November 17: Hiking through the northern outskirts of the Ebro Delta. Wetter than usual in the marshes because of DANA who hit Valencia hard. Rice cultivation in the brackish waters of the delta is now an automated industry that previously required thousands of workers from the Valencian region. Strange, medium-sized birds in large flocks that look like small Nazgülers. The inland sea in the delta also looks like The Dead Marshes in places.
November 18: GR-92 along an irrigation canal all the way from L’Ampolla to Amposta through the eastern parts of the delta. Rice cultivation at first, but later cabbage, oranges and other green crops. A lot of birds that are super shy and difficult to photograph. A few sheep but no cattle or horses. A hot sandwich just after the bridge over the Ebro into Amposta. Bought wonton soup and a kilo of langostinos at Mercadona. Taxi back to L’Ampolla due to bad train and bus communications.
November 19: Departure in the direction of Amposta on a rented, never-serviced mountain bike. But the bike had the gears I needed. Followed GR-92 as yesterday to the place where I lost the trail at Amposta yesterday. It turned out that you can walk in a narrow corridor that hangs on the outside of the large bridge that crosses the Ebro. Then cycled up into the mountains to reach the viewpoints where you can see the entire Ebro Delta from above but had to give up as I would have to walk on slippery rocky paths for maybe 10 km and it was then 2 pm, light until 6 pm. Went back to L’Ampolla via lunch in Amposta. About 60 km on this poor excuse for a bike. Stopover in Camarles like yesterday for a beer. Lots of birds sighted during the day, kingfishers, white herons, grey herons, hawks, jays that like to swim in the canals, small birds of many kinds. What they all have in common is that they are very shy and flee well before you have time to get the camera ready. Plenty of stupid dogs too.
November 20: Northwards one hour on GR-92. Customary gnarled coastal paths. After returning to L’Ampolla, it was windy for a few hours so that the café chairs took on a life of their own and slid around in the streets. I took the opportunity to wash my clothes which ended up in the laundromat as the brand new machine in the apartment neither rinsed nor spun even though it sounded like it did. However, my landlord paid the laundry bill 🙂
November 21: On a rented bike to Camarles, Deltebre, Sant Jaume d’Enveja and La Ràpita there and back. An agricultural landscape completely covered in water! I thought I would be able to see the big sandbank Punta de la Banya from La Ràpita but it is on the horizon! So the only way to get an overview of this mighty accumulation of sand is from the path up in the mountains, where I passed in 2014 when I hiked GR-92 north through the area.
November 22: Early train to Barcelona Sants. Drop-off of my luggage at luggage storage. Full day in Barri Gotic and at Montjüic in glorious weather. Local train to El Prat de Llobregat for a hotel night there and fly home the next day.
