Benalmádena, Andalusia, Spain and Canary Islands
Costa Del Sol
This morning when we woke up the
sky was blue – we were so excited: finally the sun we were expecting!! Ok don’t
be too excited it didn’t last that long: somehow the average is not average
this year: as per weather forecast you have 6 days with rain a month in March:
we are now here for nearly 3 weeks and I think there was only one day with no
rain: even when we had a sunny morning – then it got windy and rainy in the
afternoon, sometimes when it started out rainy and cloudy we got a few short
sun breaks – so let’s see if we can go back to the average!!!
But before we left Paul cleaned
of the final red mud of our car. And then before we leave La Alcaidesa we
actually check out the beach: even today the ocean still has some of the
reddish color in it – and we could see the Rock of Gibraltar, but it is a bit
in the clouds.
Orchidarium – Estepona
- This is an orchid farm and has over 5000 different kind of tropical plants: 1300 different orchid species
- It has the largest collection in Europe
Today we will see something
different: we check out flowers. Ok – so this is in the middle of the town and
as we already know there is always lots of parking (or not). As we circle
around and already think we don’t find one, there is the perfect spot for us.
And it will be easy to find: our super clean car near a super dirty one.
It was a little round trip on
two levels: you see a lot of different orchids, tropical plants, airplants,
between some huge ferns and palm trees. There are so many plants and flowers:
the longer you stand the more you see – it is truly amazing: I think we have to
go back to the tropical jungle. They also have three waterfalls – they run
depending on how they need humidity: today only one was running – I bet it’s
spectacular when all three are running, and with the round glass domes it looks
amazing. We did have a lot of fun
Puerto Bunas – Marbelle
- Marbelle is considered the honeyspot for Millionaires and one of Europe’s most exclusive holiday resorts: it is the most polished and posh town on the Costa del Sol with high priced boutiques and landscaped squares
We stopped and yes: we got lucky
and found a parking spot in Puerto Bunas, near the marina, where Gine read they
have the Yachts. Ok it was a bit rainy and the muddy rain made it look a bit
dreary. As we walked along the Marina we did look into some stores – they are
clearly not selling what is in our interest: neither in style nor in price – By
the way Gine loved the pictures behind the rolex watches (but not the watches
itself). What we thought is kind of cute is when you can drive your car right
on the dock: I mean why would you walk right???
Definitely the streets are
beautiful lined with palm trees and cactuses, the roundabouts have scultpures
(like the Rhino), fountains – Gine has to look so much in the circles that she
nearly forgets to tell Paul when to turn out.
Ok on Gine’s plan was to stop in
Marbelle town itself: there were 2 problems: #1 it rained and #2 we couldn’t
find a parking spot (except the parking garage for 9 Euro) – so Paul said we
continue on, as there are likely better things we see later…
And it rains in Benalmadena
When Gine looked into booking an
apartment along the Costa del Sol she checked in Malaga – but it was too pricey
and not nice enough, so we are now in the Aloha Playa in Benalmadenal:
- Once this was one of the small coastal villages with watermills – then they started to built the huge hotel and apartment buildings: and the “terrible Torre” became a byword for tacky package holidays in the 1970s
Our first impression is: they
have a lot of cool sculptures in their traffic circles – really cool. Ok so we
found the place – the question is only how to get with the car in. Paul put on
four-way-flash and Gine went investigating: ok she found the entrance and was
asked by the guard and then got told on where to go: 11th floor and
the down the steps and to the left: and see there is the lock box: and after
opening there is the key – all the way down and in we go with the car. By the
way there are not that many parking lots in the area for the amount of buildings.
We have an outside entrance and on the other side our balcony faces the ocean:
that is so amazing cool!!!
As it didn’t stop raining: after
a coffee we did some shopping and then enjoyed the view out of our apartment.
Let’s hope that soon the Costa del Sol does gives as the sol.
Where is the sunshine at
the Costa del Sol:
- It is Spains famous sun coast – with one resort town after the next
- It goes from La Linea de la Concepcion to Nerja : 150 km of coastline and we discover it all
- It is one of Spains most important tourist areas: the tourist boom started in the 1920s when they opened the Banos in Malaga
- The name Costa del Sol was created in the 1960s to brand it for foreign vacationers
- The costa del sol has the most reliable weather in Spain with 325 days of sunshine – as per average the Costa del sol receives even in witner 5-7 hours of sunshine a day (I guess we picked the 40 days of no sunshine)
It’s not raining – but also
not sunny
The good part is that it is not
raining – but the other side: it is still not totally sunny – that means backup
plan comes into place: we check out what we can all look at around Benalmadena –
and there are a few things. Relaxing start and then we are on the road:
The curvy road up to the
Stupa
Our first stop is up on the hill
– I mean we go hairpin curves steep up the hill until we finally arrive and are
pleasant surprised with all the parking available: we are at the Stupa:
- It’s the tallest stupa in Europe and got built in 2003
- A Stupa is from Buddhism and a monument to represent peace, prosperity, harmony and a place for meditation
- It symbolizes Buddha’s enlightment “the knowledge of wisdom”
We first admired the view on the
costa del sol and discovered that the Stupa is closed because of the
weather?!?!?
