Today we had planned to go into Puerto Banus, to see how the Marbella jet-set live, and to admire the mega-yachts. Whilst technically, we have had a tour of Puerto Banus today, we can’t honestly claim to have done it justice, as we couldn’t actually get out of the van. There was absolutely nowhere to park. At all. There was a bit fo metered parking on the roadside but the spaces were marked, and we’d have taken two plus some overhang. We’d seen the tow-truck out collecting cars, so we didn’t fancy chancing it. After several circuits of the town looking for parking, we decided that we’d come back to Marbella another day, or just go to St. Tropez where there is motorhome-friendly parking!
A quick rethink, and we were off on the twisty-turny road to Ronda. Our experience in the Sierra Nevada meant that we had an easier time with the climb today, so it was quite a fun drive. We’ve come to Camping El Sur, which is the closest campsite to Ronda, with an easy 1km walk into town. We’d been debating all day whether we’ve been to Ronda before, when we came to Andalucia 10 years ago…I was convinced we did, but Emma took some persuading. You’d think the 100m bridge would stick in our memories, but neither of us was completely sure!
This is the ‘New Bridge’ – completed in the late 18th century! The old bridge is smaller and medieval, I think. It’s the new one that is the icon of Ronda – it’s quite hard to take a photo of it that does it justice. From up top, you can’t get the scale of the bridge, and from down below you don’t get the impact of the gorge – I guess it’s one of those things you need to see in person.
We’re now all tucked up at the campsite, where it’s 10.40pm and it’s still hot! We have lots of windows open, so I think we’ll sleep, but my oh my it is hot up here.
View from our campsite
Tomorrow, we’re going to drive down to Tarifa, the most southerly point in Spain. The plan is to take a day-trip across the Straits of Gibraltar to Tangier, for a bite-size taste of Morocco. After that, we’re hoping for a whale-watching trip from Tarifa, then a trip to Gibraltar for a surreal glimpse of a Little England. After that, we’re inching towards Portugal in a week or so.
