An African Bee Eater, what colour!
Sorry, it’s been a while since my last post………..we have been keeping very busy!
The weather here is still pretty warm, in fact apart from the torrential rain we had in September for a day or two you’d almost believe it was still summer (well maybe not quite that hot!), very pleasant.
So what have we been up too, well, a little coastal walking as well as the mountains.
There is an area near the La Manga coast called calblanque, a beautiful natural park with stunning views of the hillside and the La Manga strip which divides the Mar Menor (little sea) from the Mediterranean sea.
At this time of the year it is truly quiet, most of the beach visitors having gone back to there city lives until the heat of the sun returns, and beautiful.
There are lots of opportunities to discover the wildlife, the area has been a designated nature reserve since 1992, making it safe from the building boom that has affected many parts of this coast. The park has a variety of wildlife including woodpeckers, eagles, rare eagle-owls - known as Bonelli's eagle. Unfortunately we didn't see any of those on this trip, but above is an African bee eater we caught sight of.
It is also possible to see the remaining evidence of the areas past history in mining - copper, tin and silver although it is not advisable to stray too close to the shafts as the remain unprotected and open. For a few weeks in the summer, in the town of La Union, they open the mine works to the public. Very interesting.
After getting your fill of fresh air and exercise you can adjourn to Los Balones, a busy little village, for a pint and a bite to eat or maybe pop up to La Manga club and do some celebrity spotting or you could just pop along to one of the many golden sandy coves with a good book and enjoy some quiet time.
Next time I’ll tell you about a walk from Alhama de Murcia, a town on the edge of the Sierra Espuna full of history overlooked by the remains of an Arab castle built during the 12th century.
You can find out more about our walking holidays by visiting our website www.vistaverdetrails.com
