We really liked Ayamonte; everything was easy, the supermarket was a two minute walk from the marina and town, good restaurants and shops just across the road. However, we managed to drag ourselves away to travel up the Guadiana River for a few days. Seemingly, the best time to go is in spring as the flowers are out and it is cooler. Since we are here in summer we had no option, so off we toddled up the river.
The Guadiana is one of the longest rivers in the Iberian Peninsula. Roman geographers like Pliny called it “Anas” and later the Arabs added the word “Uadi” meaning river, resulting in Uadi Ana and finally Guadiana.
Our first stop was Foz de Odeleite, seven miles upriver where we anchored for a night.
There were a scattering of boats, it was so peaceful.
You could hear the splash of fish jumping at flies in the dusk.
A further 10 miles or so was Alcoutim/Sanlucar.
Alcoutim is on the Portuguese side of the river and Sanluclar, the Spanish. We anchored in the middle erring towards Sanluclar. Both villages were lovely, perhaps a few more small restaurants in Alcoutim. We had a couple of nights at anchor before heading back down to Foz de Odeleite as it was extremely hot with very little breeze and nearing 94 degrees!
A mini “African Queen”
Breakfast feeding time for the duck family.
The current runs at about 3 knots so a bit of fun getting back to the boat.
We dinghied ashore for dinner even managed not to get Louise’s dress wet!
Alcoultim looking across to Sanluclar
And again
And again
Next morning another dinghy ride, this time to Alcoutim
That’s Camira in the middle distance with the awning.
Just as we arrived there the engine heating alarm had come on again. Obviously, it wasn’t the thermostat that was causing the problem as this had been changed in Villamoura.
Back to the drawing board. Headed back into Ayamonte marina where Gordon stripped the cooling system and cleaned various bits and bobs and ran vinegar through the engine, something an engineer in Lagos had used with a friend of ours when they were having the same problem. Hey presto, looks like we’re back up and running.
