Over Spring Break I spent 2 weeks kiteboading in Tarifa, Spain. It was supposed to be a solo trip, but I met so many great people along the way I hardly spent an hour alone.
Tarifa is located at the southwest corner of spain, in the straits of Gibraltar, with the Atlantic Ocean to the west and the Mediterranean to the east.
Tangier lies across from Tarifa, a short 35 minute ferry ride away. Every year, thousands of Africans die crossing the Straits of Gibraltar, attempting to find a better life in Europe.
Tangier lies across from Tarifa, a short 35 minute ferry ride away. Every year, thousands of Africans die crossing the Straits of Gibraltar, attempting to find a better life in Europe.
I'm in Tarifa, with the Mediterranean on the left and the Atlantic on the right.
- Kiteboarding! -
- Kiteboarding! -
Tarifa is world-renowned for kiteboarding, with it's expansive sandy beaches and predictable, strong winds. The winds suit the Spanish lifestyle - the thermals don't kick up until about 1pm and die down about 8pm, just in time to have dinner by midnight, go to the bar until 3am, dance until 5am, sleep until noon, and then get up and do it all over again. I kited almost every day.
My new 6m Best kite - the winds were very strong in Tarifa, upwards of 28 knots, so I needed to get a smaller kite. This is the only picture on my camera of me an a kite in the same shot.
Aaron Mulcahy, my kite buddy, heads out for the waves
Michele Salvodore makes it though the whitewash!
Hundreds of kites filled the sky on Easter Weekend...and the season has only just begun!
-Semana Santa -
I was lucky enough to see the Semana Santa festivities going on in Tarifa the week before Easter. This included nightly processions around the little town - elaborate statues of saints on wooden platfoms carried by 30 men undernieth, hidden by cloth so only their white shoes were visible. This was followed by people dressed in pointy-hat costumes similar to KKK outfits (someone said similar costumes were worn by the Spanish Inquisition but I am unsure of the significance - they are supposed to depict the Nazareños). This was followed by a band playing very eerie music. The whole procession would march a long very slowly, with the men under the platform stopping every so often to rest and the people in pointy hats arranging their masks so they could see out of the eye holes.
The platform with marry lurching slowly out of the church.
Nazareños with grand candles march through the street
Danielle Kilminster and Mavi Spreafico - a couple of beach bums
-Tangier, Morocco -
The was only one day during the whole trip with very little wind and I took the ferry over to Tangier with Aaron. A lot of people warned me that the city is not such a good place, that travelers are harassed, that the glamour from the days of Jack Kerouac are long gone, but I had a superb time, saw a lot of intersting people, and drank copious amounts of sweet mint tea.
The medina, as seen from the harbor.
The medina, as seen from the harbor.
Many interesting outfits
...and a very obvious clash between old and new
The first of many cafes we stopped in to drink sweet mint tea.
Aaron Mulcahy with zellij in the background - very intricate tilework found everywhere in Tarifa
a berber man taking a break
If you're going to visit Tangier, you might as well get a mustache...
More great tilework
- More kiting with Michele, Alison, and Rob -
Rob vs. Kite!
Rob teaches Michele the basics of the little kite
