Van Life in Spain: The Southernmost Point

[Music] today we're visiting the southern tip of Spain [Music] I'm writing writing writing writing in my RV my RV wherever I want to be guys I'm free in my RV [Music] we've been living in a van in Spain for almost 5 days and it is now that for the first time we're going to a proper Campground you know the ones where you have to show your passport your license plate number I mean the whole 9 yards very controlled very regulated we're staying at a small Beach town called Elm de well first time we plug into power we were at this place called El Palmar kind of an ordeal to to check in but seems nice they nickel and D me for everything so it ended up being like $42 and um yeah I we we really needed to plug in for power today because we're having the live stream I need to you know fully charge the laptop the the invert that I bought in fingland 7 years ago hasn't really you know lived up I mean it's it's it's worked but yeah I think the problem may be more with the house battery on the van than the inverter itself but I don't know I don't think we have enough amps to power the computer very nice great Ambience everywhere here at this this beach isn't this nice what a great Beach if the water was a tad warmer perhaps and if it was a little earlier maybe I'd be tempted to jump in I finally get to dip my feet yeah there's a reason why there's nobody is swimming on the beach the water is pretty cold and I'm not going to swim today maybe you know it's uh even though it's so hot outside the water is still a little too cold for Comfort I could go in but I mean it's kind of late and we want to enjoy some of the entertainment the area has to offer so and I bet you the sunset is going to be great here later today absolutely amazing let's go for a [Music] walk here's an old Watch Tower ka yeah we decided to start with a Ka small light beer and you always get something free at the very least olives by the way if you notice a difference in quality and style for this evening's stroll I just took my phone the whole Coastal street is lined up with restaurants and shops all next to each other having me so many options such great Ambience everywhere it is hard to decide such a Hidden Gem this town and I'm sure there are many like it only known by locals and when I say locals probably folks from southern Spain [Music] I've heard this is also a great spot if you want to learn how to surf being on the Atlantic kind of halfway between kith and [Music] Tarifa we decided to stop at this place called havita terraa and there's live music that's always a good [Music] thing W that's great rendition of my way flamco style you know I'm an IPA guy but kru Campo seems to be the beer of choice in southern Spain I kind of like it sunset will be happening soon and this is so great I mean some songs we know some are totally new to us [Applause] eventually we come out to the beach to experience the sunset and that Chingo seems to be happening Chingo by the way is what Spaniards call these casual Bach front bars they are all over the coast usually on the sand and just like that another day comes to an end we ended up at this restaurant by the Watchtower called most appropriately Lor the tower in Spanish we triy to takuna for the first time and loved it and then a delicious Seafood plate watching the light dissipate over the Atlantic Ocean oh that was delicious and the town is [Music] happening El Palm here definitely a party town [Music] don't really know the song but they really seem to like it and it is right here next to the campground so we'll have background music for sure tonight well good night well good morning it's laundry time here they are they use tokens that cost $5 and uh the wash RAC in here it does come with detergent already in and all that so that's good hard to figure out the settings when they have them covered but it is their way now yeah mhm huh that would have sucked guess you have to end there yep and then inio P [Music] 230 it says 2 hours and 30 minutes which seems long but then the timer on top says an hour and 30 minutes so I don't know we're going to be stuck here for a while maybe it is on eco mode or something oh laundry is done so it's time to go I don't think I have enough angle to get out this way oh by all means I can wait and think I'm going to go all the way around the campground which yeah it's basically a parking lot with amenities you saw the laundry but it also has showers and the place to get portable water and empty your tanks which by the way the toilet keeps leaking water and slowly filling up so I don't know what we're going to do but it's starting to get a little more than annoying now how do we open this gate getting close to it doesn't seem to work it turns out there was a switch the more you know right learn learning how to RV overseas is definitely one of the purposes of this trip and let me tell you we're getting a crash [Music] course look at the color on the water that is gorgeous it turns out we only explored a very small fraction of the Town it doesn't really look it since there are no skyscrapers but it is pretty massive the whole Waterfront is 2 mi long a little over over 3 km and this is where we turn and here's the plan we're going to try and hug the coast as much as possible to see what it looks like then Inland for a little bit on our way to Tarifa the southernmost point on the Iberian Peninsula then through alas to laia because the idea is to cross tomorrow morning into Gibralter for now enjoy the ride it should be a cnic one [Music] here's another town which looks oddly familiar and this one also has camping several campings camping and rving seem to be very popular in Spain so much to see in so little time right there are ligh houses and beaches whitewashed towns we're just doing the highlights really we're right next to the beach here too bad I didn't install a side camera to at least get some glimpses and let me tell you I would love to have unlimited time and explore every nuke and cranny and besides the limited time