Every where we go, we find reasons to fall in love with the place. There has yet  been a place we haven’t liked.   Even  places that were not rated all that great  by other cruisers, we found beauty in the people, the  surrounding neighborhoods and of course, cats.

Gran Tarajal has gotten mixed reviews.  The cruising guide calls it “unspoilt”, true, and the various web sites call it “more like the Canaries before tourism really set in, also true. But we’ve met more than one other cruiser who just find it “boring”, or “they’ve seen enough”, or “not a nice town”.   NOT TRUE!!!!!!!!!!!!

They just didn’t  get the same experience that we have had so far!!!!!!  We love this town.   And here are just 6 reasons (so far) why we so much like it, in no particular order!

 

#1   Song Birds. There are song birds here, but so few trees. So the song birds are concentrated in the trees that are in the town’s center square and park.  And they are LOUD birds!   Louder than the 17 year Cicadas. SO MANY birds in a tight area make for one of the oddest sounds I have heard.  It’s musical , a bit  of a shrill, and a wonderful sound as we walk through the busy town’s square.

 

#2 The Busy Town Square.  We noticed this back in Ayamonte, that in Spain, the city squares get busy and full of families of many overlapping generations out just enjoying being outside.   Here in Gran Tarajal, this square is along the waterfront, and beach. There is a playground on the actual beach.  There are several benches in the square, and there are cafes all along the waterfront.   By early evening the place is hopping with little kids, older kids, teenagers, young adults, middle age, aging adults, old and really old people, all interacting, talking playing, laughing, eating drinking, sitting, watching and strolling.  And these are locals!    It is a very positive energy!

 

#3.Old Farts Sitting on Their Benches.   Closer to the boatyard and marina, there are a bunch of old guys who sit and hang out, probably discussing the world, often through out the day.  They start out beside a little fish restaurant that is right next the boatyard. And then later when that spot gets too hot from the sun, they move up to 2 benches on a hill.  I got the guts one day to stop and photograph them. They, of course saw me, so I waved, They waved back! Now they smile  wave every time  we walk by!!  We smile and wave back. It is my intention and duty to go up to the hill bench before we leave, and join them, so Robert can take our photo, with me sitting with the old farts, smiling and waving!

 

 

 

#4  The Casa de Cultural.  There is this school/cultural center that offers free internet Wi-Fi connection. We have been going there pretty much every day.  There is a “cubicle” in the middle of the lobby that has seats, and plugs for battery chargers.   We met local lady who is teaching an English class  there in the evenings. She asked us one night to be her “special guests” and talk to her class in English.  She liked that we speak in  American English. So we did! And  we all went around and introduced ourselves!  Now, we often see one of the students, Edgar, around town and he calls out to us, “Robert! Cindy!”  and comes over and says hello, talks in English, he even invited us out for a drink!!  This is special in my book!!!!!!!!  Also the cleaning lady in the school is also one of the cleaning ladies at the marina. And she loves to show me the books are available for us to take and read. But they are in German and won’t do me any good. But she is such a sweetheart!

 

#5  The Other Cleaning Lady at the Marina.  I haven’t gotten her name yet, or the other one. But this one lady is always out around the marina cleaning up,    keeping blown gravel off the walking paths, general maintenance, but our favorite part is she also polishes the metal lamp posts.  They look like shiny aluminum. But she is about 5’ 4”, and her polishing  brush is about as long as  broom handle. So the  20 ft. high lamp posts are only shiny as far up as she can reach!  She is out there every day! And she always always stops to say hello to us. She is great.

 

#6   The Land of Trees!!  We have counted each and every tree in the actual city of Gran Tarajal and have come up with 729 trees!!!  Where else can one actually count all the trees in town?  The land is so incredibly barren, they really had to make an effort to have even this many trees here.   And did we ever get some looks as we walked around pointing, tapping and counting.  So now we know there are 729 trees. Although we didn’t count the baby trees, so if if we visit again in a dozen years or so, there will be quite a bit more.