Waiting for a 'plane

Time to get the apartment ready to welcome Eddie and Ann this morning, so Leah came in to clean through, I changed bed linen, swapped bedrooms and gathered up all of my goods and chattels scattered in every room. By midday I was shopping for a few last minute food items and then on my way to the airport with an hour to spare. This gave me an opportunity to turn off the airport motorway and head into the village of Guadalmar, which is at the western flank of the Guadalhorce Paraje Natural nature reserve.

The Guadalhorce river runs down a wide valley from the Sierra de las Nieves and meets the sea through two main channels, just below Malaga airport. So there's a substantial wetland and saltmarsh area, that's perfect for welcoming migratory birds

I parked the car by the modern church of Our Lady, Star of the Sea, walked into the reserve from there, and explored some of the terrain along the riverside. 

I was fascinated to find that the ground was carpeted with green clover. I saw a couple of egrets flying at a distance, a flock of yellow birds which may have been finches heading away from me, swifts and swallows chasing each other overhead. A lark hovered and chirruped away, all in the three quarters of an hour I had to walk around. I can't think of a better way to kill time waiting for a 'plane to land.

I arrived at the airport punctually, only to discover that Eddie and Ann's flight had been diverted to land at Granada, supposedly because winds at Malaga were too strong for the smaller type of jet airliner flying from London City airport. That meant a long wait, so I left the airport and went to nearby Churriana to get a drink and some lunch and part the car for nothing while I waited. Just after three I had a text message from Ann to say they were on a Malaga bound coach. By quarter to five we were re-united and on our way to La Cala.

I was glad to have made time to cook a meal before setting out in the morning, so we went down to the beach for a walk in the light of the setting sun, before eating and relaxing for the evening.