short-term parking is also very limited in these small towns even for a relatively small van like ours I just realized we were here 2 days ago when We snuck into that RV park not by choice to do an emergency dump and I remember these trees and the bike trail we've definitely been through here in fact it was going down this hill that we saw the faint silhouette of the North African mountains today a little too hazy to see it was also around here that we parked and regrouped and decided to backtrack and visit Seville even if it was too hot now now we continue where we left off descending onto a town called barbate barbate here seems nice very windy today as we approach the straight of Gibralter the boundary between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea very busy town and I'm still not entirely used to the width of the van and sometimes the very narrow lanes and pedestrians everywhere [Music] this Coast kind of reminds me a little of the California Pacific Coast po here in Sahara de los atunes is where we're going to take a more Inland route because guess what there's no Coastal Highway we'll be back on the coast soon enough they must be generating a lot of electricity here because it is definitely windy and the hay bales are rectangular cubes I like the fact that every town is different and have you noticed something no Global Brands not even Spanish Chains No McDonald's or Starbucks just a few local restaurants and bars these palm trees also remind me a little of California kind of like the Coachella Valley area [Music] the similarities are uncanny now tell me this doesn't really look like uh the area around Mojave California I'm sorry to compare but I'm getting California Vibes all over the place and now we have cylindrical hay bales [Music] here we are arriving in Tarifa the Southernmost city of Mainland Spain and they do have Burger King once you get into the larger cities you start seeing all these Brands we are so familiar with and one of these days I'm going to tell you how I feel about all these roundabouts the word trepidation comes to mind [Music] check it out they have glass bottom boat tours and presumably well watching let's find parking first and then we'll figure out what we want to [Music] do there seems to be some parking on the street here but let's see if we can find something closer to the city center some of these streets are a little too narrow for comfort and some turns are kind of tight luckily the ducato has a great turning radius very maneuverable for its [Music] size here on the right is the parking lot we were thinking of but it says no vehicles longer than 5 m well we are 6 M long so there goes that plan besides the parking lot is full now we must find the plan b by the way it seems to be a lovely town anyway we found an area the AO caravanas basically an RV parking it is a little further away but still walking distance so we plugged it into Google Maps so let's see if we can find it Google doesn't seem to work all that great here in Tarifa [Music] I'm not going to lie it is a little stressful driving an unfamiliar vehicle in an unfamiliar City with narrow streets and not knowing 100% what the rules are like who gets the right of way and all [Music] that for example is this a two-way street or is this guy coming the wrong [Music] way here's a parking lot but it has a chain preventing anyone over 2 m to park I guess to deter camper van and RVs and the street is blocked up ahead that's the way Google wants me to go we're going to have to turn around [Music] somehow apparently it was indeed a two-way street let's see if we can find an alternate route to that RV parking because Google seems bent on taking us through that blocked up Street Meanwhile we're getting the driving tour of the [Music] city many of these roundabouts have some kind of Art in the middle there's a lot of parking up here but super off level and kind of far from where we want to go I mean there are lots of RVs parked around here at this point I'm kind of looking at the map and trying to figure out the route on my own because Google is no help it still wants me to make a u-turn and go the other way and we've found it this is [Music] it no well as you saw not easy to navigate the streets of tarfa Spain here this place is supposed to be $8 for 24 hours we only going to spend like two or three maybe four tops but there's no one at the office so maybe we can pay when we return I think we're going to try and do that and here they have Services too there's I mean it's locked right now but they have a chemical toilet empty and water and uh yeah dump station if you will it's deser here yeah but then the whole the whole all the streets around this are full of H uh you know RVs parked on the side of the street so I don't know if that's um allowed or not but just to be safe we're going to park it in there if we're going to walk might as well take the coastal Trail right that's where we're going the southernmost point we should be able to see across the straet but it is too hazy today yeah we're walking towards a town this by the way where we're going is the boundary between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea so we're going to be technically from today on we're going to be on the coast of the med the Mediterranean and um I was going to say something else where I forgot oh the the the RV parking the Caravan they call it th caravanas um this one is a little further away from the center of town but it's a lovely walk here by the beach beautiful beautiful colors on the water and uh and I wish it was a clear day because on a clear day you can clearly see the mountains of North Africa of Morocco there should be some I mean you can kind of see a hint behind that sh let me see if I can zoom [Music] in that seems to be a nice Chingo out there on the sand and what if you looking towards the Atlantic side there seem to be a bunch of people kite surfing out there that's going to be a fun hobby or sport I guess which I bet requires a lot of [Music] skill and here's another Chingo