change in the weather

the wind is gone and it is cloudy and cool just like vancouver's maritime climate. There are even a few drops of rain! There are some fisherman out on the beach close to the lighthouse fishing with very long poles, 3 or 4 poles per fisherman stuck in the sand.....just like we saw in Portugal on a similar sand duney beach south of Nazare. Yesterday when we were driving down from here to Zahara de los Atunes, we saw lots of fishing boats in the bay with their nets set out. The way they use to catch tuna with these nets is called "Almadraba" and dates from moorish times. They create a fence with the nets and as the blue fin Tuna are entering the Mediterranean during migration (now May) They then club the fish to death. Apparently the wafers turn red from all the blood. Today when they bring the catch in there are Japanese processing ships at port ready to buy the catch, flash freeze it and send it to Japan for sashimi! There are concerns about overfishing locally.
this is the name of the beach we look out on. Playa de Atlanterra. suppose to be a blue flag beach, crystal clear waters. The light house called Camarinal lighthouse was built in the 16th century under Philip II as part of the coastal defence system to keep the berber pirates out. it was restored and made operational in the 1990,s its pattern seems to be one very long illumination followed by a short one. this area is great for migratory birds. they wait on the African side for the winds to die down and cross early in the morning. I expected there were some crossings this morning since it is no longer windy and we are certainly hearing more bird song but not seeing large flocks....granted it is cloudy. we did see a lot of swifts in Madrid and seville and they would have made the crossing this month.Read more