Wild Flowers in Portugal on road between Alvares and Corte de Pão e Água on road north of N267 from Castro Verde to Mértola.

We stayed for a night at Monte dos Poços Agroturismo, on the N2 about half way between Castro Verde and Aljustrel in a small commune of properties called Carregueiro.

Accommodation is on a working farm with wonderful views over the fields which are full of wildlife.

This was a great place to stay, so peaceful - particularly if you are bird watching in the Alentejo area.

Breakfast is served until 10.30 so you can get out early and come back - making the best of the morning for bird watching.

Tags:   Instagram Portugal Portugal - March 1016 Flowers Portuguese Wild Flowers Wild Flowers of Portugal Alvares Alvares, Portugal Corte de Pão e Água Corte de Pão e Água, Portugal Mértola Mértola, Portugal Alentejo, Portugal

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Wild horses wandering through the water - El Rocío, Spain

Nothing can really prepare you for El Rocío. As you turn off the main road you enter a town where you drive on sandy roads, and the building have places to tie your horse up!

Arrive during the week and it is like a ghost town, with the wide sandy, unpaved roads lined with huge properties which lie empty for most of the time. These buildings are owned by over 100 ’Hermandades” (Brotherhoods) from all over Spain, the pilgrims (members of these Brotherhoods” take it in turns to visit the town at weekends to visit the Ermita de la Virgen del Rocío.

At weekends the town if filled to brimming with people, many of whom promenade in traditional dress, colourful flamenco dressed women and girls mingle with men with wide brimmed hats among the huge crowds or ride around, often with their partner and their children on horseback or in horse-drawn carriages. This is a town where the local teenagers don’t tear about on mopeds but ride around on horses!

By late afternoon on Sunday the traffic leaving El Rocío backs up for miles with cars, horse boxes and trailers with horse carriages as the return home, leave El Rocío to sleep for another week.

Each year pilgrims converge on the town for the Pentecost (Whitsunday) weekend for the Romería del Rocío, Spain’s largest religious festival.

I somehow managed to be totally unaware of the significance of the town as a centre for pilgrims. Having only research birdwatching in the area, and being well informed of the birdlife and location of the town on the beautiful bird filled Marismas (marshes and lake) and its convenient location for visiting The Doñana National Park.

You can image our surprise when we drove down the main road towards El Rocío at about 16.00 on a Sunday afternoon and saw miles of traffic jams. The town was still crowded with people, horses, carriages, music, food and general festive fun etc and we almost turned around and left.

That being said, we managed to find our way to the eastern end of the town and to our hotel or the next 3 nights. We were not disappointed our hotel was overlooking the Marismas and we could just tip out of bed at dawn (make a cup of coffee - take a travel kettle and mug) and birdwatch from in front of the hotel).

Tags:   Instagram Spain March 2016 Spain Doñana Doñana National Park Doñana National Park, Spain Nature Reserve El Rocio El Rocio, Spain Marismeña de Doñana La Madre de las Marisma La Madre de las Marismas Horses Andalucia, Andalucía, Andalusia

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A walk from West Wittering to East head, West Sussex.

East Head is a sandy spit that doubles back into Chichester Harbour. Even in summer, if you are prepared to walk it is much quieter than the shingle beach adjacent to the car park at West Wittering.

Tags:   Instagram Beach Seascape Sea Coastline UK Coastline UK Landscape Chichester Harbour Sand Sussex West Sussex Place of Interest

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Clarence Drive (R44) Kogal Bay Beach - going East

This is a magnificent section of the R44 is know as Clarence Drive. A scenic coastal drive between the naval town of Gordons Bay and the windswept hamlet of Rooi-Els. The road nestles in the north-eastern crook of False Bay in the shadow of the Hottentots Hollands mountains which plunge into the sea at this point.

This beautiful, coastal drive stretches between the two towns over 21 km, hugging the wild turquoise Cape coastline all the way. If you like passes with lots of corners, then this one is for you, as it contains 77 bends, curves and corners.

The section between Gordons Bay and Rooi-Els is the most scenic, however the road continues on to Kleinmond where it merges with the R43 to Hermanus.

Tags:   Instagram South Africa South Africa Trip 2013 South African Landscape Western Cape R44 Scenic Road Hottentots Holland Mountains Hottentots Mountain Seascape Sea Cape Town Kogal Bay Coastline Landscape Clarence Drive (R44) False Bay

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The Royal Yacht Squadron, Cowes, Isle of Wight During Lendy Cowes Week 2017

Tags:   Cowes, Isle of Wight Isle of Wight Cowes Week 2017 Cowes Week 2017 Lendy Cowes Week Cowes Week 2017 Lendy Cowes Week 2017 Coastline Royal Yacht Squadron

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