ESTEPONA /MANILVA/GAUCIN/CASARES

Monday 15th.October.
In the morning we serviced the Winnebago and caught up with the jobs so as to give us the rest of the week free to spend time with Carol and Chris.We went for a swim after lunch as the afternoon sun shines on the pool and then set off to Manilva to meet Carol and Chris off the Autovia and take them up to the Manilva Green Aparthotel where we had booked them into a two bedroomed duplex on two levels.Carlos who has just started working there had arranged everything and gave us a royal welcome! The apartment overlooks the Manilva valley with spectacular views to the sea.and Africa on a clear day.As they had arrived a little late we popped down to Puerto de la Duquesa for a quick Italian at”Il Capitano” and caught up with all the family news and then arranged to take them out on Tuesday as the weather was becoming sunnier by the day.
Tuesday 16th October.
On a beautiful sunny day we set off into the hills behind Manilva in their hire car and stopped in Gaucin,one of the famous “White Villages” on top of a mountain for a Tinto de Verano,leaving the car at the end of the village- we then got lost in the narrow streets and cauld not find our way out to the car! In the end sence prevailed and we found the car and set off to Casares,another white village and had a three course Menu Del Dia in one of our favourite “Ventas” We then went down past the wind farm above Manilva and dropped into the Estepona marina for a coffee in the late afternoon sunshine.I spotted a speed boat dropping off some people on the quay and caught up with the owner of the boat and arranged for us to go out for an hour for a spin! The sea had quite a swell and we set off at 25knots for an exhilarating trip down the coast towards Marbella and back to Estepona-whilst we were in the deep water a shoal of Dolphins raced along with us!! The pictures show us on the boat but I was not able to catch a Dolphin in mid-flight !! We arrived back in the harbour along with the fishing boats in the early evening sun shine on a beautifull day,Later in the evening we called into the restaurant at the foot of the hill that we had called into on Friday.We had another super meal washed down with the local Temperillo house wine,which finished off a “Helluva”day.