Autor: Marcos García

This section starts in Zahara de los Atunes (Zahara of the Tunas) along a sandy track parallel to the beach which brings us to the spectacular residential development of Atlanterra. Here we take a beautiful road that travels high above the coast to Faro Caraminal (Caraminal Lighthouse), where we can enjoy impressive scenery over the Strait of Gibraltar from Punta de Tarifa on our left to Faro de Trafalgaron the right, with Africa as a backdrop. At this point we change direction, leaving the coast to turn towards the hills. We pass through cork oak forests and climb near vertiginous walls of sandy rock used for nesting by multitudes of birds, mainly birds of prey such as griffon vultures (Buitre Leonado) which will probably be flying over our heads. Then, this section runs at an authentic and unique point on the route. “El Lentiscal” is the official name of the village on the bay of Bolonia but in practice it’s known as Bolonia. The bay is beautiful with an immense beach of fine golden sand and you definitely have to visit the Roman remains at the archaeological site of Baelo Claudia. The wonderful peace and tranquility in this almost virgin corner, unspoilt by coastal development make it a great place to pause on our journey. Walking along the beach and climbing the dune as the sun down will be one of the most enduring memories of the Transandalus. From Bolonia, we start to head away from the coast. The beach at Bolonia is the last of the playas that have been the common denominator of the previous sections. This unspoilt beach is a good place to say goodbye to the coast. From the bay we make the climb to the puerto (pass) of Bolonia, just over 4 kms of quiet road (except in summer). We then have to take a narrow asphalt-surfaced track that leads to the foothills of the Sierra de San Bartolomé. We pass through the bucolic hamlet of Betis with the first first views of the Strait of Gibralter and the montains of Jbel Musa in Africa; together with the panorama of Tarifa on and the playa de los Lances. From Betis we can also contemplate the “tumbas antropomorfas” – graves carved out of the rock – only a few metres from the route. The tarmac pista soon takes us to the carretera nacional 340. Our route runs parallel with this busy road until we reach La Peña. At this point we can choose between continue the Transandalus, that takes leave of the coast which we don’t see again until the route arrives at the city of Almería or enter into Tarifa. Note on accommodation: while the offer varies in Bolonia, the accommodation in road section approximately between 23km and 27km and in Tarifa does not tend to be cheap and during the summer tends to be complete, it is recommended to consider this before the trip and book in advance in case of doubts. If you do not want to enter Tarifa, on the 27km and passing the bus station, you can cross the road and take a paved road that goes up, you arrive at the point to the 7.47km of the next stretch towards Puerto de El Bujeo