it's called White Kiki it would seem people here prefer to dry their laundry the natural way [Music] cool lauro this is a food truck fgo of course short for furgoneta the Spanish word for Van let's try this one well that one was by reservation only so let's check this one out we're having kenyas of course so let's sample the local Cuisine fried and chovis and the local delicacy called kada it's pork chicks braced in red wine it is incredibly moist oh and fried tuna for a total of 2140 that oh my gosh anyway here's the entrance to the port and the monument dedicated to the men of the sea check out this old castle sitting up there apparently in Ruins those ruins up there they seem to be the Santa Catalina castle and there's another Chingo here I mean there's so much to see and do right now we're going to the southernmost point in Spain it is so windy we actually have to cover our ears and we're getting Blaster with with Sand and Surf it actually hurts here's looking back into town and look at all the sand blowing in the wind isn't this fun to [Music] watch I don't know if you can hear me but here we are at the very spot where the Atlantic ocean Ms the Mediterranean Sea and yeah it's very windy out here today Mediterranean and the Atlantic Ocean when I posted this photo there was some disagreement in the comments because how do you determine where the two bodies of water actually meet an old acquaintance of ours who is a professor insisted the British anave of Gibralter was geographical Dogma but how about we make the whole Straits of Gibralter like the neutral zone and leave it up to whomever you ask so if you ask the Spaniards it is Tarifa if you ask the British it is probably Gibralter while Moroccans are going to insist on somewhere just west of Sela the Spanish Enclave if you ask me I just love being here watching these folks do their thing I just wish visibility was better so we could see the African continent which is right there barely 10 miles across the street it would definitely be more them visible on a clear day here we are this is where we are right here here's looking back toward steady I don't think we can go all the way to the end but let's see what the sign says oh you have to reserve your visit it feels like everything these days requires a reservation kind of takes Serendipity out of the equation well unfortunately this was as far as we could go apparently you have to make a reservation although that gate looks like it hasn't been opened for years so I don't know now we're going to Brave the winds on the way back to tarfa here's another look at Tarifa the Atlantic side that is called pun Del Santo it seems like another great place to get a view of Africa across the streets a clear day here comes a huge cargo ship exiting the Mediterranean all right here we go on this side the Atlantic Ocean and on this side the Mediterranean Sea yeah I'm getting old I'm starting to repeat myself can you see the faint silhouette of the African mountains in the [Music] distance well I think that's it for 3 for today we're heading back to to the RV park we're going to see if we can pay whoever is in charge and if not continue towards jalter oh there's a wedding at the cheating gito [Music] no it is not wingwood walls it's tarfa walls H camper van pretty cool guess um graffiti murals are to really a thing these days no matter where you go in the [Music] world interesting architecture it almost looks like Pablo Revival but painted in white there he goes again that's got to be such a thrill next time we have to get one of these a proper Class C hopefully with a well we couldn't find anybody or anywhere to pay so we're going to continue [Music] [Music] we're going to stop here briefly this is called Mirador de esto straight Viewpoint here's hoping for a good view let's check out the view from up here unfortunately it is still cloudy and hazy so the view is not as good as it could be well this behind me the STS of jalter the coast of Morocco barely visible on the other side and here we are looking South the point where the Atlantic ocean meets the Mediterranean and once in a while it becomes a little more visible the coast over there Morocco and and Sela somewhere down there [Music] it's starting to clear up a little bit kind of sort of Wishful Thinking very fast moving lowline CL clouds [Music] here there it is I believe that's Gibralter in the distance we are now entering alas as it is pronounced in Spanish according to catalonian singer songwriter Johan Manuel serat this would be the beginning of the Mediterranean just to add to the debate by the way because of its geographical position this is the largest port in Spain primarily a trans shipment port [Music] we are basically driving around the Bay of Gibralter also known as Bay of alas towards a town called linia Spanish for the line and that's the Spanish Town that borders Gibralter [Music] ooh check this out what a lovely coastal town and that view of the Gibralter [Music] Rock we have to be careful not to cross the border by mistake we want to park on this side and cross on foot and yes this is one of those where you have to show your passport and all that rig moral oh I think this is it this is going to be €33 for 24 hours which seems a little steep but hey we're right [Music] here well greetings from linia we parked right here at this parking lot which is right on the border with Gibralter Gibralter is a a British colony here and um we did a supermarket run real quick there's a supermarket like I don't know half a kilometer away and uh now we're going to see there's a marina there's there are things to explore here very convenient parking lot tomorrow morning we're going I I'll show you into the the rock the Gibralter Rock which by the way this right here this is pretty much tou the border right there where that you know Tower is so uh that's where we're going tomorrow we're just going to walk around a little bit here now there it is Gibralter that in the distance would be the port of Al jeras Al jeras very photogenic with all that