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Published: October 6th 2004
San Jose from above
We took this this after hiking to the top of a hill/mountain by the hostel.In all honesty, we contemplated extending our beach holiday in Tossa de Mar to continue to relax and bask in the sun. However, wanderlust, we set off for San Jose on August 27th. In an effort to cut costs, we decided to sleep in our seats rather than pay the extra 20 euros each (~ $32 CAN) for couchettes. This no longer seemed like a good idea when we discovered that the seats did not recline; we woke up every ten minutes with the ‘nodding head syndrome’.
Two buses and two trains later, we arrived in San Jose. San Jose is a small seaside village in Cabo de Gata (a national park in south east Spain). The road to San Jose travels through a desert for ~15 to 20 kilometers (a stark contrast to the lush north eastern coast). The town is set in a small bay with a sandy beach and is bordered by volcanic mountains. There are remote beaches and caves along the coastline north and south of the town. The climate in August is arid and steaming hot (and we thought that Barcelona was hot!).
We arrived during siesta but luckily found a restaurant to serve
Remote Beach
A beach about 15 minutes drive south of San Jose. us cold drinks on a shaded patio until our hostel reopened at 5:30. The hostel is set above the town, minutes from the beach. It has a large patio with a straw thatched roof and is equipped with a bar/café; a great place to escape from the hot afternoon sun and meet fellow travelers. It truly had a great, relaxed vibe. The majority of the travelers and all of the staff were Spanish and spoke little to no English. We learned enough words to politely order food/beverages and signed our way through other conversations. Based on our experience, Spaniards are very patient and accepting. We did however meet a handful of travelers who spoke English, most notably a couple from Holland, Ferdinand and Sondra, with whom we shared many great conversations over countless cheap Spanish beers.
A typical day for us in San Jose was as follows: wake up and enjoy breakfast on the patio (toasted baguette with tomato spread and OJ), spend the morning/early afternoon on the beach, siesta, explore the area through various hiking and kayaking adventures during the early evening (when the temperature cooled), dinner at the hostel (which was surprisingly good by hostel standards), and
Local Greeter
This dog greeted us each day to and from the beach. Check out his smile. finally fiesta into the late hours. We had no difficulty adopting the Spanish lifestyle! We spent five days and would have happily stayed longer. Perhaps we will someday return.
San Jose: Highly Recommended.
We would like to make note of a few things:
First of all, we quickly compiled our email lists before we left for our travels and have since noted some signifiiant ommissions. If you know the email addresses for any of the following people, please send them to us: Dobbin aunts (Rita, Maureen, Marion, Margo), Mike Chementi, Wade Metz, Lynda Ritchie, Bridgette Bouchard, Sondra Ng, John Frangolias. We are probably still missing names...Sorry.
Secondly, the pictures seem to take a little while to load after we post each entry, so check back if they are not there.
Finally, as you have probably noted by our travel dates, we are very behind in our entries. We will try to catch up as best we can before we head for Africa.
Hope all is well in your various corners of the world. PLease keep the comments coming. Ciao T and J
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anonymous
non-member comment
hey guys
u guys sound like ur having sooo much fun! Spain looks like a great place to visit, but Africa sounds like its gonna be the best place yet! Take lots of pics for me, especialy of the wildlife and surounding areas! if u can get a pic of the sun set! Anyways, have fun! Amanda