Vamos a Malaga

We have been in Andalucia for nine weeks now so I thought it was high time to post another instalment.

Mar Menor and La Manga in the distance

On Monday 24th of September Harvey was packed up and we were back on the open road and heading for Caravanning La Manga near Cartagena. The journey was fairly uneventful and we arrived at the site on the banks of the Mar Menor in the middle of the afternoon. Our pitch was PQ11 which was about 2 minutes walk from the beach but about a kilometre from the front gate. There are around 1200 pitches on the site and they are mainly permanent. Walking amongst them we found everything from static caravans to log cabins and American 5th Wheelers. There were also a couple of American motor-homes similar to Harvey. After wandering around for a little while we headed for the beach bar and had a few drinks.

We were booked in for a couple of nights so on Tuesday we had a run out across the causeway that separates the Mar Menor and the sea. It is a very narrow isthmus but it is crammed with high-rise hotels and blocks of holiday apartments. The Mar Menor is a big water sports location and there were lots of sailors and windsurfers out on the lake.

On Wednesday the car was hitched up again and it was off down the road once more. First heading for Murcia and the A-7 then turning right at Lorca onto the A-91. At this point it started to rain and the weather got worse as we travelled along until the roads were running like rivers and you could barely see for the rain and the spray. Also the LPG  ran out about here so we had to switch over to petrol and hope that we could fill up in Granada. At the next service area we put a hundred litres of unleaded in which barely took the gauge up to half way.

The A-91 becomes the A-92N on crossing the border from Murcia into Andalucia and our next stop was the truck park at Dolar. Turning left at Guadix, where we saw our first cave houses, onto the A-92 we soon arrived at our destination. The truck stop was a bit basic but it was free and it had a café bar and a restaurant.

Malaga Monte Parc the view from our decking

We woke to the rain still lashing down after passing an uneventful night and went across to the café to get some breakfast. Tortillas (omelettes) and coffee set us up for the next leg of the journey which should see us on a site somewhere between Fuengirola and Marbella. Before that though there was the matter of obtaining LPG. We knew there was a Repsol depot in Granada that sold it so we stopped in a service area on the A-92 and off loaded the car. After driving around in the car for a while we found the depot but it had closed about a hour earlier, it had only been open in the morning. Back at the service area and after loading the car back onto the trailer we put another hundred litres of unleaded in the tank and once again the gauge only barely read half full.

Malaga Monte Parc looking South towards the mountain

There were three sites that we had short-listed where we were headed but we weren't sure if they would be able to accommodate us. Sure enough, on arriving at the first, Camping Cabopino, we discovered that the entrance was too narrow and it had low tree branches across the road so it was on to the next one which turned out to be at the end of a two kilometre single track road. I rejected this one because I didn't fancy reversing for two kilometres if we couldn't turn round at the end of the lane. The third one was no better than the first so we pulled into a big car park at La Cala and phoned Tricia's brother-in-law, Sam. He suggested we drive over to Coin and meet him in the car park of the shopping centre, La Trocha, which we did. No sooner had we parked there than the Guardia Civil were round to have a look. Sam explained that we were looking for a site and would be spending one night in the car park. They didn't seem that bothered and were more interested in having a good look at Harvey. We left the van there and went off with Sam to have some dinner with him and Tricia's sister, Jane, and have a council of war. Sam had found out about a site near Alhourin de la Torre and we knew of one near Malaga airport so it was decided that we would check those out the following day.

The lane beside Malaga Monte Parc and the Arroyo Hondo

We returned to La Trocha car park for the night and in the morning drove Harvey over to Villafranco del Guadalhorce, the nearest village to where Sam and Jane live, and parked it there for the day. It was then off to Alhourin de la Torre and Camping Malaga Monte Parc. This was a fairly new site and it had three RV specific pitches with water, electric and waste disposal on the pitch. It also has a bit of decking that you can put tables and chairs on for al fresco dining and lounging about. There were a couple of dozen static caravans and about forty touring pitches on the site. It seemed ideal but we wanted to have a look at the Motorhome Aire near Malaga so we drove over there and found that it was closed. The decision having been made for us it was back to Malaga Monte Parc to sort out a pitch and then we had to drive over to Villafranco and pick up Harvey.

The mountain behind Malaga Monte Parc

The drive back from Villafranco to Monte Parc was easier than it had been going the other way and we were soon set up on our pitch. It was now Friday and it just so happened that Friday night was food night at the “Hub”, as the locals call the little bar on site, so we decided to go along and meet some of the other residents. It was still quite wet, in fact the Malaga area had suffered flash flooding and some people had been killed, so everyone was huddled inside but that meant we soon got talking to the other residents. Most of the owners of the static caravans are English with just a few Spanish. Some, who are retired, live in their vans for the majority of the year and the others come out from England as often as they can.

The track up the mountain

We have done a bit of walking and cycling since we have been here and one day we walked part way up the mountain behind the site past the gun club (marked on the map). We walked up hill for an hour before deciding to turn round. Needless to say it only took forty minutes to walk back down again. We are going to attempt it again but taking a picnic lunch with us next time. We have also walked and cycled down the lane that runs alongside the Arroyo Hondo and down into the Arroyo Hondo too.

Last week we decided we should have trip to Granada because we had been told that it has some magnificent buildings and is well worth a visit. We went into a local travel agent in Alhourin el Grande and booked a couple of nights in a hotel near the city centre and tickets to see the Alhambra palaces. The next instalment will cover our holiday in Granada.

We have decided to knock the Portugal part of the tour on the head and stay here until February then return home by ferry from northern Spain.