Delta – from La Rapita to L’Ampolla

What’s a Delta? I didn’t know either. Not an Australian singer or a country song. In this case the Delta is an area of flat land that is farmed using flood irrigation. Open aqueducts, gates, rushing water and healthy new growth surround us. For me, the interesting aspect here is that this delta is found on a pinnacle of land, surrounded by saltwater and marsh ground.

Flamingoes

We decided to travel towards this Delta area to chase down some flamingoes. Turns out, it wasn’t very hard, there were squadrons of them. They look very graceful and flexible when fishing on land; however, a little hilarious when flying. Tiny blob of a body, stretched neck, legs and wings, as though they were made from elastic. Hmmm, that description sums up my ‘twitching/birdwatching’ ability.

Stuff

Tractors

Along the delta roads some interesting sights jumped out. We spotted many tractors towing tractors. Initially, this was confusing until I noted the wheels on the towed tractor. This delta area is primarily used for growing rice. Rice fields are flooded constantly during growing periods. Specialised tractors with what looks like saw blades for wheels are needed to work the crops. Now that made a lot more sense as the saw blade wheeled tractors would have made a nasty mess of the roads.

Horse Gym

The Farmer exercising his horses puzzled me. Each horse was towing a tyre filled with rocks. I can only assume it is to work the horses under a heavy load. I can only imagine, a gym membership for the horses would be quite expensive.

Drive anything here

From what I have seen, it looks like as long as it has wheels, you can drive it on the roads. Yes, I do expect horse drawn carts, but I must admit it stirs my enthusiasm when I see ‘mum and dad’ on a Polaris side by side or a four-wheeler cruising down the main street, with registration plates, totally legal. This red buggy below, ‘Yanmar dune buggy’ is also registered…..I want one.

Food

Cooking on open fire

An update on the culinary situation. I was so happy to stumble upon this open grill BBQ in a Cafe. Many others also thought it was a good idea, as the place was packed at 10 o’clock. To put this into perspective, most of Spain doesn’t get out of bed before 10:30, so it was very unusual indeed. Yes, the gas BBQ might be convenient, but the taste of the food fired grill was divine. Might have to make one in the backyard when I get home.

Old Pub

Mandy and I sat down to have a beer for an old family friend. Reg, this one is for you. The pub was a classic. Bottles on the walls were crusty and literally covered in 10mm of dust. Some were over 50 years old and still contained the original content. Rustic timber barrels, some 3 to 4 metres diameter lay around in corners and larger ones suspended on platforms, ceiling height. Talking about the ceiling, it was made from split and woven bamboo. The barmaid was cranky and they definitely had NO vegetarian food.

But it had character, we loved it.

My last meal was a perfectly cooked steak with red wine reduction, raspberry and mandarin separate compotes, rock salt potatoes and sauteed & chargrilled asparagus. YUM

Mainland

The view riding toward the mainland from the Delta was striking. Hillsides appeared to be terraced, although we think it is simply erosion. A busy town lies at the foothills, with the foreground of the image showing a small farm house and fields ready to be flood irrigated.