Coast watch

Another night when it wasn't too hot to sleep thankfully. A load of washing done and hung out to dry after breakfast, then editing next week's Morning Prayer audio, making the video and uploading it to You Tube. We then went for a walk along the senda litoral, where the mouth of the rio Guadalobon is blocked off once more. The charco teeming with fish and sometimes turtles as well is a natural feature, but I'm pretty confident nature is being given a helping hand here. I wish I could find out more.

While we were walking I heard the rumble of a high powered motor boat off shore. Not that of a pleasure craft or a fishing boat, but a high powered engine. I caught sight of a boat off-shore and took a picture that revealed the legend 'Guardia Civil'. This must be one of the high speed Spanish vessels that intercept drug transporting craft, commonly called RIBs (Rigid Inflatable Boats) with big racing engines, equipped to outpace standard police and customs patrol vessels. 

Costa del Sol far western beaches are destinations for drug runners in highly sophisticated organised crime enterprises. Cargo is off-loaded to a RIB outside territorial waters, then run ashore to a rendezvous with transporting gangs on-shore. Andalucia outside of the holiday zone is economically deprived, so it's not good when drug crime is shown to pay, but this isn't prevention but rather mitigation of the reality. Real economic development, productive industry would do more for the health of the region and its crime rate.

Clare cooked swordfish for lunch, a delicious favourite of ours. I augmented yesterday's efforts to use all the veggies Clare's diet doesn't allow with brown lentils soaked overnight and cooked with garlic. The mix went down well with gluten free pasta, but the swordfish had to be savoured on its own!

After a siesta, Clare had a swim in the pool, then we went for another walk by the sea before supper, and for lack of anything better to do or watch, a couple of ancient episodes of NCIS before early bed. Both of us are feeling tired today, perhaps because of the amount of walking we did yesterday.

Getting ready for summer

I enjoy not having to plan what I'm going to do every day here. There's always something that comes up, that I need to engage with. This morning I worked on preparing a letter, as if I was in Cardiff at the CBS office. I find that having a quiet workspace is quite constructive, even if I miss out on the social dimension, and the cups of tea.

After lunch, I walked along the Rio Chillar that runs behind our urbanizacion to Playa Torrecillo. For the first time, as the weather is now warming nicely, I abandoned socks with sandals, and very soon regretted having done so. I called in the Super Sol next to the main road bridge out of town, to buy a pair of socks, to reduce the damage being done to my left big toe joint, a long standing vulnerability. It made the continuing journey less of a misery, but a protective plaster will be necessary for a while. Something like this always happens when I get a new pair of sandals. Stupid really. Will I  ever learn?

On the return walk, I paused on the Balcon d'Europa watching a boat making its way up the shore, about a hundred metres out, dropping off occasional yellow marker buoys as it went. I couldn't quite make out what kind of craft it was. It was too large to be an off-shore fishing boat, and I couldn't see any nets flowing out of the stern. Then it dawned on me that the buoys were to establish a no-entry boundary for maritime craft other than leisure boats. Presumably the boat was the guardacostas equivalent of the familiar local Council lorry. It's still early in the holiday season.