Delta revisit surprise

This morning I drove up to El Perello to visit 'Bona Fe' the church shop cum drop in centre, to meet a couple of the volunteers on duty, and catch up with what's been happening up there in the chaplaincy outpost in Catalunya. Afterwards I drove back to Vinaros by way of the Ebre delta. I've been looking forward to this for ages. Last time I was there two years ago, I watched the harvesting of the golden rice fields in early September. 

Two months later in the growing cycle, a large number of those fields are under water, and a select number of them that aren't have old rice plants in them, with green shoots growing out of them. I can't be certain of the reason for this. Either these fields are allowed to lie fallow and plants ploughed in later, or it's a kind of rice that regrows productively after being cut. Just thinking about this made me realise how little I know about agriculture and plant life.

I drove from Camarles to St Jaume de Envieja to cross over the Ebre on the bridge which replaced the old ferry crossings. It was constructed as a four lane dual carriageway, but unusually, the seaward side lanes are pedestrianised with a dozen benches where visitors can stop and picnic, or even subathe while enjoying the panoramic view down river from on high. 

I followed the road down river to the Isla de Buda, an island in the Delta which is part of the nature reserve, and reachable only by a floating bridge. The road continues to the beach. About a kilometre inland, is the Alfacada wildlife observation tower next to a restaurant. I stopped there and took a few photos to compare with those I took back in August two years ago. It's interesting how different the seasonal vegetation colours are.

Then, I set off in southward across the delta, aiming for the village of Deltebre, where I knew I could find a bar or restaurant for a snack lunch. Approaching Els Muntells, I noticed a modern cemetery surrounded by rice fields about half a kilometre from the edge of the village, and stopped to have a look. When I went to set off again, the car failed to start. Dead, outside the cemetery! There was no power, suggesting that the battery was disconnected or that a main fuse had blown. Two years ago the car had failed to start because a battery terminal had worked loose, but there was a new battery now and it was well secured so it seemed unlikely this was the source of the problem.

There was no alternative but to phone Michael and ask for help. Within half an hour he was on his way with a mechanico at his side, using sat-nav to reach a place he'd never been before. There wasn't much the mechanico could do, as an electrical connector in the steering column lock was the source of the problem. It was impossible to arrange a grua (tow truck) this late in the afternoon, so we had to leave the car with a note on the dashboard, to inform the Guardia Civile that the car had not been dumped but broken down waiting to be collected.

The irony in being stuck out in a place surrounded by rice fields, was the lack of wildlife, the odd egret and heron, and a few small birds, but nothing compared to some of the flooded fields I'd passed which had dozens of herons plus egrets large and small and ducks. Still, the sun shone and the wind didn't blow, so the open air wait for rescue wasn't arduous. The afternoon's photos are here.