Haze crazy to think that's part of a whole other country different language different money different rules very [Music] cool let's go for a [Music] walk oh yeah this was the original parking lot I I had selected on my map to park but then I found that other one that is closer to the Border but in this one they have a RV section and apparently they also have like services like dump station and all that yeah heading that way it's very far actually I'm glad we parked where we did and this is the marina we're going to walk around a little bit maybe have a Tinto at the bar maybe not we'll see they have all these super cute house boats here they even have sundex let me tell you I wouldn't mind I wouldn't mind at all spending a couple of nights in one of those and this one looks like a party boat you could rent more research shall go into this for a potential future trip I just love it I mean a house boat is basically a floating RV [Music] right actually this is way nicer than where we are the more you know yeah in hindsight we should have probably stayed here more this are right here in front of the marina we're going to enjoy a beautiful sunset it over the Mediterranean now we ended up having a summer red tto the barano at this place but I didn't film it Boat House Mediterranean hey maybe next time huh what do you guys think fre in my boat house incredible I wonder how much they are with a view of the rock of course this look just like the palm trees near Slab City in California maybe they imported them from here all right let's go let's go [Music] back we're heading back to the parking lot [Music] even though everything seems hunky dory right now it is not our frustration with the van keeps growing exponentially I'm going to contact support but if I can't get that toilet fixed by tomorrow morning I'm driving back to Madrid I'm not kidding even if I don't get a full refund our sanity and enjoyment of the trip is more important for now let's enjoy the sunset and sleep through another warm night hopefully tomorrow we can still visit the Rock [Music] well good morning I forgot to turn on the camera this morning because it's been upsetting to say the least we haven't talked much about it but our our cassette toilet has been leaking so whenever the the water pump is on that Cass said toilet starts filling up you know the toilet bowl and uh it's been a real problem and uh and now we were to fill up water and uh our uh our uh host has the wrong thread maybe is that particular place because it is so close to uh Gibralter maybe it has the wrong thread I don't know but in any case we're going to go to campground to fill up water see if it holds see if um we've been contacting Indie campers and we're just going to show up at the Malaga location and uh and see if they can do something about it let me backtrack and Rewind here this morning the toilet bowl was once again full of water and the cassette was once again full so had we flushed it would have overflowed and it would have been a hot mess so we actually had to take a plastic cup and empty it by hand I'm not even kidding anyway I was finally able to chat with Indie Camper's customer support and they said that we could go to the Malaga Depot that's 2 hours East of us but at this point I just want to get this problem solved I was able to make an emergency dump at the RV park we saw yesterday evening but as I said I couldn't fill up with water needless to say we're not going to be able to visit Gibralter but at least let me try to get some water at this nearby Campground after waiting for what felt like an eternity while the attendant chit chatted with other customers I mean yeah the perception of time here is totally different it is their way anyway water was only for campers actually staying there so onward we go let's try to make a Non-Stop run to Malaga at least there is a four lane Highway in excellent condition this is the A7 AIA Mediterraneo or the Mediterranean Highway it is however a tall Road I mean it is actually a gorgeous drive here we go our first stalling Spain they do have an attendant in order to expedite things but all he's doing is tapping our credit cards on the machine and give us our receipt it seems unnecessary but very much appreciated on our first time now we know how to do [Music] it something tells me we must be getting close to the ritzy town of Mara here's a perfect example of why sometimes that attendant is needed is it me or are these stalls getting more expensive the farther we go even in our grouchy mood we have to admit it is a beautiful drive here we are at the Malaga Depot if there is one person who deserves a race in this entire organization is Rafa at the Malaga Depot he really tried to salvage whatever was left of Indie Camper's reputation at this point and while he couldn't really diagnose the problem completely he came up with the solution while we drive to our next destination let me tell you what he did I mean in my opinion they should have given us a new camper but apparently they didn't have any so this is what he did he unplugged the water line from the toilet and basically plugged it disabled it he put like a torniquet kind of deal on the hose but for the rest of the trip we'll have to flush with the shower that will work I guess he also noticed we had really low water pressure so he replaced our pump cleaned our faucets and overall did everything he could with his Limited resources to fix most of what was wrong with the camper he really tried to make it right I'm still reluctant to give this company my business ever again but to Rafa Malaga thank you you may have salvaged our trip I feel like the real camper van trip begins now on week two we still have so much to see we're going to stay at this beach Rafa recommended and tomorrow we begin exploring Costa Del Soul the coast of the sun and some England points of interest as well until then thank you so much for watching and see you on the [Music] road I'm riding riding in my RV

2024-10-09 08:58

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