El Rocio and Seville

Travelled:106km
Visited: El Rocio  and Seville
Stay:Seville: airbnb- fantastic spot in the centre

We were not moved on and we left our spot before 8am and we drove to El Rocio. We were amazed at the 'wild west' feel of the village.  We read that upto 1 million pilgrims travel here for the annual romeria in May/June.  

We then drove to Seville to our booked parking near the airport . We finalised our packing for our 4 day weekend in Seville and at 1:30pm we were kindly picked up by the owner and brought to the airbnb apartment. We chilled, explored and waited for Tom and Kristy.  Then it was time for tapas.

Spain- Palos de la Frontera

Travelled : 138km
Visited: Palos de la Frontera, Spain
Stay: car park in National Park East from Mazagon, Spain (unauthorised but with 3 other motorhomes) N37.08080 W6.68749

We took the motorway out of Portugal and stopped on the outskirts of Huelva in Spain  to buy some auto gas. 

It is a relatively large port town and it is where the famous Rio Tinto mining company began, named after the river that flows into the estuary here. 

Statute of Columbus

We then visited Palos de la Frontera. A beautiful village from where Columbus set sail on the Santa Maria in 1492 bound for the East Indies.

It was from here Columbus departed. Area is now silted up.

From here we continued a short way to Mazagon and had some lunch before stopping in the National Park. It was evident that it had been built by EU money several years ago but no upkeep has been done since then. We went for a walk and the eroded cliffs along the beach looked interesting. 

Upon our return we noticed most of the other motorhomes had gone. We asked a Spainish couple if they were staying the night and the said 'no you are not allowed'. So we decided to go to another parking lot a little further on and we asked the French van if they were staying and they said no as they had been told no overnight stays allowed. Our next option was to drive to the next town but on the way we noticed a few campers in another car park and they were staying! So here we are... and fingers crossed we don't get told to move on. After a simple dinner of scrambled eggs we walked along the boardwalk to the beach and we're surprised to find rubbish bins overflowing which looked very unsightly and detracted from the possible pristine coastline. Feeling disappointed we returned to Bluey and began preparations for our weekend visit in Seville.

Alcoutim and Altura

Travelled : 180km
Visited: Alcoutim and Altura N37.171170 W7.500630
Stay: Altura - aire, large free parking 30m from beach

It's always hard to leave a lovely spot but we enjoyed the drive to Alcoutim. 

 We parked in the aire and after some breakfast we went for a walk into the tiny port town on the River Guadiana. We looked over the water at the spanish village on the other side and then  strolled along the quaint narrow roads stopping to read the interpretive signs scattered throughout the village reflecting on its historical journey.

The Portuguese emblem!

 We then took the scenic road via Foz de Odeleite before continuing on to Altura,  a holiday town on the  beach in the Algarve. Not quite our thing, although we are happy we aren't here when it's the busy season but find the town has no atmosphere at the moment.  Even so the aire is nearly full and it is a great spot being so close to the beach.

 Choosing our spot we headed out to find a lunch of grilled fish. Unfortunately the restaurant we chose from TripAdvisor was closed but the real estate agent recommended a cafe around the corner which prevented us wasting anymore time choosing from the various restaurants open. 

Feeling satisfied after our meal we walked along the beach in this very popular Algarve area. We were happy that at least this area was not swamped buy high rise apartments and hotels that we could see in the distance. Unfortunately it was not warm enough for a dip so we just contented ourselves with just sitting on the beach. Before settling in for the night we ventured a bit further in the town and then it was rest time in Bluey.

Another day in Mina

Travelled:0km
Stay:as per last night

We thought our spot was a too good to leave,  so we stayed another day and didn't do too much.  A few walks, lunch at the local tavern and read a book. We felt a bit out of our comfort zone at lunch. The waiter didn't speak English and luckily we met some fellow french motorhomers that were regulars who helped us with ordering. We chose a serve of roast pork that is enough for 2 and we washed it down with a couple of Bock beers. We had another lovely day.

The market

Communal oven

Contaminated water