Málaga: Animal Parks and the Beach

The last two days of our vacation in Málaga were less active than the previous two, although; we did add some last minute leisure.  Both of us got a little too much sun while on the Rock of Gibraltar, limiting our motivation to sit on the beach for a prolonged period of time.  Instead, we decided to visit local animal parks during the day and would watch the sun set on the cool evenings.  On Saturday, we went to Bioparc Fuengirola, while we toured Selwo Marina on Sunday before heading to the airport to catch our flight home.

Sunset on the beach

Another sunset

Fish won't see me coming at night

The Bioparc featured mostly terrestrial species exhibits, with the best feature being, "Lemur Island."  During scheduled times, a guide brought a group of patrons inside the habitation for a (relatively) close encounter with the docile animals.  We decided to go twice because the first time our group was too large to get a good view of the baby lemur, but the second round proved to be a more successful venture.

Lemur Island

Noisy humans dare disturb my slumber

Bundle of Lemurs

Baby has been spotted

On Sunday, we drove to Selwo Marina, a slightly difficult task for our GPS, but not nearly as bad as our experience trying to find Cueva de la Pileta.  The marina is certainly the smaller of the parks, but admission includes a bird and dolphin show.  The Aves display was as advertised, birds from around the world flew overhead while characteristics and cocktail information were described over the loud speakers.  Emphasis on the "loud!"  I am not sure who did the sound check, but for an area the size of an above ground pool doesn't need 15 speakers turned up to eleven (it wasn't a Spinal Tap* concert).

To throw more sand or not to throw more sand

Really loud bird

Inside the bird cage

Where are the birds?

The dolphin show was situated behind the bird stadium and proved to be a much quieter experience - after the ringing in our ears subsided.  A sea lion and trainer provided the opening act, followed by the entertainment of six dolphins and four trainers.  The show was good, but the real fun started after the performance.  During "free" time, the trainers threw exercise balls into the dolphin pools (all gates were open through the four pools).  The pod took turns either kicking or poking the ball around, interacting with the gathering audience.  We enjoyed our visits to both parks and were a great way to get some more animal encounters while avoiding the sun during the hottest parts of the day.  We spent late Saturday afternoon walking the promenade along the beach and enjoyed the sunset while sitting in the sand by the ocean.

Dolphin time

Recreational exercise

Tail kick...?

Adios

Our return to Germany was a pleasant surprise, the weather wasn't nearly as hot as the 30-degree weather we left, but the sun has made a prolonged appearance.  The temperature is rising and the flowers are blooming.  The best part, it's almost Spargelzeit - the season for white asparagus.  The delicious vegetable will be on every menu for the next few months.  Not sure what it is about Spargel, but we are compelled to order any and all variety of dishes it is featured.

*Spinal Tap goes to 11

Gibraltar: A Large Rock and a Ton of Monkeys

On our second day in Spain, we drove to the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula - where we would temporarily leave the country.  Our destination, Gibraltar, a self-governing British territory with elected officials, but defers to British Imperialism for complex affairs (foreign relations).  To get there, we found a parking garage in La Linea (Spain) and proceeded to walk another 800 meters across the border into Gibraltar.

Getting off the cable car

Looking west

First monkey spotted

As we strolled through the pedestrian zone, the streets were very representative of Britain, occasionally passing red telephone booths and pillar boxes.  After the shopping district, we made our way to the cable car that would take us to the "top of the rock."  The line was long, but not long enough where we would be hounded by the peddlers trying to pitch their van tours.  We only had to wait thirty minutes from the time we got in line to the time we reached Upper Rock Nature Preserve.  It was less than sixty seconds from the time we left the cable car until our first monkey encounter.  There was a feeding frenzy near the beginning of the path, starting the stimulus overload.

Julie with Frick... or Frack

Frick and Frack

Watching the humans

Bailing after an unsuccessful sunglasses swipe

We walked around the main part of the rock several times, observing the behaviors of each niche of monkeys.  After our third lap, we found two adolescent monkeys playing on the path barrier with reckless abandon.  Frick and Frack were a curious and gregarious duo, first climbing on Julie and then attempted to steal my sunglasses.  Luckily, the crowds hadn't amassed and we were fortunate enough to enjoy the company of these two.   Encounters with the animals is at your own risk, but feeding them is strictly forbidden and carries a hefty fine.

