From the south coast at Conil we wanted to go to Doñana National Park a short hop of 60 miles, however there are no direct roads as its a massive wetland and I had to drive nearly to Seville and down the other side to El Ricío a distance of approximately 150 miles. Miles of beautiful countryside to look at as we passed by, dark ominous clouds yielded a fine drizzle just enough to wash the windscreen and then it was gone. Sun out again showing up the brilliant yellow of the Burmuda buttercups that are on any patch of wasteland and also under a lot of olive groves.
Walking into the town of El Ricío it was quite different, like a TV set for a western with sand roads, verandas on the houses at the front, wooden rails everywhere for tying up horses and picturesque but empty looking buildings. The town is the centre for the largest pilgrimage in Spain with many pilgrims making their way by horse or horse drawn carriage and of course some in modern vehicles. Dating back to the 13th Century after a few ‘miracles’ happened in the town and nearby at Almonte in 1653, a shrine was built and regular religious days were held. From that beginning there are now 95 Brotherhoods or Hermandades who come from all over Spain to gather together in the annual celebration.
A considerable amount of this town is made up of empty buildings with the fronts having tiled shrines and religious pictures to represent the brotherhood, having the name of the town or city name above the door. These are where the people stay for maybe a week out of a whole year, they maintain the buildings and have them cleaned but most of the year the area is a ghost town. The colourful festivities go on for 3 days and ends up with a statue of the Virgen del Ricío being carried through the streets and back to her shrine in the beautiful white Hermitage, accompanied by music, dancing and fireworks.
In complete contrast to all this, we had come here to experience Doñana National Park and we walked alongside the large lake that is situated on the edge of El Ricío, complete with many flamingos and spoonbills, glossy ibis, various ducks, black tailed godwits, coots and some snipe.
Further along we took to a woodland setting on a boardwalk between tall pine trees casting a pool of shadow on the grass beneath. Native bushes, cork oak and gorse were further out away from the tree cover and we watched white storks circling on thermals and others on their large nests of messy twigs situated on top of pylons. The birds ‘clack’ their beaks together rapidly when their mate arrives at the nest to reaffirm bonding, this can be heard all over the reserve.
After walking around all the natural habitats we could find we had lunch over looking the lake. Apart from the birdlife which we obviously enjoy, the highlight of was when two ladies in Spanish flamenco style dresses came riding side saddle up to the bar for drinks. Now you don’t get that in many places!
Joining a group of people on an enormous green bus, high up on all terrain tyres, we set off deep into the Park. Travelling along slowly, binoculars in hand, our guide told us about what we were seeing, speaking both in Spanish and good English; she had worked at Slimbridge in Gloucestershire five years earlier for a whole year. We learned that the Iberian Linx had been seen the day before and everyone was hopeful for our trip. They feed mainly on rabbit which have been decimated by disease, efforts are being made using old tree stumps to give protected areas for the rabbits to encourage breeding and therefore food supply. We passed by areas of water with herons, ibis, black tailed godwits and more ducks, saw lots of buzzards sitting on fence posts, a large herd of red deer but sadly no Linx.
Moving on next day via smaller roads on a scenic route through the hills it was beautiful and relaxing. Our picnic spot enroute was overlooking a valley with an amber coloured river far below, it had picnic tables set out below the pine trees with low bushes and purple heather.
Arriving in Aracena we found a free area to park in the town looking over the rooftops to the remains of a castle. It is a pretty little town with a wide main street with church in the centre, lots of shops selling Jamon, for which this area is famous and bars along one side. With lots to see and do here we bought a combined ticket to visit the Caves, the Jamón Museum and the Castle for just €12 per adult.
The caves are called Gruta de las Maravillas which means cave of wonders and have been open to the public since 1914. They are situated 50 meters under the hill that the castle sits on top of, consisting of limestone which has been eroded by carbonic acid over thousands of years into spectacular formations. The tours last 45 minutes and the caves are spread over three levels with a lovely warm temperature between 16° – 19°C all year and a humidity of 98%. There is water running through some of the caves which supplied the town until the end of the last century, beautiful pools with reflections and ripples as drops run off the rocks. We had a very good audio guide in English to tell us about everything we were seeing, it was well worth the money to see it.
The Museo del Jamón a really interesting place to find out how the local delicacy that we love so much is produced. The Iberican pig is a traditional breed but also other pigs of the area are also used, they are reared slowly outside and in autumn and winter they eat acorns from the three types of oak trees of the area. These and the herbs during natural foraging give the meat its lovely flavour. Curing takes months and/or years as some producers age the product to deepen the flavours.
Lastly we visited the castle ruins, well we walked up to and around the outside as there was no one around to let us in. As it was a ruin we could guess there would be broken down walls, arrow slots, and may be a collapsed tower, anyway, the views from up on the hill were wonderful. The Castle Priory is Gothic and Mudejar and was built in the 13th century and 15th century. It has three asiles of the same height and a vaulted ceiling wi5h an elaborate and detailed altar piece.
We are gradually moving north up through Extremadura and stopped off at Badajoz with another great free parking overlooking the bridge and park. Walking through the remnants of the fort end of the bridge we read how it used to protect the city from any Portuguese attack, now long out of commission it is just a few walls before walking across to the city itself. Views of the city park spread below us, many facilities from jogging tracks, outdoor gym, dog park, children’s play area and refreshment booths, it was a lovely relaxing facility with a long walk alongside the river.
We had spotted a hill top tower or two and walls so we went to investigate what turned out to be the Citadel, which was a stronghold for the Moors for four centuries. We walked the old city walls with various towers in between, climbing the steps for magnificent views over the surrounding city, bridges and river. Ancient archology had been unearthed and in the museum amount lots of artefacts were a couple of lovely mosaics.
Looking down from the walls we spotted Plaza Alta which is a very colourful and distinctive former market square, the red and white section is mainly privately owned and looked very photogenic, while bars and restaurants reside at the other end.
There were many beautiful buildings including the City Hall, built in Neoclassical style with its distinct yellow and white colouring, the Edificio la Giralda with its red and white exterior and the lovely white Convento de las Adoratrices, among many more interesting places to see.
The view from Bessie on returning from our day out was a most spectacular, the old pedestrian bridge in front of us was lit up and there were beautiful reflections on the water.
Our motorhome adventures 
The churches, the stone arched bridges, the castles, the wetlands and the coastal towns – – all so beautiful!!
LikeLiked by 1 person