Spain Day 10 - Following the Ebro (Day 2)

 Our first morning waking to proper blue skies!!! It’s not warm but lovely enough to need a bit of a walk before we moved on. Graham noticed last night that the back row of ‘cabins’ led out onto the remains of the old railway line so we walked out to that to have a good look at the reservoir and cliff.

 There are more birds about this morning but the highlight was definitely a pair of Egyptian vultures that we saw circling and we able to positively identify when they landed on a cliff ledge.

From here the plan is to take the mountain road to keep as close as possible to the river. Leaving the campsite took us into Catalunya for the first time and the drive was steep almost straight away. Today was without doubt the most beautiful drive yet. The road snaked high and low through the mountains and despite being wide enough for two cars and having a great road surface we passed two cars in total over the next two hours. It wasn’t fast, partly due to the bends but mostly because we kept stopping to look at the view! The hillsides were now covered in pine trees and the birdsong was more woodland…spring was springing!


Part way along the TV7411 we drove up to the Ermitage de Santa Mary Magdalena de Berrus, a full 360 degrees of stunning views of the river and the countryside. Though windy enough to feel a little vulnerable! The site was littered with brick built bbq’s probably 20 or 30 of them and lots of tables but not busy today as we were alone. Too windy to use the facilities we sat out of the wind in the van eating our cheese toasties and drinking coffee …for the first time we were actually a bit too warm!  



After this there were more tight bends as we headed down. It all felt a bit ‘top gear’. As the 7411 finished we tried to stay as close to the river as we could and in doing so passed the Mequineza Dam. This appeared to have a service road crossing over it and with no signs telling us we couldn’t, we drove onto it and parked part-way over for a look around. Thinking about the weight of water held on the upstream side is daunting and the water released through the gates was quite a sight. Grahams video as I couldn’t get close enough to film anything!

After the dam we continued alongside the river as it passed by towns and the land became flatter and more and more fen-like with increasing signs of industry and more signs of life!  By the time we reached our stop for the night in the salt flats of the Ebre, the light was beginning to drop but we headed out with binoculars to see what birds we could see. Plenty of herons and egrets alongside gulls and waterfowl but nothing as exciting as our first glimpse of flamingoes! Seeing two take off and fly past was a real ‘tingle’ moment. We walked along the road for a while trying to ID what we could but failed to positively identify an eagle that was soaring overhead. 

Too much wine at the van and the day was over … going to hang around though as the flamingoes are still exciting! 

Miles so far: 603

Steps today: 9,100

Overnight : Carrer Ebre, Amposte, Autocaravannas stop Free (5€ for water/waste) 

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