Tarifa again ...

Sloppy research leaves things open and the walking between Tarifa and Bolonia is no exception.

Having failed to identify a clear off road option by desk research or by asking a very helpful Spanish bloke along the way (he told me the incoming tide cut off the beach route at the end of the Tarifa stretch and a short time on the Cadiz road to Valdevaqueros would put me on a beach before picking up a track through the forest ... having neglected Spanish studies it was all above my head, I was nodding and smiling, saying Si, Gracias, and one or two other appropriate words to fool him) ... took the safe but hard option on the hard shoulder ... passing the Tarifa Centre for Drug Dependency ... slogging up the Bolonia Pass ...

At the museum, a map of the Natural Park offers a scenic route through pine woods, well marked with Camino de Santiago style arrows ... pointing towards Bolonia (Santiago?) helpful to check and three other sign posts at critical points ... deep sand slowing me down, wildlife lifting me up ... hitting a back road at Paloma, past redundant military buildings and down to the beach again ... coffee with the windsurfers ... shoes off all the way keeping cool in the shallows, shorts off too, to wade waist deep through the tricky part where incoming tide meets outgoing river ... and so to the Melting Pot again ... one night booked ... the next one open ... check other local options, head back to the Casa .... the handy map produced by Otman at the hostel shows more walking towards Algeciras ... 20 km on the road and a doable stretch for tomorrow or Sunday ... let's see ...