Day 59 – to Cortegana

I learnt a valuable lesson yesterday; don’t fall off your bike when you’re in your seventh decade of life. Not that I used to bounce back up, but injuries were quicker to heal. Mine are just soft tissue, muscle strains and bruises, but still, it wasn’t easy to get out of bed this morning.

It’s still raining, or it was this morning, when I took a slow walk with sticks at Coripe and it’s Via Verde.

Then it was on for the more unpleasant business of the day, driving through Seville. I needed to do two bits of business there. I stocked up at the supermarket without too much problem. Some Mercadona’s only offer underground car-parking, which is no good with the van. They tend to be the ones close to the centres of towns where space is at a premium. Also I needed to pick up a Movistar SIM card, which as a non-resident, you can only do at their stores. The card I use in my phone, Giffgaff, is limited to 63 days outside the country, which is about to expire. I found a store in Utrera and it was much simpler than I thought. It was 10 euros for 21 GB of data which lasts 28 days. I listen to the radio while I drive from my phone, through Apple CarConnect. The van has WiFi, but the signal isn’t as strong as the phone when driving. I use the WiFi chiefly for watching sport, which does not work very well tethered to the phone..hence two internet sources. The sim in the WiFi router is with EE. They have no restrictions on amount of time out of UK, but are more expensive.

The rain relented on descending from the hills to Seville. I headed north-west for Aracena and the Sierra de Aracena and Picos de Aroche Natural Park. This is chiefly, 90%, hill woodland, and largely Mediterranean oak, the western part of the larger Sierra Morena. The tops of the hills aren’t so high as elsewhere I’ve been, but there are the same typical whitewashed Andalucian villages on their slopes.

I wasn’t sure where to stay, and strongly considered Alájar. I parked up in the village car park, and just as I opened the door it started hammering with rain again, and a Garda arrived in a very aggressive way, saying that campervans were not allowed. There were two others in the car park, he wasn’t to know that at 4 pm I had not just pulled in for the cafe, but his ‘welcome’ had put me off. I went on to Cortegana, where there was a campsite with good reviews. The Austrian owner spoke very good English, and was keen for a chat. I was her only customer. After the five days of rain, the van needs a clean, and my wet clothes have an odour to them, so the laundry will go well. Also, it’s been a bit on the chilly side in the last five days for an outdoor shower, so an indoor one will go well..