I know this blog is JEFFS BIKE TOUR, but part of bike touring is the freedom to do what comes down the road. This little town of Colera came down the road. I don’t have to catch a bus, train or plane just pedal to my next destination. So I took a little vacation from traveling, to enjoy the sights.
Went snorkeling yesterday, me & 4 (non english speaking) older French scuba divers. All that scuba equipment is so encumbering, snorkeling is so simple and fun. The Mediteraean isn’t the great barrier reef, but it was just me and the guide, so we saw a lot of sea life. We saw a MORAY EEL some starfish, coral, and some fish. He brought some bread & that brought the fish. There was a migration of Monk Fish, they had a shark like fin jetting out of the water.
THERE WERE NUMEROUS SIGHTINGS
COLERA DIVING CENTER is a well run operation & affordable. Its a great place for beginners to learn to dive. The staff is super friendly and knowledgeable. The boat that took us out was super fast and comfortable.
THIS IS TETE MY UNDERWATER GUIDE AND ONLY ENGLISH SPEAKER ON THE BOAT
Like I said earlier the boat was great
OUR CAPTAIN DAVID , ME AND TETE
After a fun morning on the water I stop by to see the artist, Nuria. She is a hard worker, art doesn’t
make itself.
THIS IS ONE OF HER CERAMIC LAMPS.
She a genius artist, but like most artist not very good at business, she didn’t even have business cards. I suggested she make a sign for her Studio/Gallery, in 3 languages spainish, french & English. Said she was going to when she got back from camping and would send me a photo. I thought we were going to go to dinner, nope. We were headed to her community garden plot, that needed some help. Its so windy here at times you could see the top soil flying away. After weeding for an hour I suggested (I have my master gardener certificate) that we cover the soil with the weeds we pulled and after they dry out, dig them into the soil. At my garden at home I plant a cover crop of crimson clover, that supplies both nitrogen and mulch to the soil.
THIS IS A NURIA AND HER FRIEND SIETA (?)
Nurias art is all over town.
THIS IS A FULL SIZE CERAMIC MERMAID THATS AT THE CAMPGROUND
I hadn’t seen the sculpture yet,cars were always parked in front of it. People come from all around to eat here. She didn’t know the english name for mermaid, so she called it WOMEN FISH.
THIS ISTHE FISH POND AT THE CAMPGROUND
You all know how much I like hiking, NOT. But they really promote several hikes around here,so here I go. I make one failed attempt and decide to get up early the next day and make another try. I head to the abandoned town of Molinas. I must be getting close,but then a van comes driving up and of course I try to hitchhike, I get a ride and he speaks english,score. He said the last person he expected to see on this road was an American. I told him this is the last place I thought I would be considering Im doing a bike trip. He lives nearby and had never been to Molinas, he came to photograph the remains of the town.
THERES MORE PHOTOS ON THE LINK AT THE END
I ride by some hikers from the campground, they accuse the American of taking the car all the way.
I stay and hang around the photographer, we meet a young couple who got a 20 year lease on one of the houses if they fix it up. I don’t want to leave his side, english. but I head out to the Molinas CASTLE. there wasn’t much left of the castle.
THE ARCHWAY WAS PRETTY AMAZING
Walking does have its advantages, you can see so much. The cactus are blooming now
THE BEES WERE WORKING THE CACTUS FLOWERS
WHILE HIKING I WOULD COME TO SPOTS THAT HAD BUTTERFLIES EVERYWHERE, HOPE FOR THE FUTURE OF THE PLANET.
So Im somewhat aimlessly hiking and I come upon this bench.
IM IN THE MIDDLE OF NO WHERE AND THERES THIS STONE BENCH WITH WATER TRICKLING OUT A SMALL PIPE.
I continue my hike, trying to find the Church of Sant Miquel
I CAN SEE IT FROM THE TRAIL, BUT CANT FIGURE OUT HOW TO REACH IT?
I give up and hike back, I come to the stone bench again. Ive had a landscaping business for 25 years and decided to apply my skills. I pulled the berry vines & weeds, swept up using a yep, a scotch broom branch.
THIS IS THE WRONG PHOTO THE RIGHT ONE IS AT THE END OF THE BLOG?
I was walking the beach the other day, found a plastic bag and filled it with garbage I found on the beach. Later a resident said she saw me and thanked me. I told her you cant just take from places you have to give back.
Im hiking back and my feet have given up. I hear a car coming, I stick out my thumb, presto 2 rides in one day! Im walking the road back to camp and what do I see, a short cut to the SANT MIQUEL CAMPGROUND.
THATS THE CAMPGROUND, HIKED THE TRAIL AND JUMPED THE FENCE IM HOME!
I head straight for the pool and see my fellow hikers, they cant believe I just got back, they said they had a siesta.
Tonight the Diving company is having a little meet and greet.
DELORES (hostess in rest.) & SERGE (dive shop owner) SERVING UP SANGRIA FOR FELLOW DIVERS
They had a least 50 people show up for the meet and greet.
CONSIDER THE POPULATION OF COLERA IS 575 THIS IS A LOT OF PEOPLE.
I was going to leave Colera June 1, but theres a problem. I sent a box from Seville, Spain with all my souvenirs from Morocco. I kept asking my friends if they got the package yet? NO,NO,NO. So Im about 5 miles from France so if Im going to sort this out, its now. Nuria drove me to the next town that had a post office. They scanned my receipt and found that the package is sitting on a shelf in Seville. Why? good question, they couldn’t tell me why. So their sending the package to the Post Office here. It could take 3,4,5 days? Its not like Im suffering here, I needed an excuse to stay longer and I got one. Now I can rebox and add the stuff I bought since Seville. Its all good in the end.
The new photos are HERE
Their way down there, maybe from the art park down
I hope you all appreciate this blog between writing and downloading 7 to 8 hours, its a job, that I love.
till next time
Jeff
THIS IS THE CLEANED UP BENCH PHOTO, I DONT KNOW WHAT HAPPENED?
I really wanted to post these 2 pictures of the sunset sky llast night.
