Exit plans

Another pleasant sunny day with a cooling breeze - 26-29C. We picked up Patricia from the bus stop at ten twenty and drove to the CAMEO coffee morning in San Pedro. We were eight with the regulars, several others still away. When we drove back into Estepona we left the A7 by a different junction, which took us pas the industrial estate zone where last month's fire did some damage to one of the units nearest to the open heath land. The route was busy with traffic but gave me a new perspective on the town's geography. Inland it's very hilly, and every hill is populated with housing, much of it high rise. We used this route in order to pass by Patricia's house and drop off a bag full of English language novels. They were the last of several bags of books left by previous occupants and circulated among ex-pats in need of a new read. 

Clare had a swim before we cooked lunch, then after a siesta we took a bus from the bottom of the hill that could take us to the east side of Estepona Bay to the Estacion de Buses. When the bus reaches the post it has to turn inland and wind its way over the hills through various barrios, passing the edge of the old town and eventually reaching the far side of the Paseo de la Rada. The bus can't turn east here, as there's no junction to enable this. It has to turn west and drive for half a kilometre before it can join the eastbound carriageway in order to reach the Palacio de Congresos and a Carrefour Hypermarket located in the same vicinity as the coach terminus.

We bought coach tickets for the 17.30 coach to Malaga a week next Sunday, and then went to board a bus that would take us back to the house. The driver wouldn't let us on because didn't have a mask. On the out bound bus, the driver wasn't bothered, although as the bus picked up passengers it became evident other passengers were wearing them. We had to go into Carrefour and buy a pack of masks before we could get on the next bus. It was the same driver who took us on the outbound run, still not wearing his mask properly, in contrast to his zealous colleague. Ah well!

When we got back, Clare fancied another swim, so we went to the pool. It was full of small children, all have a great time. She swam for ten minutes, sunbathed a while longer, and then we headed back to the house. I made fish soup with rice and peas for supper. Clare relaxed on the sun lounger on the upstairs balcony, watching the sunset, while I walked part of the senda litoral. The charco at the place where the rio Guadalobon reaches the sea had been breached, allowing sea water in, and possibly safe exit for sea turtles and fish normally trapped by the sandbank. This looked a bit like environmental management to me rather than a natural occurrence, as there have been no extreme conditions to lead to such a breach in recent days. For the second time during my stay here, there was a heron in the river, and I don't think it was the same kind of heron as I saw last time. Still, it was a rewarding walk before bed.