Our last landing was in Cadiz in South West Spain. We were docked by sunrise and it was a novelty to see the sun rise while we were having breakfast. The ship cleared customs while we were having breakfast and we were able to wander ashore as soon as we had finished eating. We decided to wander around the old town. The old town was a pleasant city with plenty of statues and other items of interest. Initially, we followed the road alongside the harbour, where a party of Crag Martins were on view, until they disappeared when I raised the camera.
Winged Phoenix Statue: I'm struggling to find out more about this statue on the top of a building next to the ship's berth
Lexie showing she still hasn't worked out how to use a camera to take a photo
We found this area of rocks as we carried along the waterfront
Whimbrel: There were a few Turnstones on the rocks with the Whimbrel
The Baluarte de la Candelaria: This fortress was built in 1672 and its cannons dominated the access channel to the port. It is now an exhibition venue
The Triumph of the Immaculate Statue
There were some Palm trees next to the Triumph of the Immaculate Statue, which were occupied by three Monk Parakeets.
Monk Parakeet: They are an introduced species in a few countries in the Western Palearctic
Monk Parakeet: The natural range is from South Bolivia to Paraguay, South Brazil and North and West Argentina
The Walls of San Carlos: Construction of these walls started at the beginning of the 17th Century, after the city was sacked and held for fifteen days by Anglo-Dutch troops in 1596
The top of the Monument to the Constitution of 1812 in Plaza Espana: It commemorates the centennial of the signing of the Constitution of 1812. Construction of the monument started in 1912 and it was finished in 1929. It is a large monument considering the Constitution was only in use between 1812 and 1814 and again between 1820 and 1823
Townhouses in the Plaza Espana
Statue of Francisco de Miranda in the Plaza Espana: He was a Venezuelan military leader and revolutionary who fought in the American Revolutionary War, the French Revolution and the Spanish American wars of independence. He returned to Caracas following the outbreak of the Venezuelan War of Independence in 1810 and was granted dictatorial powers after the establishment of the First Republic. In 1812, the Republic collapsed and Miranda was forced to finalise an armistice with Spanish royalists. He was arrested by the Spanish authorities, taken to a prison in Cadiz, where he died in 1816
Statue of Francisco de Miranda in the Plaza Espana
A wall tile on a building in the nearby Plaza Arguelles
A monument to Fermin Salvochea on the neighbouring building: Salvochea was the Mayor of Cadiz in 1873 and President of the Province of Cadiz and one of the leading anarchists. He was involved in the Cantonal Revolution in 1873, which was an attempt to establish a revolutionary federal republic, based on a decentralised system of cantons across Spain. He was captured and imprisoned by Royalists for several years before finally escaping to Morocco. After being granted an amnesty he returned to Cadiz, before dying in 1907. This monument looks like it is celebrating one hundred and fifty years since his birth
A statue to San Francisco Javier in the Plaza Arguelles: He was a missionary who as a representative of the Portuguese Empire, led the first Christian mission to Japan in 1549
We carried along the foreshore and looked in the nearby Jardines de Alameda Apodaca. There was a very showy Ring-necked Parakeet here, as well as, some more interest statues and other items of interest.
Ring-necked Parakeet: This is an introduced species in Spain, which occurs as an introduced species in the UK and a number of other Western Palearctic countries
A fancy lamp post in the gardens
A great fountain in the gardens
Monument to Marques de Comillas in the gardens
After leaving the gardens, we followed Calle Fernan Caballero into the old town, where we quickly ended up in the large Plaza de San Antonio. This turned into another photo opportunity.
Calle (Street) Fernan Caballero: A typically narrow street which was just wide enough for small cars
The Church of San Antonio de Padua dominated the square
Terry, Karen & Lexie in the Plaza de San Antonio
Cleaning the Plaza de San Antonio: We had already remarked how clean the city was. It was a real contrast to the rubbish throughout the streets in most of Palermo
We carried on along Calle Ancha where we found a street cafe for a local coffee.
