Coping with the Levanté - Day 5

Day 5 began with a trip into Tarifa to catch the boat at 10am. The sun was hot and the sea was calm as we headed out of port. We headed south-east to see if we could catch sight of any Striped or Common dolphins, or even a Sperm whale.

The African coast was shrouded in mist as we headed out, and we soon came across a small group of Bottlenose dolphins. We didn’t stay for long as we continued eastwards, and before very much longer, while we were looking out for the blow of a whale, we saw some fins. Just a few at first, but then more and more.

We had found a pod of Striped dolphins. Much smaller that Bottlenose but striped along their flanks they sped through the water jumping as they went. The group seemed to be of about a hundred or so, but we were told that with Striped dolphins you count how many you can see and multiply by 5.

We watched them jumping, hunting, swimming and generally playing about, and then at one point when a big ship went past they suddenly all sped off in a big line, like they were having a race. The sea was becoming a little rougher now and the mist was creeping westwards too. Although we had only been out for about an hour our captain said that the Levanté was coming and that we would have to head back into port.

Our original plan when we got back to port was to do a bit of bird watching and then visit the Roman ruins of Baelo Claudia at Bolonia. Having got back to port early we had the option of going out on the biggest Turmares boat or carrying on with the rest of our day a bit early. All except one wanted to go out on the other boat so we joined the other 120 or so members of the general public who had bought a ticket and headed out to sea once more.

The sea had got a bit worse since we came in, but in the bigger boat, the Jackelin, the captain set a south-easterly course and away we went. We sailed for about an hour before eventually we came across a group of Bottlenose dolphins. There were maybe around 20 or so, and although we had good seats near the edge, there we so many more people about that the experience wasn’t as good as on the Rainbow.

As this was only a 2 hour trip the boat then turned and began to head back. The sea was getting rougher all the time and each time the captain tried to turn across the swell, the boat rolled huge amounts and he had to change course to steady it up. This continued all the way back, so much so that the boat sailed well past the harbour and into slightly calmer water to enable it to turn. A number of people were sick on the way back.

When we got back to dry land Pierre took his friend Sara, who arrived last night, back to her hotel (she was one who had been sick), Mike and Gill went off on their own and Fran and I went for lunch with Gabriele, Silvia and David. After lunch we went back to the hotel for a swim to cool off before heading off in the van again at about 5pm.

We went up into the mountains a little way and saw some vultures and bee-eaters, although from quite a distance away. On the way back we stopped at the Roman ruins of Baelo Claudia at Bolonia and had a good look around there. When we had finished, at 8pm, we returned to the hotel for a quick swim and a shower before going out for dinner at 9pm.

Dinner was at the Hotel Punta Sur less than a mile up the road from ours, and was very nice. After dinner we headed back to our hotel and went to the bar for cocktails. I had a Mojito and Fran had a Bacardi and Sprite, with lots of Bacardi. We had a great evening and got back to our room just before 1am.