Glamping in Almayate, Spain

A pair of earplugs is not usually part of a welcome pack but it certainly proved useful that first night at our ‘glampsite’ in Almayate, on the Costa del Sol.  Our hosts, Richard and Carol apologised in advance for the feria that rollicked until 4am in the morning.  Perhaps it did, I don’t know.  I was sound asleep. 

A Mongolian yurt in Andalucia suggests remoteness and retreat.  This wasn’t really the case here. Arriving at 10pm, we were assailed by the heady smell of bougainvillea and oleander and the tick, tick, ticking of the automatic watering system. 

The yurt was positioned by a gate with parking space for two cars and a path to a wooden structure, comprising a kitchen and bathroom and dining areas outside. At the other end of the garden were two pools, one a water feature housing carp, the other an oversized paddling pool, which our hosts would tend lovingly during our week long stay. Nocturnal excursions to the loo were easily achieved as the path flooded with light on passing.  Inside the yurt was dominated by a fine double bed, underneath a circular gap in the roof, which revealed the stars at night, although for more sublunary souls there was Sky TV and Wi-Fi.

In the distance, you could hear the rumble of traffic streaming along the coast.  I relinquished the idea of silence, punctuated only by the cry of vultures and the clanging of goat bells.  Instead early the next morning we were woken up by a rhythmic ringing sound, as Pepe, the local farmer trundled his oxen cart to the local market.  Another reason for having ear plugs.

I was intrigued by the juxtaposition of tourism and agriculture: apartment blocks beside a field of goats; a vegetable patch that merged into a site for billboards.  It was easy to avoid roads and in time the traffic sounds faded into my unconscious.  As the July temperatures crept up into the high thirties, we wanted to bathe.  The back way took us past acequias which irrigated fields of cucumber, courgette and pepper, and a simple smallholding with two chairs, a radio and a skittish kitten. We found the beach eventually with its basic beach bar and two types of gin.

Carol and Richard told us how they had escaped the rat race to live a simple life.  Here it was all around us in abundance.

You can find out more about Glamping in Almayate on Carol and Richard's website: http://www.glampingspain.co.uk