Home is where I park it

There is a little village near Tarifa called Casa de Porros (house of spliffs!), behind the few houses, shops & bars is a field known as The Pig Field. For 25 years it has been a place where travellers can stay a while for free, where holiday makers can park their campervans for free & where anyone wherever they are from can park, camp, stay & use the beach. Recently there has been attempts to stop this & make everyone pay to park there. This has caused uproar particually amongst Spanish people relying on a cheap holiday & travellers with very few places to go. The struggle goes on for a free piece of land for everyone to enjoy. Newspaper article about it in Spanish - http://www.europasur.es/article/comarca/1311063/la/junta/considera/ilegales/ocho/los/aparcamientos/litoral/tarifeno.html  Our camp in the Pig Field  Protest sign - basically says it is illegal to charge for parking, it is free for vans, tourists, caravans & campervans. RIP Casa de Po

I saw this amazing dragonfly the other day, I can't find out what it is though :( I also caught a Spider wasp dragging a spider to its burrow. Wasps in this family are solitary and nest alone. A female wasp will search the ground and tree trunks for a spider and upon finding the spider will sting it, paralyzing the spider. Once the spider is paralyzed, the female wasp will make a burrow or take the spider to a previously made burrow. The female wasp will lay one single egg on the abdomen of the spider using its ovipositor and then enclose the spider in the burrow. The egg will hatch and the larva will feed on the spider. When ready the larva will spin a silky cocoon where it will emerge as an adult either later in the same summer season or will overwinter, depending on the species and the time of year the larva pupates. I was amazed to see this magnificant Griffon Vulture land by the river where we were parked & hurried out to take some pictures. Despite g

The dogs enjoy a walk on the beach even when Lavante is blowing & they get sand in their eyes, up their noses & in their ears. Lavante is the name given to the strong warm wind that comes from the East that helps make Tarifa the wind surfing & kite surfing capital of Europe. Agua covered in sand Busta with sand in his eyes Bulrushes in the sunset

We have been staying at this wonderful location near Tarifa since December on & off. It is so beautiful with so many talented creative people that it is hard to leave! There is also an amazing abundance of wildlife which has been fascinating.  Sunset at Casa de Porros (Pig Field) Solstice full moon Grasshopper or Locust?  Large black longhorn beetle Cricket

Recently I had a new tattoo, luckily I got it in just before the heatwave started in Spain. After a tattoo you cannot go in the sea for a minimum of 2 weeks so thankfully by the time I wanted to go swimming a few times a day the tattoo had healed :) A good friend did the work and a very fine job he did too! The picture is from a book called Earth Wisdom by Glennie Kindred. The mermaid represents the element of water & my love of the ocean. We are with a few very creative talented people at the moment who also tattoo, make clothes & jewellery & want to create a new travelling lifestyle. Mermaid tattoo Beautiful, talented, creative people.

We stopped for a night in the Sierra de Tejeda mountains, a very beautiful area of Spain. We saw abundant flora and fauna in the mountains. The drive down the mountains towards the coast was amazingly beautiful although a bit scary in places!  Blue Butterfly  Pollen collecting  Dead Locust  Sierra de Tajeda Jump!

We stayed for a night at the Embalse (Reservoir) del Negratin near Zujar. Around the Reservoir was lots of abandoned cave houses. It looks like there was a mud slide there at some point, maybe the houses were abandoned after the mudslide.  Embalse del Negratin Cave house door

We stopped for a while on the beaches near Bolnuevo. There are lots of places to park up around all the nudist beaches that stretch down to Calnegre. The area from Bolnuevo to Calnegre has not been developed due to it being a breeding ground for Tortoises and Eagles and home to lots of other wildlife.   Ant Blackbird  Palm Tree  Tortoise  Owl Ruin Dogs

We passed by the Sierra Nevada Mountains on the way to Bolnuevo. It is amazing to see the snow capped mountains whilst sweltering in the midday sun! Whilst there we parked up at the hot springs near Santa Fe, a great place to stay for a while and take a bath in the hot water. When we were leaving we saw this amazing UFO cloud above the mountains!  Sierra Nevada Mountains UFO cloud!

Here are a few random pictures from the last couple of weeks :)  I love this picture of me & Agua at Los Lances beach near Tarifa :)  The old community well in the Alora hills where we are staying. Our Land Art :)

After leaving the Tarifa area after 3 months staying there we headed to the hills around Alora, a town inland from the horribleness of the Costa Del Sol. Alora is a nice little town set on some steep hills & all around there are hills with houses & farms dotted around. Spring was well under way by the time we arrived even though it had been the driest winter in 40 odd years.  Thistle  Orange Tree  Poppy  Pomegranate Toad

I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw cows relaxing on the beach. They didn't have beach towels or sun cream but they might have been hiding a windsurf for later! I also took a walk into the old town of Tarifa, a lovely old town & well worth a visit if only for the beautiful chocolate/cake shop near the main entrance which makes the street smell delicious!  Cows on the Beach Tarifa Old Town

Tarifa is the most Southern place in Europe & is also the place where the Atlantic meets the Mediteranean. We went down to the point where they meet.  Most Southern Tip of Europe  Barbed Wire  Footprints in the sand  Shadows on the sand