On the way to Carchuna, near Almeria, we stopped off for 3 nights free stay Cala de Mijas which is just down the road from Cabopino, meaning that we were able to visit friends while we were there. As well as a night out in Biddy Mulligans of course 🙂
We were then heading towards the Cabo de Gata but needed somewhere to stop off on the way, which is how we found ourselves in Carchuna just north of Motril on the south coast. Whilst there is some stunning coastline in this area there is no getting away from the plastic poly tunnels and the black beaches. From the motorway you can simply see a sea of plastic all the way to the coast. Unfortunately this means that there is not an awful lot that is obvious to attract you to the area.
However, we found a lovely campsite, Camping Don Cactus, and ended up staying to recharge our batteries for a full week. We had to travel quite a way, to Motril, to do a spot of shopping. The road took us through Torrenueva Costa – which we had no desire to revisit…
We did head back south to visit the famous caves at Nerja which was a nice day out (although we have definitely visited better caves in our time and so were a little disappointed). After our visit to the caves (you are given a time slot and go around with a guide) we wandered across the bridge to the little village of Maro (I was looking for a cash machine – no luck!) where I have just discovered we missed a waterfall into the sea, The waterfall of Maro!
Maro itself was a very small village with a couple of eateries. We chose 1 carefully showing that they took cards (as we had so little cash on us), the food was okay but when we went to pay they told us their card machine wasn’t working… Oh dear… So we gave them all our cash (except 1Euro which I had already put in my pocket earlier) and they said we could come back tomorrow with the rest (about 2Euros..)… It was lucky we’d kept the euro as that’s what we needed to get out of the car park by the caves 🙂
Just outside of Maro on the way to Nerja there is an impressive viaduct, Aqueducto de Aguila (The Eagle Aqueduct), which was built to carry water to the local sugar refinery (the remains of which can be seen a little further along the road).
We finished the day in Nerja itself with a little sit on the beach (and I managed to get some cash – although I broke my golden rule of never paying to get my own cash out!) We quite liked Nerja itself and would recommend a visit if you’re up this way.
Below are some pictures of this part of the trip 🙂
Having just relaxed for most of our time here, we headed out on our last day. We were trying to find a way up some of the mountains that sit back from the sea in this area. We didn’t find a way up and concluded that all the trails were private and led to the water reservoirs that we could see, and are clearly built to serve all the growing in the area.
We did however find a lovely little village high up in the hills where we stopped and had a little wander around. Here we found one of the historic communal outdoor laundries that you find occasionally in Spain, this one beautifully restored.
This was the highpoint of our stay in this area and it just goes to prove it’s worth going a little further afield (and that at times you really need a car!)
My next post will be from our time in Cabo de Gata (the only designated desert in Europe).
We stayed: Red Camping Don Cactus
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