Coast to Coast

A laid back start to the day with one of those rather good hotel buffet breakfasts, 8 more guests joined us having flown in late yesterday from Edinburgh and Manchester. Then a trip to the local spar to buy provisions for a picnic lunch before we set out on The Pared Isthmus trail, a gentle 10 mile trek from one side of the island to the other and back. At its shortest crossing the rocky spine of the island is just 3.5 miles. The waves were spectacular and a mesmerising backdrop to lunch.

Barbary Ground Squirrels seem to be everywhere, a bit like a chipmunk, introduced in the 1960s from Morocco. Unfortunately they eat the eggs of endemic birds, one of which is the Eurasian Hoopoe, we were lucky to see a pair of these today.

Back to the hotel via the beach where the hotel beach bars were not very enthusiastic about serving us, so we made a return trip to the Spar bought beer and drank it outside; I now know that this called “benching”.