Set out on a panoramic drive through the beautiful countryside of the Costa de la Luz region. Passing through Los Naveros — a tiny agricultural village — you will follow the famous Bull Route. This is where some of Spain’s most prestigious herds of cattle are raised and bred for stamina and temperament. Your guide will explain all about this and the agriculture, culture, customs and traditions of Andalusia.
Passing the picturesque village of Vejer de la Frontera, sit back, relax, and enjoy the scenery. Watch for the fishing town of Barbate, famous for practicing the art of almadraba. This form of tuna-fishing dates back to the time of the Phoenicians.
La Breña is a beautiful and protected pine forest, sprawling over 4,800 acres and offers shade and serenity as you drive through.
Your destination is Cape Trafalgar, where a lighthouse marks the site of the famous Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. History buffs will know that this indeed an historic spot — it is where the feted and famous Lord Horatio Nelson lost his life.
Finally, you will have some free time in the beautiful seaside village of Conil de la Frontera, where you can view one of the most beautiful beaches along this coastline, explore the maze of narrow streets, shop for souvenirs, or simply sit and watch the world go by in one of the many local cafés.
Every port is different. Our morning arrival n Cadiz was delayed by a factor I had not experienced before. Thick fog obscured our way. Finally we got to the pier. Our shore excursion was supposed to take off at 8:30am. We were on our bus at 10:00am.
The excursion was one of the nicest I have been on. There were a variety of factors which contributed to this “A plus” rating. The bus was nicer than most. The tour guide spoke excellent English. The fog dissolved into gorgeous weather. We drove through the most beautiful countryside I have seen anywhere on this voyage. It was rolling green hills similar to Ireland. We stopped at one spot to take pictures of a lighthouse. This was reminiscent of the outer banks of North Carolina.
I am going to pause in my description of the excursion to focus on our bathroom break. It will surprise no one that there have been many bathrooms along the way that were not up to what we expect in the United States. The condition of the bathrooms, especially the toilets are generally more important to the women than the men. At our first stop, the tables were turned! The women’s room was satisfactory with functioning flush toilets with toilet seats and toilet paper, sinks with running water and paper towels. Finally, it had dry floors. (Oh what we take for granted in the United States!) The men’s room was flooded. We ladies magnanimously let the fellows in when we were finished.
I learned some interesting things about bull fighting on this excursion. While one part of Spain no longer engages in this sport, Bull fighting and the raising of bulls is big in the Andalusia region. I reflected on my childhood recollection of the story “Ferdinand the Bull.” In the tale, flower-loving Ferdinand appeared ferocious when stung by a bee. The tour guide said the bulls are naturally lazy and it is a challenge to get them to look like potential cape chargers. Incidentally, red does to enrage them. They are color blind. The guide said this but I wonder who did the test on bulls’ ability to see color.
I have never been to a bull fight. We are in an era now where at the end of movies we read statements that no animals were hurt in the filming. I would like the pageantry of the bullfight if it could be done without the bull or matador getting hurt.
It would be easy to go off on a tangent here about killer whales at Sea World and PETA or the fact that football players are damaging their brains with repetitive concussions but I will stick to the good things about our tour.
We had an hour of ‘free time’ at a seaside village. While my fellow excursionists headed into the village, I headed to the beach.
There are many things that I do not have opinions about. I am pretty neutral on art, architecture, cuisine, fashion, cars and jewelry but I do pride myself in my knowledge of beaches. This was an exceptionally nice beach. The beach was very broad and flat. It was accessible by a wooden walkway. The two beaches it most resembled in San Diego County were Coronado and La Jolla Shores. There were literally thousands of people but almost no litter. The weather that day was ideal and since schools were out on vacation there were many families having a good time together. I took lots of pictures. I even got a picture of a man with his surf board after I helped him unzip his wetsuit. I had seen him struggling. He was grateful.
This reminds me of something funny. I do speak Spanish. In the first shop I entered in Spain, the salesclerk said “Hola.” I thought to myself “How does she know I speak Spanish?”