3 Feb 26 - ORCA Canaries Cruise - Vigo: Another Unplanned Spanish Destination

We departed from Madeira, knowing we were having to divert to Vigo, Spain, rather than the planned destination of Lisbon. We spent the first day at sea in six to seven metre swells. The Captain explained the complications that stopped us getting to Lisbon. The port has a depth of not much over six metres at the shallowest point and the Spirit of Discovery had a similar draught. With the full six metre swell continuing close to the port, there was a risk that the ship could ground as we entered port. The only safe way to arrive was to enter overnight on the highest point of the high tide. While he thought we could arrive early for the overnight high tide, our departure would also be delayed to the following overnight high tide. This would have meant we would arrive several hours late in Pompey. The decision was taken we would head to Vigo instead.

Not surprising the seas were rough in the six to seven metre swell

The first day at sea was best forgot. In addition to the six to seven metre seas, the sea state was seven, which meant that we couldn't do any Cetacean surveying. However, we still stayed on deck looking, in the hope, we would at least see something. Twelve Kittiwakes were meagre pickings for my efforts from the back of deck 10. We continued to support the couple of one hour drop-in sessions each day, when passengers were able to meet one of the team on one of the lower decks for a chat about Cetaceans or Birds we had been seeing. Additionally, we were still producing the daily ORCA slides for the ship's TV system, so the passengers still would be aware of what we were seeing, even if we met few on deck.

Two of our regular passengers, Dorset-based Denise and Ian checking in with Fiona at the back of deck 10

The six to seven metre swell hadn't dropped at the start of the second day at sea, but at least the sea state had dropped to a six, which allowed us to resume surveying. We were twenty to thirty miles off the Portuguese coast. As we sailed North and came closer to the coast, the swell and sea state slowly moderated during the morning, but both still made surveying difficult. Additionally, there was still a thirty knot wind and the top decks remained closed, so we were again restricted to surveying from the back of deck 10. The highlight of the morning was I saw only the second Whale blow of the trip. There were only a couple of blows and like the first Whale, frustratingly I didn't see the body. Now we were closer to the coast, we were seeing more Kittiwakes, along with a few Gannets, Yellow-legged Gulls and distant unidentified Auks.

Gannet: One of two seen during the second morning at sea

We finished the morning's surveying with this lovely rainbow: A few minutes later it was chucking it down, but fortunately, that coincided with our lunch break

The seas calmed down a bit as we crossed into Spanish waters as we started to get closer to Vigo. But due to strong winds, we were still restricted to the back of deck 10. The highlight was when I saw a couple of Short-beaked Common Dolphins breach on the starboard side of the ship. Unfortunately, after a couple of breaches, they were too close to the side of the ship and I lost sight of them. I hoped they would come down the side of the ship, but if they did, we didn't see them. The numbers of Gannets, Razorbills, Kittiwakes and Yellow-legged Gulls picked up as we made our final approach into the Vigo estuary.

The Cies Islands lie at the entrance to the Vigo estuary: They have been a nature reserve since 1980

This large bridge spanned the estuary beyond Vigo

There were large Oyster farms in the estuary

Vigo has a large industrial port

We were finally tied up and able to go ashore

Vigo didn't look like it was going to be as attractive a city as Santander or La Coruna to walk around

The ship had laid on a couple of coach tours around Vigo and the neighbouring town of Baiona. I decided to skip these options and walk up to the Fortress of El Castro which dominated the high ground over the port. The Fortress had a park around it, so I was hoping to see a few Birds as well. Vigo is built on three surrounding hills and everywhere you go from the port seems to be a steep uphill walk. It was a good excuse to stretch the legs.

Yellow-legged Gull: This Yellow-legged Gull was hanging around tables outside a cafe hoping for some food. It is the nominate michahellis subspecies which breeds in breeds Portugal, Spain, Morocco and the coastal & inland Mediterranean from Belgium East to Poland & Turkey. The other subspecies breeds on the Azores, Canaries & Madeira

Looking back down one of the old streets

Vigo has a novel idea to help people get around the city on foot: There are currently twelve escalators in the city and more are planned. The plan is this will help encourage people to walk, rather than drive, in the city. The escalators only go uphill, so you still have to walk downhill. Some were very well designed and a lot more colourful than this one

I ran into a bird flock as I reached the woods in the park around the Fortress of El Castro. A quick bit of pishing produced a good response.

