Once you get in, you can’t get out of Al Hoceima – well, not easily anyway!
As it’s on a cliff top with roads leading down to different bays, we found that even a simple trip to the supermarket, got us in quite a pickle. We came up what felt like one of the steepest uphills ever and couldn’t turn left as directed or we would have lost momentum. So, we carried on straight forward into a dead end, then had to reverse all the way back. As a result, we did a big wide circle around the city just to get on to the road out to the west.
Following a long and winding road through the National Park, we made our way back out to the coast and tried to find the parking for Taoussarte beach (or the beach of 700 steps as it’s commonly known). A little signpost said ‘Parking ‘700’ but it must have been another 2km along a dusty track before we reached it, and then it seemed to be in someone’s garden!
Had lunch with feral child staring through the window, then set off on a forty minute treck (that’s a long way for us these days!🤣) through the mountains to see the stunning paradise beach. When it came into view, at first glance it could’ve been a rocky bay around Palafrugell, but upon closer inspection, it was just a tiny strip of grey sand with a scruffy shack at one end. The sea looked beautiful though. Having walked down the first flight of stairs, we found a seat to bird watch and abandoned the idea of walking all the way down.
It was nearly 4pm when we got back to the van…running out of time to do everything we’d planned.
Back to the main road, then out to the coast again, this time to Badès. It was a good track, right up until the end, when we had to cross a dry river bed. Unfortunately, there wasn’t enough clearance for our overhang at the back – this was made evident by a loud scraping sound and a bit of swearing! Probably worth it though, to be able to park on the beach. The French couple in a nearby motorhome thought so too, as they had done exactly the same thing! 🤣
Suddenly we were faced with the stunning sight of the Peñon de Vélez de la Gomera – a ruin and a military area on a huge rock – and guess what? It belongs to Spain and has the world’s smallest land border around it – marked out with a piece of blue string. A guard on each side ensures no illegal entry!
Looking like a nice quiet night on the beach for us. Wondering where to put our rubbish (no bins) …it seems the done thing is just to scatter it all around. For a National Park it is shocking around here.
