The Last Day - Day 7

Day 7 has been a very long day, and also a frustrating day, but still good nonetheless. We got up for breakfast as planned and left the hotel for Tarifa to catch the boat at 10am with the intention of being out on the water for four or five hours.

Before setting off on our final voyage the above photo was taken. It shows Pierre, David, Fran, Me, Mike, Silvia, Gill, Gabriele and Sara.

We left harbour and headed towards the place where we first found the killer whales on Monday. Very soon we come upon a group of Bottlenose dolphins. These were not residents, but passing through from further east to the Atlantic to feed. We didn’t stay long with them as we wanted to try and find Orca on our final day.

As we continued west it became clear that there was a problem with the boat. It kept losing power when the captain tried to accelerate. The captain thought it was a fuel filter that was the problem so we went back to port to get the boat repaired after only an hour at sea.

We arranged to meet up at ten to 12 at the Turmares (the whale watching company) office to find out how long it would take to fix, and if it wasn’t fixable to go on the Jackelin again which sailed at 12. When we met we found out that the part had arrived, but that the mechanic was going out on the Jackelin so couldn’t do the repairs. We then arranged to meet again at 1pm while another mechanic was found. What made it even more frustrating was that Orcas had been seen in the Straight.

When we reconvened again we discovered that the boat actually needed two filters and only one had been brought, plus the mechanic that had been found was inexperienced and didn’t know how to fix the problem. We were given the option of going out on Turmares’s third (middle sized boat), the Dolphin Safari. This would be a two hour trip(from 1 til 3) and there was then a possibility of going back on the Rainbow before it was booked out again by another group at 5.

We boarded the Dolphin Safari, having been briefed by Pierre on the best places to stand, and hoped for the best. The boat didn’t leave port until 1.30 and due to the lack of sightings (they offer money back or a free trip if nothing is seen) we stayed out a long while, before eventually seeing a group of Striped dolphins just before heading back to Tarifa. We did also see an Ocean Sunfish jump out of the sea in front of the boat a couple of times, which is apparently very rare.

By the time we got back to port it was 4pm and we were a bit dejected that that would be it, and it was a disappointing end after such a good week. Then we were given the surprise news that the Rainbow booking had been cancelled and that we could go out on it for a couple of hours. It had been a long day and Gabriele decided she would rather go back to the hotel, so took a taxi while the rest of us set out onto the sea again at 5pm, 7 hours after we had initially done so.

We immediately headed west and after a while found a group of Moroccan fisherman, but sadly they had seen nothing, and once again were not going to start fishing until later. So as time was short we turned and went east and then saw some Striped dolphins with a few Common dolphins coming towards us. We followed alongside and watched for a while before heading off again.

A little later we found some Bottlenose dolphins swimming west and watched them briefly. They were not resident, but another group passing through as Pierre did not recognise any of their dorsal fins. The Bottlenose dolphins turned out to be both our first and last sightings of the week as we had to reluctantly head back to Tarifa for the final time.

We drove back to the hotel and had a swim before showering and going over to the bar for a drink before dinner. We then went in to eat with the others for the last time. We ate our meal and were given a free drink by the hotel staff afterwards which was a very strong drink that tasted like Lemsip and vodka.

After dinner we went over to the bar and had a last cocktail together. Fran had her large Bacardi and Sprite while I had one of Pierre’s favourite Mojitos. Then it was back to the room to pack and type this before falling asleep at about 1am.

Another New Species - Day 6

Day 6 was a bit different from the others as we didn’t go out on the boat first thing. The forecast was for the Levanté to keep blowing for a while and die down later on, so the boat was booked from 4pm for four or five hours.

We had a leisurely breakfast at the hotel, but when we went back to our room we had a bit of drama. When I opened the bathroom window a snake reared up on the windowsill. I shut the window quickly, but caught it’s tail in the window. Every time I tried to open the window to flick out the tail it reared up again. We did eventually manage to get it free without it getting inside and it slithered off down the passageway. We were then picked up at 11am and headed into Tarifa. Fran and I had planned to spend the morning in town before meeting the others just before 4 for the trip.

The first thing we did was go to the castle and had a look around and a climb on the ramparts. Much of the tower was built by Guzman el Bueno who had a son captured during one war against the muslims. The muslims told him that they would kill his son if he didn’t surrender the keys to the castle (and city), so he apparently threw down his knife and said (in Spanish I suspect) “go on then”...so they did, by slitting his throat with the knife that had been thrown down. He still refused to surrender and so to the towns people he was a hero.

After the castle (where my bag split and I bounced my 40D and 100-400 lens on the concrete) we spent the rest of the morning shopping and getting presents for people. Then when the shops started to close at 2pm we went for lunch. We both decided to have pasta at the El Torreon restaurant which was quite nice, and then had an ice cream before heading down to meet the others.

We left harbour at quarter past 4 and just 25 minutes after heading east we found a large group of Striped dolphins. They were feeding amongst the fishing boats, but we couldn’t get that close because of the fishing lines from the back, but some of them came to see us. There were a number of them swimming around the boat, along with a few Common dolphins, another new species for us.

We bobbed around in the water watching the group for about 20-25 minutes before heading off to see if we could find any sign of the Sperm whale that had been seen in the area. There was no sign of it, even though the water was flat calm and we could see a long way, so we went to look for Orca. We travelled west for just over an hour before seeing anything, and then saw some Bottlenose dolphins. We watched them for 10-15 minutes before taking up the hunt for Orca again.

We continued west and sailed amongst the Moroccan fishermen again. They had not seen any Orca, only Swordfish but there were no Pilot whales about so we were still hopeful. The problem was that the fishermen were in position, and were ready to cast their driftnets, but were waiting for dark so there was no activity.

We headed back east for another search for the Sperm whale, but again there was no sign of it although we did see some jumping Sardines on the way. It was now 10 past 8 and as we struck out for home we came upon the Striped and Common dolphins again. They were jumping all around us. We were surrounded and wherever we looked there were leaping dolphins, almost as far as the eye could see. It was an incredible sight.

After watching them for 15 minutes we had to make port, so reluctantly left them to their fun and headed back. When we returned we walked to the beach to watch the sun go down then had dinner. After that we headed back to the hotel, stopping briefly at the beach across the road to look for shooting stars and bioluminescants in the sea, before getting to our rooms around midnight.

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.