Alange

The carpark (€0) looked out on a large reservoir, one of the nicest locations we have had this time. The stork nesting above the van seemed to like the location as well. With yesterday’s rain the car park was muddy, particularly around the service point. We were not convinced we wouldn’t get stuck so we didn’t use it, other than for toilet emptying which was an issue as the toilet one was blocked! We did a walk to some cave paintings, although not much to look at, I enjoyed seeing them and thinking about our ancestors who would have painted them. It was a lovely walk through fields of wild flowers and we saw linnet and rock bunting. The next day we cycled into Merida. It may have been a mistake to not stop at the parking in Merida. The bike ride took longer than expected, we stopped by the dam wall, watching harriers, wax bill and lots of unidentified birds, one was a beautiful orange finch or tit that I cannot find in my app. Then we had to stop again to watch the griffon vultures, and a third time to take pictures of all the storks nesting. At this stop I decided to get of the bike in a very unladylike manner, ended up rolling down the gravel bank and acquiring a few bruisers. Merida has history, lots of it. We did the Alcazaba (old islamic castle ), the roman theatre and amphitheatre, both really well preserved and then some roman villas that have the best mosaic floors I think I have ever seen. We didn’t have time to so anything else and we seriously considered coming back the next day. If we come this way again I will spend longer here.