After Cadiz: Down The Coast To Tarifa

After we left the chaos and noise of Carnaval de Cadiz, we hopped back in the car and headed south towards Tarifa, the southernmost point on the Iberian peninsula. On the way to Tarifa we stopped in a beautiful little beachside village called Los Caños de Meca. We parked the car and walked out onto the beach for a bit of rest from driving. The beach was really beautiful and we took a bunch of photos before getting back into the car to finish the drive south. Just before we reached Tarifa we stopped again near a cliff in a forest that overlooked the town of Zahara de los Atunes. We walked down a trail towards the beach and found an old World War II turret bunker overlooking the water. It was in pretty good shape, and we could go into it, but it looked disgusting inside so we didn't go in. Tarifa is a really, really windy town. Windsurfing and kitesurfing shops line the main drag since so many people go there to catch waves.


Painted rowboat on the beach in Los Caños de Meca


World War II bunker overlooking the water near Zahara de Los Atunes

We checked into the hotel and took a much needed nap. After our nap we took a stroll through the old part of town to the port where a huge ferry that travels between Tarifa and Tangier, Morocco was docked. From Tarifa, Africa is only 8 km across the strait of Gibraltar, close enough to see. We took a bunch of photos of the water with Africa in the background. Afterward we walked back into town to sit in a cafe near a nice church and have coffee and tapas. The tapas were really good, one that everyone liked was squid fried in it's ink. Different. We decided since there wasn't really much nightlife in Tarifa we would call it an early night.


Puerta de Jerez in Tarifa


The ferry to Tangier


Cadiz by day

In the morning we headed back north to Cadiz to see the town during the day since the three people I was with hadn't seen Cadiz before Carnaval. It was the second day after Carnaval and people were still sweeping up. The streets smelled like bleach, which was probably a good idea after the huge party with no bathrooms. We took a couple hours to check out the town and walk around the perimeter of the old port town. We went to some of the cooler parts of the city I could remember and again we took a bunch of photos before heading back to the car.

Angela and Eric had to get the rental car back to Madrid that day, so they dropped me off at the bus station in Jerez de la Frontera where I could catch a bus to Chipiona to spend the second weekend of Carnaval.