Costa del Sol, parte Dos

This was the day I was warned about. Delta Day.

Coworkers were convinced that this was the most dangerous part of the trip, that they had barely survived. "Whatever you do, don't go on the path to the right. It looks like you'll get to the top quicker, but it is so steep you'll struggle not to fall down the mountain, especially on the way down."

This day, the course instructors hung back, and told us to go ahead and inspect this:

 

(Not the grocery cart, the thing behind it).

My team (there were 4 in total) headed to the left of the smaller hill in front. There, we found what looked like two routes, the right one being steeper but much more convenient looking. So of course, we went up to the right. The whole time I'm wondering to myself, is this the route they were talking about? Is this it? As I scrambled up a couple tight ledges, my mind raced back between fear that this was our path to destruction, and smug disbelief at my colleagues' wimpiness.

To put it succinctly, we made it up to the top of the lower side before we received a call to come back down. A storm was coming! The clouds sure looked that way. An hour later, we were here:

Nice weather, eh?

Fast forward a day. A stop at a coastal cliff tower. I forgot how old these are, but they are pretty old.

 

 The climax of the trip as not the dreaded Delta Day, but actually the Carbonate Day. We climbed a mountain made of limestone by the coast (El Arrecife de Mesa Roldán). Our instructors had installed a series of ropes to hold on for life as we looked down a 60 degree slope into the sea.

A break halfway up. Our instructor, Kick, takes a pause as he decides how to word his next quip.

Onto the next location. I lag behind to take pictures...

This one was tricky. Aeolian deposits made from carbonate grains. If you are a geologist, you understand.

The view from my hotel room my final morning there. Yes, awesome.

This excursion in Almería went by so quick, and it was packed with a lot of cool places, good food, and time well-spent with many people I won't see again. It was time to set off alone again, this time to a city full of hippies that live in caves and Arab markets. 

Costa del Sol, pt. 1

I packed up my bags in Madrid and headed for Almería, from which we would take a couple hour ride to the sleepy town of Carboneras. This lonely corner of Spain, hidden from the consciousness of the experienced European traveler, is just plain out of the way. However, this area is a geologist's dream. One can walk in a canyon with deep marine deposits towering around him, then take a short drive and find beach deposits the next valley over. This is why I came here. To look at rocks.

To you this may not sound exciting. I took hundred of photos of rocks, as well as the diagrams our instructor drew. As much as I want to show these off, I will spare you.

After a couple days of only simple tapas, a plate with plenty of deliciously marinated pork was refreshing and one of the most memorable dishes I had.

 

We were supposed to do a sketch of these hills. We did lots of sketches actually.

 

Our second day, the walking-through-the-desert day, began with a climb to the top of a hill surrounded by valleys. At the top of this hill were the ruins of a castle originally built in the 11th century. Looking down on the town of Tabernas, where we later stopped for a nice cup of coffee.

The walking-through-the-desert part of the second day begins. We get dropped at one canyon, and walk its length, through a damp tunnel, across a wide valley, past the movie studios (yes, a full on Old West town), and the ruins of the church from The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, to another canyon.

Oh yea, there was more rambla (dry riverbed) we walked through. Really cool layering.