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Published: April 27th 2013
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Towards the end of last year Trish was given the opportunity to be an "extra" in a film. You should be able to see
The Counselor before the end of this year. Her scenes were shot in the desert of the
Bardenas Reales and since then we have wanted to go and explore the area a little. Staying in Tudela gave us the perfect opportunity.
We set off after breakfast and headed straight to the southern section of the national park. On the maps a road was marked which we could drive up to a spot from where we could do a nice walk. The road was a track and very rough at times. Luckily we have been on such roads before and know how to drive on them. Even so, we would rather have had a rental car than the Bogey Buggy! Still, our mean green machine coped very well with the conditions!!
Our first impression of this so-called desert was "What desert?" It is testament to the amount of rain this region has suffered that spring has brought with it an abundance of colourful fauna. This made for some amazing views and students who have seen these photographs
are incredibly surprised. The footpath we tried to follow wasn't very clear in places. Eventually we found the path which ascended the nearby peak of El Fraile. It was pretty tough going at times, especially where the rains had washed away the path and an alternative route had been carved into the ground. It was a great feeling to reach the top and the views were truly incredible. The colours in the fields made it an amazing sight.
Back at the car we retraced our steps to the main road avoiding the gaze of a distant wild or guard dog. Then we made our way to the central part of the park and popped into the visitors' centre just as they were closing for lunch! There is a nice circular route which you can go around on four wheels or two, and we did see some people on the latter. In the middle is a big military establishment, and that's where the landscape finally turned to desert. It's quite a long dusty drive round but it was quite spectacular. Slap bang in the centre is a bombing range and, with a good zoom or a pair of binoculars, you
can see some old F4 Phantoms which are presumably used as targets. We're not sure if photography was allowed, but what the heck!! A bit further round we stopped to admire the rock formation known as castelpiedra, the rock castle. It's not hard to see how it gets its name. Then, back close to the visitor centre, we paused for a while at the panoramic viewpoint.
Feeling pretty tired after all of this, we decided not to look at the northern part of the park. Instead we came straight back to Pamplona but it had been a wonderful excursion.
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Jackie boudina
non-member comment
amaxing pictures
Hi Russ and Trish, I am really enjoyinf following all your trips out in Sain and especially appreciate your photos which are amazing. Thanks for sharng your experiences. When will you be back in Hammam-Sousse?