Climbing in Spain and Portugal

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My friend, Amanda, and I met up in the Algarve in Portugal and climbed for a few days and took in some beach views.

A few days later, we headed out to camp and climb in Marbella, Spain. The first night we set up a tent in the wilderness and started hearing loud snorting (as if from a large pig). After a quick Google search in our respective tents, we learned that WILD BOARS were hanging outside of our tents and would only attack if provoked. I'm Jewish, so with an inherent peace treaty, I feel into a deep sleep, but Amanda didn't sleep a wink.

The next day, in search of better accommodation (read: less boars), I found a large area near our car that had a healing center. It was a group of people setting up a healing center for children - craniosacral therapy, massage, yoga, etcetera. Imagine! A healer finding a healing commune. 'Oh! that's so funny, because I do acupuncture and craniosacral therapy. I even brought my healing tools. BTW, I know this isn't a camping ground, but can we leave our tents here and camp here so we can sleep at night and not have to break up our tents every night? Oh, of course it's not a camping area and I promise I won't tell anyone.' And voila. Our stay just got upgraded (still no showers or toilets or plumbing, it still fell into the category of "roughing it"). They showed us where the mountain spring water came through so we could refill our water bottles and continue to camp there without having to drive in and out and replenish our water.

All climbed out three days later, we went to El Chorro, Spain and found a fun climber's B&B called, "The Olive Branch" that hosts climbers and hikers. They have a professional chef and provide breakfast, lunch and dinner, yoga twice a day, a pool and a practice climbing wall. I cried when I saw running water - plumbing! A true gift. Still in a tent, and no boars in sight, we enjoyed this time and spent several more days climbing. Leaving was bittersweet.

Here are a few photos of the beautiful ocean and caves in the Algarve, the climbing in Portugal and Spain, and other random photos.

Enjoy!

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