Coal Tit: This is the nominate ater subspecies which occurs from Europe to Siberia, Mongolia, Sakhalin & North East China

Firecrest: This is the nominate ignicapilla subspecies which occurs in West, central & South Europe to Asia Minor

Wren: This is the nominate troglodytes subspecies that breeds in Europe and Turkey

Robin: This is the nominate rubecula subspecies which breeds from Europe & West Turkey East to the Ural Mountains, South to North Morocco, the Azores, Western Canaries & Madeira

Chaffinch: This is most likely the nominate coelebs subspecies which breeds from Europe East to central Asia, South to West & North Turkey & North West Iran. However, it's possible it's a wintering gengleri subspecies that breeds in the UK & Ireland

The Fortress of El Castro was built in 1665 to defend the region from potential attacks by English forces. It is actually a combination of the Fortresses of El Castro and San Sebastian along with the city wall. It saw action in the Battle of Vigo Bay in 1702, when a combined English and Dutch fleet defeated a combined French and Spanish fleet. The Fortress, along with the city of Vigo itself, were captured by British forces as part of the capture of Vigo in 1719. In 1809, the Fortress was occupied by the French Imperial Army during Peninsular War, before being recaptured by Spanish forces.

The outer ramparts of the Fortress of El Castro

These three anchors commemorates the Battle of Vigo Bay in 1702: The battle was fought by the Anglo-Dutch navy and Spanish-French fleets and dozens of ships were sunk in the Vigo estuary

Old cannons within the Fortress

Black Redstart: This Black Redstart was feeding around the walls of the Fortress

Black Redstart: It is the same gibraltariensis subspecies that we see in the UK, which occurs throughout Europe, Turkey and Northern Africa

Chiffchaff: This Chiffchaff was feeding around the walls of the Fortress

Magpie: This is the melanotos subspecies which is restricted to the Iberian Peninsula

More of the outer walls

Looking at the inside of the Southern gate to the outer walls

Inside the walls

The gate on the inner Southern walls

The gate on the inner Southern walls

Inside the inner Fortress

Inside the Fortress' Northern gate

The Fortress has a good view over the port

We spent the night moored in Vigo port and I booked on the coach tour to Baiona for the following morning. I will cover that in the next Blog Post.

2 Feb 25 - ORCA Saga Eastern Med Cruise Day 14 - Rhodes: A World Heritage City

Our sixth landing on the ORCA Saga Eastern Mediterranean Cruise was Rhodes, which was awarded World Heritage City status by UNESCO in 1988. The city is surrounded by four kilometres of well-preserved city walls.

We were making our final approach around seven to the unimaginatively named city of Rhodes: Rhodes is the main city on the island of Rhodes. This Greek island lies about ten miles South of the South East corner of the Turkish mainland

We were tied up by the time it was light. A number of the passengers were pleased to see the Blue Sapphire tied up on the adjacent mooring. These passengers had travelled on her when she was the Saga Sapphire, until she was sold in Autumn 20 when she was replaced by our ship, the Spirit of Adventure. Interesting as the Blue Sapphire was, I thought the closer quayside fortress was more interesting.

The Blue Sapphire and the quayside fort

The quayside fort was separate from the main city walls

The city walls continues around the far side of the harbour

The ship had cleared customs while we were having breakfast and we were free to go ashore for the day as soon as we were ready.

The wall of the harbour fort: These are two of fourteen ancient Windmills around the old harbour that were used to grind grain in the times of the Knights Hospitallers

The wall of the harbour fort looking towards the sea

It was good to see this lovely Dolphin statue on the quayside

Terry had been here in Sep 24 and he mentioned there was a park area just outside the city walls that had been worth a visit on that trip, as it had attracted a few migrants. I decided to take the big camera and see if there were any migrants this early in the year. Sadly, there weren't any migrants, but there were a few wintering Black Redstarts, Chiffchaffs and Chaffinches, as well as, a few expected Sardinian Warblers.

A final view of the harbour walls, before I headed off into the town

It was impressive how much of the original town walls had survived. All too often as fortresses go out of use, their stone get robbed and sold on as building material for local houses. Much of my neighbouring village of Corfe Castle is thought to be built on stone sold on after Corfe Castle was destroyed in the English Civil War. One piece was found in my neighbours farm house as he was extending it twenty years ago.

