Wednesday in Sangre

Wednesday – Hanging out in Sangrese
Well it is definitely quiet here. Very few people staying at our hotel. In town mostly just the few local people, surfers, and a sprinkling of European campers. The European campers have RVs, the surfers have beat up VW buses. Many of the houses advertize “simmers, rooms” and we saw a number of hostels. One sign we saw on the road said “Heaven is where nothing happens.”
We slept in late – getting into the vacation from the vacation. Had breakfast on the patio. Checked out the pool temperature – too cold to swim. Eventually we decided to drive up the coast a little and took a nice bottle of red wine, some crackers, and cheese. These items we had purchased yesterday at a local market. The market was very limited to say the least. We tried to purchase some plastic utensils but they didn’t have anything like that. What they did have was a little frightening – especially the deli case which had what appeared to be over-the-hill ham. The vegetables consisted of wrinkled potatoes, moldy bell peppers, and some wilted carrots. I certainly hope there is another place for people to buy food here.
First we drove to the Fort that can be seen from our hotel. It was built in the 1400s and originally included a navigation school whose graduates included the likes of Vasco DeGamo and other early oceanic explorers. It was actually very interesting. From the Fort’s location you can see a vast expanse of the land in every direction where there is land and then the ocean which is on 3 sides of the fort. Past the Fort itself you can walk out to the point. Out there the views of the ocean and cliffs along the coast. There are also two blow holes which you can hear and then locate them on the top of the cliff – they are pretty small from the top and you can mainly hear the sound they make and see the wind they create shaking the vegetation around them. Interestingly they are unmarked so I guess they just expect that people will hear the sound and watch their step.
We drove up the coast and found a road that led out to the cliffs and had paths to walk on that were wood slats. There were many platforms with benches on them to watch the surf and see the coastal views. The waves were huge (it looked like the North Shore in Hawaii). A few very experienced surfers were out there and took some amazing rides.
We had our picnic lunch on one of the platforms with a great view. Unfortunately the experience was marred by millions of flies. They were the type you see in the sea weed in San Diego beaches. They descended upon us landing on the cheese, the wine, and us. We braved them and did our best to keep from eating or drinking them.
Up further north we stopped in a small town. It was probably pretty typical for this area. All the buildings are white and have red tile roofs. It did not appear to be interested in the tourist trade, few shops or cafes and those that were there looked like they were only for locals. There were quite a few old men, dressed well in dark pants, white shirts, dark sweaters, and hats. Most looked pretty weathered and were short in stature.