After leaving Montesa behind and heading to the next climbing area, we stopped at the Embalse de Puentes near Ortillo. A beautiful reservoir in an unreal landscape. Since we were very late that day when looking for a parking space, we were able to use the alleged 300W of our lightbar for the first time. The next day we went for a little hike at the lake. The reservoir shines in a poisonous green-blue in the midst of a dry, barren and almost white landscape. The bushes that are in or near the water are all dead and stick out of the water like long fingers. Nevertheless, we could see some fish. Unfortunately, we also found a lot of trash here, which we then took to the nearest bin in several bags. After lunch we continued our journey towards Jaén.
On the way there we spontaneously changed our minds and drove south in Guadix into the Desierto de Tabernas. The nature park is the driest place in Europe and has countless lonely pitches in a western wilderness. Apparently, the entire annual precipitation was channeled to the days we were there, so that there was only a limited desert feeling. It was raining more than before. Unfortunately, the Desierto is largely privatized and the paths are therefore often blocked with signs, if not with barriers or chains. We were still able to find a few dry riverbeds, which was really fun and made a challenge for Zacharias.
In addition to the off-road activities, the Desierto de Tabernas is also known for its old film sets. Some Italo Westerns were filmed here and some of the towns and villages are still there and can be visited. In two of them you have to pay an entrance fee and western shows are also offered. We were able to reach other, already very dilapidated film remnants via a river bed and a steep slope. The exciting thing about it is that all houses are just built from wildly nailed wooden scaffolding and a little plaster was smeared on the facades and walls. After a few decades, most of the buildings have fallen into disrepair and are no longer accessible. But the gallows are still there like on the first day ;-)
After spending a few days in the desert, we decided to head back north-east to Águilas. Someone there was looking for help with her camper expansion and offered a parking space, WiFi, and shared use of the kitchen and bathroom of their finca. It also gave us the opportunity to do a few things on our bus. This includes stabilizing the folding bench seat, replacing the solar panels and repairing the water tank. Unfortunately, we noticed in the desert that one of the solar panels was probably destroyed by a firecracker on New Year's Eve and since the same panels can no longer be found anywhere, we need two new ones.
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