This site of an old church was just inside the city walls

There was a small park beyond the old church

Most of the streets inside the city walls were narrow and windy

This building must have been impressive given the signs of a vaulted ceiling

Just inside the main city walls

A good way to use the moat within the main city walls

The main city walls were impressive

Another view of the main city walls

Black Redstart: This Black Redstart wasn't very photogenic. I didn't try to get better photos, as the day was focused on enjoying the heritage, rather than photographing common Bird species

Further along the city walls, I saw three or four Hooded Crows getting very excited in the tops of some trees. Initially, I couldn't see what was exciting them, but assumed it was likely to be a Bird of Prey or an Owl. Moving a bit closer, I saw the trouble maker was a Steppe Buzzard that was perched in the tree. It endured the mobbing for several minutes, before it flew.

Hooded Crow: One of three or four Hooded Crows mobbing the Steppe Buzzard

Steppe Buzzard: Steppe Buzzards are the Eastern subspecies of Buzzards. This is the vulpinus subspecies which is one of two subspecies which are called Steppe Buzzards. They occur in the North Palearctic and winter to South Asia and Africa south of the Sahara. The other subspecies of Steppe Buzzard occurs from South Crimea & the Caucasus to North Iran

A tatty Red Admiral

I carried on through the park outside the city walls until I reached St John's Gate. This was an impressive gate with a set of defences to help defend it.

St John's Gate: This bridge funnels any attackers into a narrow area where they could be killed by archers

Any attackers would be in the moat which are surrounded by high walls and overlapping fields of fire

Looking back on the inside of the first gatehouse: Under the gatehouse, there was a narrow twisty entrance which would have made it difficult to attack, as defenders could fight back without the risk of being shot by attacking archers, who couldn't get a good line of fire. Meanwhile the attackers would have been targets for the defenders, who were protected within the gatehouse. Originally, there would have been heavy portcullis and other defences which would have slowed down any attackers who had breached the first gatehouse. Finally, there was a second bridge and further defences around that

The sign shows how many historical sites lie within the city walls

Having passed through all the defences around the city walls, I was back in the narrow, twisty city streets. There were quite a few mopeds passing, which were the most effective transport option in this part of the old city. There were also a few cars, but they were all small Fiat 500 sized cars.

This was the road from the main gateway

Further along the same road

I carried on meandering through the old city.

Another old building near the Square of the Hebrew Martyrs: Rhodes didn't escape Jewish persecution during WW2 from the long established Jewish quarter of the city. Over sixteen hundred Jews deported to Auschwitz in 1944, with only around one hundred and fifty surviving

A Seahorse Fountain in the Square of the Hebrew Martyrs

Part of the walls surrounding the harbour

Next, I headed back to explore the harbour.

Hooded Crow: Finally, one decided to perform well for the camera

The Fortress of St Nicholas helps to guard the harbour: The inner tower was built between 1464 and 1467. It was extended after the siege of Rhodes in 1480

The harbour edge opposite the Fortress of St Nicholas

The Rhodes Windmills: These Windmills date to the era of the Knights Hospitallers and were used to grind grain brought into the harbour

Deer Status next to the Fortress of St Nicholas: This statue in on top of a pillar at the inner harbour entrance. It is one of the suggested locations for the Colossus of Rhodes, which was a thirty-three metre bronze statue built between 292 and 280 BC. There is a lot of speculation for the location of the Colossus by authors who lived many hundreds of years after the Colossus was destroyed by an earthquake in 226 BC, but there is no real historical evidence as to its appearance

Yellow-legged Gulls: Adults. This is the nominate michahellis subspecies which occurs on the Macaronesian Islands & North West Africa East through the Mediterranean

Yellow-legged Gull: Adult. This individual allowed me to get a bit closer

After a good morning walking around Rhodes, I headed back to the Spirit of Adventure for lunch.

White Wagtail: White Wagtails are the nominate alba subspecies of Pied Wagtail. They occur from South East Greenland & Iceland to Faeroes, Europe (except the West coast of Europe adjacent to the UK), the South Urals & Asia Minor

White Wagtail: The same individual

After lunch, Terry, Lexie & I decided to return to explore more of the city. I will cover that in the next Blog Post.