Family grooming time

Pondering life's complexities

Learning the proper technique

Leave us alone already guy with camera

However, monkeys are wild and people are stupid.  There was a British couple that seemed to have sparked an interest in a larger monkey.  Moments later, we saw them tossing food for the privileged experience.  At one point, they even got a little aggressive because the monkey stole the woman's hair clip, which they initially thought was a riot.  They proceeded to lure the monkey with more food, then aggressively grappled with the animal for the stupid hair clip.  Sadly, their ignorance went unpunished - financially and/or physically.

Loungin'

Prison cell near Moorish Castle

The Rock of Gibraltar

Morocco in the distance

We spent a few hours walking around the Upper Rock Nature Preserve and it never seemed to get old despite seeing the same groups of monkeys.  Having gotten our primate fix, we walked towards the Moorish Castle to explore the southern part of the park.  Further down the pass, the clouds in the distance (finally) broke apart and we caught our first glimpse of Morocco.  We meandered a little longer and took one final lap around the dense monkey area before returning to sea level.  Back in the pedestrian zone, we indulged ourselves with some English comfort foods at the oldest bar in Gibraltar (Star Bar).  When we arrived back in Málaga, the sun was setting - a perfect time for us to enjoy a stroll on the beach under the pastel sky.

On our last lap

Guard post on path

Downtown

Ronda: Historic Bridge and Prehistoric Cave Paintings

It's officially Spring and as temperatures increase - so will our travel frequency.  The new season started with a trip to Spain; in addition, we planned extracurricular adventures in Ronda and Gibraltar.  The reaming half of our vacation would be dedicated to relaxing on the beaches of Málaga.  Unfortunately, we got off to an unsettling start, arriving at the airport 32 minutes early.  Narrowly making it in time for Ryan Air's (strict) 30 minute boarding cutoff.  Fortunately, there were zero people in the security line.  During boarding, I realized I didn't have my wallet after passing through the metal detector.  When I went to ask the security agents about my wallet, they were confused as to its whereabouts.  Turns out, it never made it all the way through the baggage X-ray machine - an embarrassing realization for all parties involved.  The rest of our journey was without errors and went relatively smoothly - sans some intermittent turbulence throughout the flight (I suppose we had to fly through the permacloud to find sunshine).

Panoramic from el Balcon de la Alameda del Tajo

Before checking into the hotel, we stopped at a local Lidl (grocery store) to purchase some wine.  Walking through the aisles was sweet music to our palates and wallets - wine averaged €2.50 a bottle (as cheap as €0.99 for champagne).  After grabbing what our arms could carry, we continued to the hotel.  It was early morning and the exceptionally rude front desk employees declared it an impossibility to check-in to the hotel for another three hours.  Given the waiting time, we thought it'd be best to head to our first extracurricular activity, tour the city of Ronda.  There was a the possibility of adding a visit to Cueva de la Pileta, but our information was limited to Julie's note, "cave with old drawings."

Gazebo on Alameda del Tajo

Puente Nuevo

East side of bridge

After a two-hour drive, we arrived in Ronda, a quaint town in the Andalucia community of southern Spain overlooking El Tajo Canyon.  We started our tour by walking through Alameda del Tajo, a cliff-side balcony above the valley.  We briefly enjoyed a free harp concert by the gazebo, but mostly enjoyed the view.  Around the corner, we made our way to Puente Nuevo - the "new" bridge, and main attraction of the beautiful village.

West side of bridge

Opposite El Tajo Canyon

That's a huge bridge

It was mid-afternoon and we decided to grab a quick lunch, but the restaurant had atrocious service - even after flagging the waiter - twice.  He seemed more adamant about cleaning old tables and rummaging aimlessly around the two balconies on the east side of the bridge.  Our patience wore thin and we decided to head to another establishment.  We settled on a restaurant on the opposite side of the bridge - a location where we had an entire balcony to ourselves (with the better view, side with the waterfall).  With our remaining time in Ronda, we went down a path to get another vantage point of the top attraction, perused some souvenir shops, and walked around Plaza de Toros, the bull fighting arena.  The city was a pleasant surprise, plus, we still had enough time to investigate these "old cave drawings."

