MOTRIL, SPAIN

The first three days at sea have been pleasant, with classes that have remained civilised throughout, and not the chaos that we’re used to at all. The Coast to Coast restaurant seems more spacious than the Amalfi (the equivalent restaurant on the Spirit of Adventure), and both groups have been very relaxed, with good numbers, and happy punters… long may that continue.

On all three days, after clearing up we’ve grabbed some biscuits from the library and taken them back to the cabin to eat along with a cuppa on our balcony. This has been followed by a trip up to the top deck to walk a few laps and look out for wildlife with the Orca team before dinner.

We’ve been lucky enough to see several dolphins as we’ve eaten dinner in The Grill, and on one occasion I saw a dolphin quite close to the ship during the class in the Coast to Coast. All in all, there seems to have been a lot of activity, which is nice to see. On the evening of our third sea day, we stood on the top deck looking out as we entered the Straits of Gibraltar. Sadly, there were no whales or dolphins to be seen, but there was a fantastic sunset.

All of which brings us to our first port-of-call; Motril, in Spain.

The plan was very simple; keep things relaxed and just go for a meander. We’d never been here before so it was all new to us. After a leisurely breakfast, we took the complementary shuttle bus into the town centre, and walked to what appeared to be its cultural area. To be honest, there wasn’t much to see there but it was pleasantly warm and the town wasn’t too busy. As is customary, we took a look inside a couple of churches, photographed the plazas, and slowly gravitated back towards our starting point where Tracey was able to purchase a new pair of sandals.

After that we bought some snacks and drinks and took them into a nearby park, which was bursting with Jacaranda trees.

In particular, we enjoyed wandering through a cactus garden which seems quite new, and something of a work in progress. I never knew there were so many different types of cactus; large ones, small ones, some that curled across the ground like snakes, and some that looked like they were furry (until you tried to stroke them… they weren’t furry at all…).

We were back on board by 4pm, having enjoyed being ashore, and not having to work to a timetable. In the evening, after dinner, we went for a promenade around the promenade, where I filmed and photographed a lovely sunset and Tracey photographed some moths.