Days 26, 27, 28, Conil and Tarifa.

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Monday was a day of 32 degree temperatures and gale force winds. We attempted a swim at three different beaches but, at one, the tide was crashing onto the cliffs and the other two were so rough that coast guards were keeping swimmers out.

That evening and into the small hours the winds were so strong that, even though it was uncomfortably hot, we had to close all windows and skylights and the caravan was really taking a battering-the worst we've been in.....even worse than Autumn in South Wales ?

Luckily on Tuesday morning the wind had dropped to gusting, from galeforce and we went to Tarifa, on the Southern tip of Spain, near Algeciras, a town named after a Moorish commander Tarif Ben Maluk, who landed his forces there during a Moorish conquest in the 8th century. The are the remains of a castle and battlements looking out over the sea and there's also a port from where you can take a fast ferry to Morocco!! We had a very tasty lunch at a fish restaurant and then set off back along the coast road to see the many wind/kite surfers which we'd glimpsed on our way to Tarifa.....which is reported to be the windsurfing capital of Europe. We stopped at a very wild and windswept expanse of beach and there were dozens of mostly kite surfers zipping back and for across the sea. Apparently we were told that there are hundreds of them at weekends and we passed many kite hire shops and hostels and a few camp sites right on the beach...it does seem a very popular area.

Today was our last day at Conil, so bought a few supplies this morning and went to the beach for the afternoon for our last swim, before we move on from the Costa de la Luz to the Costa del Sol tomorrow.......and by the way, we never did find out why the chap we got quite chatty with, had Two return tickets on the ferry, when he is travelling alone!!!! Mystery unsolved?????

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Photos

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The kite surfers of Tarifa.

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The hundreds of wind turbines on the hillsides above Tarifa, with wonderful sunflowers in the foreground.