Street of Ronda

Horse carriage going over Puente Nuevo

Iglesia de Nuestra Senora de la Mercad

We plugged the address into the GPS and started making our way to Benaoján, a small community about twenty minutes from Ronda.  While driving through the town, we came across an area where the road turned into a cobble stone pathway, nearly unfit for one-way traffic - unless you were on a golf cart.  Leaving our fate in the hands of technology, we continued with the dictated directions.  Eventually, I took an incredibly sharp right-hand turn onto a "street" where I obstinately refused to go any farther.  Our rental car was small enough for most of the alleyways, but we had been funneled deep into this constricting maze of a town.  Our problem, how were we to get our car around this small 90-degree turn in reverse, with approximately 10 centimeters clearance on all sides of the car - which had no rental insurance.

Made that right-hand turn. Honk Honk!

Roadside goats grazing

Fluffy Cloud

Adding to the pressure, a car full of people that stopped and repeatedly honked their car horn while vigorously wagging their fingers at us.  Clearly, we realized our mistake and were trying to turn around, but the incessant honkers and finger waggers didn't seem to understand. At one point, we switched drivers as stress levels continued to rise.  Then, a second car came-along, a-honking and a-wagging their fingers at us.  The hilarity continued as a third finger-wagger came out of her home and expressed her dissatisfaction from her balcony.  Finally, we made the exit - no damage to the car - only our ears.  Luckily, a gentleman approached from a third vehicle, presumably to ask us what the hell we were doing.  I asked him if he knew where Cueva de la Pileta could be found.  He told us to follow his car as he would lead us in the correct direction - assisting us until the final kilometer (he will never read this, but we are absolutely grateful for his help).

Cave entrance

Starting our tour

Two of the many paintings inside

The parking lot at the cave was empty, with exception to the one car we assumed belonged to the employee working.  Shortly after our arrival, another couple was going to join our group, but backed out at the last minute due to poor footwear decisions - heels and caves don't bode well for ankles.  We have visited one cave before while on vacation in Sardinia, Neptunes Grotto, but that was sufficiently illuminated and had acoustics throughout for guided tours. Cueva de la Pileta a far different experience.  Aside from the light in front of us provided by our three flashlights (including our guide), the darkness engulfed everything else.  Our guide provided excellent detail of the features used by the prehistoric denizens and explained the paintings and their estimated age.  It was incredible how well the paintings have been preserved knowing they range in date from 10,000 to 25,000 years old.  When we left, we bought two postcards with pictures of (some) the paintings we saw.

Visiting Ronda and Cueva de la Pileta made for a most enjoyably day, adequately covering the three hour waiting period for our hotel room to be ready.  Upon our return to the hotel, the front desk staff was still a nightmare to deal with, but the service staff in the restaurant was the polar opposite.  We called in early evening in anticipation of our drive to another country the following day, a territory under British Imperialism and full of monkeys.

Lanzarote: A Canary Island Full of Pigeons and the World's Most Inaccurate Rock Thrower

The four days previous the weekend were full of the German permacloud, however; we were graced with consecutive days of intermittent snow showers.  On Thursday, a total of twelve centimeters fell in our little town, although; when I picked Julie up from work, our accumulation was evidently isolated.  There would be no flight delay or difficulty reaching our vacation destination, Lanzarote, the eastern most Canary Island off the southwest coast of Morocco.  Our trip was two-fold; we would spend a day sightseeing, while the remaining time would be devoted to libation and relaxation.