This shopping street was well decorated
You can't go to Spain without enjoying a coffee from a street cafe
We carried along following the streets and ended up in the Cathedral Plaza.
Eventually, we ended up in the Plaza de San Juan de Dios, which was perfect as the Spirit of Adventure was moored next to the Plaza. There was plenty going on in the Plaza. We were back on the ship for a late lunch from the top deck buffet.
Statue of Segismundo Moret, with the town hall behind: He was Prime Minister of Spain on three occasions at the start of the 20th Century
Admiral Blas de Lezo y Olavarrieta Statue: Admiral Blas de Lezo y Olavarrieta was the Lieutenant General of the Spanish Navy, who is best known for his victory over the British at the 1741 Battle of Cartagena de Indias, in Colombia. This battle was part of the War of Jenkins' Ear, which has to be one of the best names for a war
The talented, colourful lady was keeping the other tourists occupied with her living statue performance
This lady was playing music from a speaker: But she had a set of mechanical musicians
A close up of the mechanical musicians
The Spirit of Adventure was next to the Plaza: This was impressive as we had just followed a route that seemed right to loop back to the ship, rather than referring to a map on the phones
Cadiz Cathedral from the Spirit of Adventure: The Cathedral dominates all the housing around it
Royal Spanish Navy Frigate Mendez Nunez (F104)
It had been a great final landing. It was a choppy sea as we headed up the coast of Portugal on the following morning. However, it was a good day of surveying, with the only Sperm Whale of the trip, as well as, good numbers of eight Fin Whales and six more unidentified large Whales. The unidentified Whales were probably also Fin Whales. However, they were either distant blows or brief sightings, where it wasn't possible to confirm the identification. We were around twenty-five to thirty miles offshore and this was a similar distance to when we headed South at the start of the cruise. We were further South during the day, compared to our journey through the Portuguese waters at the start of the trip. Given the good numbers of Fin Whales and unidentified large Whales, clearly the whole of the Portuguese coast this far offshore is an important area for Fin Whales at this time of year. This was something that the ORCA head office team suspected, but didn't have the evidence to confirm. From our surveys, we were able to start gathering this evidence and this is an important result from the cruise.
We were still getting quite a few visitors on the top deck while we were at sea
The totals for the end of the first day at sea off the Portuguese coast
Karen's sketch of a Sperm Whale
The following morning was a wash out literally, with thirty knot headwinds and heavy rain stopping our chances of any surveying, as we sailed to the West of the Bay of Biscay. Still it gave Terry and Karen time to work on finalising their talk for the final afternoon. We were able to survey during the afternoon, but quickly retreated to the aft top deck near the Quoits area due to the wind strength. A distant unidentified Whale blow and a distant probably Arctic Skua were my only highlights.
Ian and Denise after the final presentation: Ian and Denise were two of our regular top deck visitors. I'm wondering how soon it will be before I bump into them again, given they live in the Dorchester area of Dorset
We were surveying for the final morning and early afternoon as we passed the North coast of Brittany and started the run up the Channel on our last morning. But mid-afternoon, Lexie and I headed down to the theatre where Terry and Karen were summarising the close to three hundred Cetacean sightings we had recorded during the successful surveying. Once the talk was over, we had to pack, as we were due to depart the ship early on the following morning in Southampton. The ship had changed the return port from Portsmouth, so we were due to be ferried back to Portsmouth by a pre-arranged taxi.
Southampton Town Quay at first light: Sadly, it was the end of the cruise. We had covered six thousand, six hundred and sixty-seven nautical miles
I would like to thank the ORCA head office team for selecting me as one of the Wildlife Guides on the cruise, for Saga for allowing an ORCA survey team onto the ship, all the crew on the Spirit of Adventure for making us welcome and all the lovely passengers we met and who joined us on the top deck to look for Whales and Dolphins. Finally, I would like to thank Karen, Terry and Lexie for being a great set of companions for the three and a half week cruise.