As we walked along, we talked to
another couple and they toldus about the butterfly garden
Marioposario
We did decide to pay and go in,
and it was actually super cool: there are a lots of butterflies flying around:
- They have more than 1500 butterflies (and moths) from all around the world – when we asked there are at the moment around 20 different species flying
- As most butterflies come from the park we could also see caterpillars and larvaes
- Butterflies love 80% humidity and 24-29 Degrees (yes the first thing we did take off our jackets)
- As well the main benefit the humans get from the butterflies: is the silk: the one producing the silk is the Bombyx mori and comes from China – where they used them to produce silk for 5000 years: the caterpillar secrets a liquid protein: fibroin that hardens when it comes in contact with air, it’s covered in sericin which is a kind of clue to hold the cocoon together: they make a 1.5km silk of great resistance to form the cocoon. There are other butterflies who also produce silk which is called the wild silk
Super cool were also all the tropical
plants and everywhere the ones which are blue when flying and otherwise brown with
the eye. But what caught our eye was the one with a clear see-through wing –
that was amazing. Then when we started to look closer at the plants you could
see them sitting in between: black with red dots, orange ones, some constantly
flying, some sitting still – it was super fun. Then we came to an area where
they were sitting like they are artificial and we learned that they are moth
and yes they are alive one of the keepers took one and they do move: but as
they are nocturnal they sit still during the day: except ones when one jumped
down on Gine’s shoe. We saw more really weird looking moths in another corner.
And then we saw some who don’t have a digestive system so they can’t eat and
only live 4-6 days.
Between the cool plants, the
waterfall, the pond with the fish, the upper “and here it’s really warm” area,
we met the little kangaroo and couldn’t get enough in watching the butterflies:
I think I could have stayed here forever.
They also had some super
colorful beautiful little birds in there: the gould finch – and we learned they
are from Australia
So what is a butterfly
- and what’s a moth?
- They are from the same species Lepidoptera: there are over 250.000 species of butterflies (the 2nd largest group of animals after beetles): however only 20.000 are true butterflies – the rest are moths
- The butterfly closes their wings when they rest and sit -the moth keeps them open
- Butterflies are active during the day and moths during the night
- Moth have a furry stockier body to protect them against cold as where butterflies have smooth and lean bodies
- Most of the time moths have duller brown faded colors to camouflage them during the day
- Another cool fact about the moths: some of them are tiny like 2mm and there is one with a wing span of 30 cm
At the fake castle with the
tourist bus
Not far away is this face castle:
called Castillo Colomares – as per Paul it’s a tourist trap: ok so there was a
bus here and a lot of people, but it was funky. Even the question is: is there
really some historical value???
- It was built from 1987-94 and is dedicated to Christopher Columbus
- It’s a historic book carved in the stone about the 15th century and Spanish culture (but you need a lot of imagination): it’s a fantasy made by stone
- It’s a landmark that tells the saga of the discovery of a new world: America
We didn’t necessarily followed
the order – but it was fun, even I think Paul internally shook his head several
times: so we did climb up on the Santa Maria (even the real one is sunk), we
touched the snake at the snake fountain and saw the unique style of Byzantine
cloister. We did kiss in front of the courtship fountain (which is about
Ferdinand and Isabel), with saw the gothic facase and the crown of Charles the
V, we climbed and looked down an observation tower, Gine went up to the
oriental tower (yes it has a pagoda on top) – which we learned was a dream of
Columbus. We found the map of Hispanola island (Santa Domingo) where the Santa
Maria wrecked, and we were on the stern on the Santa Maria. If you wonder what
style it is: you will find literally every style here – with lots of little
funky quirks… and as a tourist bus was here – we felt like real tourists.
The Cactus garden
Paul loves Cactus and Gine said
there is a cactus garden – and it is for free. With free parking we couldn’t
believe our eyes: those cactus were fantastic – some huge gigantic ones, some
totally weird ones, different ones around each corner – it was so cool, we even
found a little waterfall, bamboo and are back with checking out more cactus:
they are perfect for taking some amazing pictures. So this is clearly a special
park.
Afterwards we walked a bit more
in the Parque Paloma – as they also have a Palm garden, a lake, benches with views
and even better some face sculptures. And as we walked around – slowly the sun
came out too.
Coffee with a view
After a quick stop at the
supermarket it was time to head back for a coffee with ocean view and: seeing
how the sun came out – that is perfect, and so we are out again:
Sunshine on the Playa Benalmadena
It’s warm enough to lie down and
have the sun warm you up – as well walking along and soaking it up… that is
something we were really waiting for. A perfect ending on a day on the Costa
del Sol and then supper with ocean view.
2025-05-22