Parking lot at Timanfaya National Park

Rocky terrain

Spotted our first greenery

Situated on the Canary hotspot, the origin of the island is volcanic in nature, a unique terrain observed on our drive to Timanfaya National Park.  Lanzarote has one remaining active volcano and shares its name with the park.  Bus tours of Timanfaya introduce tourists to a landscape molded by eruptions over millions of years - the most recent, a six-year event starting in 1730.  The arid climate and volcanic soil limit the flora and fauna - a biome composed of succulents, birds, lizards, insects, and lichen; a sparse, yet extraordinary environment.  The bus ride plays audio describing the area in three different languages (English, German, Spanish), but one is easily distracted by the serene, almost alien surroundings.

Montanas del Fuego

Panoramic views

Mars...?

The entertainment continued when we returned to El Diablo, the restaurant atop Timanfaya.  Utilizing the convenience of the hotspot, the cafe cooks food over a well exposed to the underlying hot earth.  For further proof of the excessive core temperature, a guide greeted the gathering tour group and placed a small amount of rocks in everyone's hands.  Immediately, each person dropped them due to the surprising calefaction.  Next, he placed some tumbleweed into a hot vent, within seconds the bale ignited into flames.  If fire and burnt hands weren't convincing enough, the final act included a makeshift geyser.  With metal pipes protruding from the ground, a small amount of water was poured down a spout and subsequently smoked like a chimney.  When the entire bucket was poured into the vent, a geyser spewed the unwelcome water three meters high, temporarily camouflaging our guide behind a wall of steam - concluding our visit to the park.

Volcano kindle

Hooray, the volcano is doing things, everybody look

And now for my disappearing act

Making my getaway

A short drive down the highway, overlooking Montanas del Fuego (Fire Mountains) we found a pull-off area with a museum and some unexpected ungulates.  We lost interest in the museum as soon as we saw the series of camels saddled for rides. In total, there were twenty-four camels separated into groups of six and could each carry two passengers (sounds like a math problem...the first group of camels departs at 11:23 traveling at 1.618 kph; a second group departs 5.8 minutes later and travels at a speed of 3.141 kph.  what is an ungulate?).  For the next fifteen minutes, we rode the docile Hilario, the camel caboose of the group, named after the fabled nomad who planted a fig tree in Timanfaya's volcanic soil that never bore fruit.

Fire Mountains

Camel path

Unwinding ungulates

Julie with Hilairo

Returning to the day's itinerary, Julie penciled-in El Golfo, a small fishing town on the southwest coast.  While driving, we got the feeling we were on another plant - a rigid, harsh landscape enveloped with coarse soil; the Green Lagoon near the sleepy maritime village only added to the extraterrestrial impression. The shore is covered with black lava stones, bordered by turquoise ocean, while white-caps ceaselessly crash into large red rocks.  Parallel to the shoreline, the Green Lagoon rests at the basin of a seemingly lunar mountain (lagoon gets it's color from algae in the salt water).  Enamored with the beauty, we prolonged our visit and sat on the cooled molten rubble.  I attempted to shatter a few of the pebbles by throwing them at a larger formation where the waves broke.

El Golfo

Green Lagoon

and again...

Laughing at her rock throwing ability

"Beach" picture

More rocks

Seated to my right, Julie decided she would do the same, grabbed a rock, placed her arm at her side like an Olympic athlete preparing to throw a discus - then heaved with all her might.  Her efforts were most impressive, not in that she reached the mass ten meters in front of us, rather, she hit me square in the face.  I don't know how Newtonian physics fit into the equation, but I do know that if she were to throw the celebratory first-pitch of a baseball game, it would land somewhere between first and second base.  Apparently, if Julie is throwing rocks, the safest place to stand is directly in front of her, but she is now a under a temporary projecttile ban.

Martian surface

Salinas, but closed for the day

For the remainder of the weekend, we remained relatively sedentary, enjoying on our oceanside balcony - reading and relaxing to the ebb and flow of the waves oscillating below.  The hotel was all-inclusive and we shared the wealth with some local wildlife.  Over the next day and a half we made two new avian friends, pigeons.  Later, we met a third who was particularly inept, unable to associate bread with food - we named him "Mush," symbolic of the bird brain within.  Sadly, the weekend had to come to an end, but our island visit was the perfect combination of adventure and leisure.

Our new friends, Piggy and Skidmark

The smart one

Room with a view

Goodbye Lanzarote