASTONISHMENT
For Win and me it’s overwhelming how unpleasant situations turn to the best without working for it. We both were frustrated about our current travel situation. Each of us knew exactly how we would rather like to have it and all of a sudden our dreams become true. Even better than we thought. Isn’t this magic?!
From the bottom of our hearts thank you very much Susanne, Stefan, Ulli, Helmut, Yari, Rita, Rudi, Miriam, Bas und Tijn for all this magic moments.
“All journeys have a secret destination of which the traveler is unaware.” So true – this post card a friend gave Susanne before her departure.
A new day begins in San José | Playa de Los Genoveses
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