Day No. 161 - For a Fistful of Dollars - Tabernas - Texas Hollywod

To wake up in a stone desert is something special. As if "...the earth was desolate and empty...". - We are awakened by the chirping of birds. When we come outside, we are greeted by the intense scent of herbs. The hardy plant, among the stones, is making a meager living. But we have not seen everything that is associated with the desert. The local stair snake did not show up. But a skeleton lay in the landscape. That's how you imagine it, isn't it? - This morning a little office work is planned, so far at least the theory.

We have hardly started when an off-road vehicle drives up to us and stops next to us. - It is a ranger, together with two ladies. - What was the tip of a wild camper? "Just pretend you don't speak this language and don't know English!"? - Stupidly, one of the ladies explains to us in German that we are standing in a national park and therefore are not allowed to stand here. - We do not even discuss, but show that we have collected garbage and would clear the place immediately. - The conversation is friendly as always. The "authorities" show themselves once again from their best side. - I stick to my opinion, as it resounds into the forest, so it resounds out. We even get an hour, instead of the first mentioned 15 minutes, to clear the place. Thank you!

What do you think of when you see movies like "Lawrence of Arabia" or "For a Fistful of Dollars" - Omar Sharif and Clint Eastwood, of course. - But who thinks of Andalusia, more precisely of Tabernas? - Tabernas what? - This would have been my question. - Sure, I knew that the Italo Westerns were not shot in the States, but that this and hundreds of other films were shot here was beyond my knowledge.

Desert is just desert and so here the necessary similarities with the deserts of North Africa and Arabia, as well as North America, the so-called "Wild West". Since the 1950s, the region here has been the location for numerous films and westerns. Besides the two films mentioned above, "Indiana Jones", "The Shoe of Manit", "The Daltons vs. Lucky Luke", "Winnetou's Return", "Rambo", "Play Me the Song of Death" and many more were also shot here.

We decide to take a closer look. Fort Bravo, one of these backdrops now serves as a visitor park. - At times there were probably fourteen such western sets. - In the salon hang not only photos of the actors who filmed here, but also of stars who were here. Sting looks very young in one photo, so it seems to have been around a while. Everything seems to have seen better times. Next to the teepees of the Indian settlement is a pile of garbage. But in a hall there is a large collection of riding saddles, both Arabic and Western saddles, as well as Roman, depending on what was just turned. Also some carriages can be found here. - With children Fort Bravo may be exciting, we find it just nice. Everything looks a bit worn out. But an entrance fee of 19.40 € for adults, pensioners 15.40 is already a little violent. - Only now I realize again how cheap the entrance fee of the Alhambra was with € 14,-. - We also take a look at Mini Hollywood Western. - But the view from afar is enough for us.

What did we like most about the park? - The Lamborghini Trattori. - When do you still see something like that? - Do you know the legend

why tractor manufacturer Ferruccio Lamborghini started building sports cars? Allegedly, he had previously bought a Ferrari, but was dissatisfied with its clutch. - Lamborghini is said to have sent a suggestion for improvement to Enzo Ferrari. - But the "Commendatore" Enzo Ferrari was probably of the opinion that "The problem would not be the car, but behind the steering wheel." - "You just build tractors." - I don't know if there's any truth to that story. In any case, it sounds good, doesn't it?

We set off in the direction of the sea. - Torgit is longing for the sea and wants to hear the waves. - So we keep going in the direction of Almeria. First we look past at the Cabo da Gato. This lies shortly behind the place Retamar. Whether the place name means retort at the sea, I cannot say, but would fit. - The pitches at the sea are so inviting that we prefer to continue parallel to the coast.

First we drive past some of the many greenhouse plantations again. This is the vegetable garden of Europe. The area is called Mar de plástico, the plastic sea. Suddenly we see various organic plantations on the left side. Among others BIOsol Portocarreround, a biological-ecological oriented company. - "Production and trade of organically grown fruits and vegetables since 1999."  - The homepage offers Spanish, English and German. - Where do you think a large part of these organic products go?

On the right side almost opposite we see the "Centro de Experiencias Michelin Almería, CEMA", a huge testing ground of the Michelin company. In this experimental center, large tires for mining, among other things, are developed, as well as tests for various types of tires. - Here's to good neighborliness. 

But soon the coast becomes rockier, rougher and more beautiful again. So in the evening we end up at a rock solid and highly official campsite, Camping la Caleta, Cala del Cuervo, s/n, 04116 Las Negras, Almería - 36°52'21.4″N 2°00'23.3″W - And what can I say, I have my warm shower and Torgit the sea. - Just the expression on her face when she looks at the water is worth every stretch.