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Published: November 12th 2010
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I took a trip with about 50 high school kids to San José and Cabo de Gata in Almería this past Friday. It is a natural park that was formed by a volcano thousands of years ago, and has one of the most spectacular and unique coasts in Andalucía. The trip was organized by a few professors and was used to inform the students about the natural beauty and protection of the park. It was a great chance to get out and hike through the outdoors, and we couldn’t have had a more perfect day to go for a walk.
We boarded the bus around 8:30 in the morning and started the trip East to San José. It took about an hour and a half to get to the small tourist town. When we arrived we all split up to have breakfast and joined up again around 10:30 to start the hiking trip. The girls took the front of the group and César and I took the back of the group so we would all stay together. The natural park is protected from traffic and the only way to get to the small coves and beaches is to walk through the
rocky and dusty path through the desert. The path is lined with cactus and other flora that make it really beautiful, and mountains surround the area to give the countryside a cool background. The natural park has some of the most diverse wildlife in Spain which is one of the reasons it has been protected. We spaced out a lot during the walk, but we all knew to meet up again at the popular tourist beach, Mónsul, for a quick break. We stopped for about fifteen minutes to take some pictures and catch our breath before starting on the path climbing up to the radio tower.
The path was narrow and steep, and hugged the side of the mountain for the duration of the climb. The landscape was really cool because caves and small bays were all carved into the mountain along the path, so there was never a straight path leading us to the tower. When we reached the top, we took another quick break to enjoy the scenery before descending to the southeastern most point of Spain where there is a lighthouse. The path down to the point was like the one going up. When we got down
to the lighthouse we pulled out our lunches and took a long rest. When we started again, we were on a small mountain road that ends at the lighthouse and leads into the town of Cabo de Gata. The road was easier to walk on in comparison to the rocks, but the slopes were just the same. The road does not have a lot of traffic because it only leads to the lighthouse, but it is very narrow and sometimes only one car can pass at a time. Cars need to squeeze along the side of the mountain if they are coming from opposite directions and allow one of them to pass while the other one waits. For this reason, busses are not allowed to use it to get to the lighthouse; tour groups must go on foot. If there were ever an accident on the road it would probably end up with one of the cars going down the cliff. Most of the problems occur in the summer when there are more tourists, but the day we went there was hardly a car to be seen.
We finished the hike on the thirteen mile beach in the town of
Cabo de Gata and the students had a chance to get their feet wet and enjoy the sun for a while. The whole hike was about nine miles long and took us about five hours with stops, but the terrain was impressively hilly and very beautiful. We all had some sore legs afterward, but we got on the bus and made a short trip to a set of roman ruins where fish were processed almost two thousand years ago. It was a nice history lesson to top off the trip. We made it back to the school in the late afternoon to complete the day. I hope to go back there in the spring when the water is warmer to do some snorkeling because the water is so clear and I was told that there are a variety of fish that live in the coves along the cliffs. One thing is for sure, I am signing up for the next hiking trip with the school because I had a great time and I got a chance to talk and hang out with some of the older students that I normally don’t have in class.
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Nancy Wiltz
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WOW!
Great hearing from you Jimmy. The vistas are beautiful here. Thanks so much for sharing them! So it sounds like you are still teaching English at a high school, where? In Spain somewhere. Have you been back to the states, or had visitors there? Does school go year round, or do you have time off to travel to other wonderful places. Here at St. Camillus, Mike is taking a Habitat group to Africa in the spring to build . . . expanding out of central America to another continent! I heard the trip was practically full! Sounds exciting, but awfully far from home. I currently have a student from Spain. I would love to show her these pictures! Thanks for keeping me on the mailing list! I love hearing from you when you write! Nancy PS Vicky has a little baby girl now! Adorable.