Laredo is a seaside town that consists almost entirely of a
spit extending almost all the way across the estuary to Santoña. On one side is
a very serviceable beach, much of the rest is grass-covered sand, and wherever
possible there are houses for tourists. It has, as far as I know, no history,
and the population trebles in the summer. In the winter those that are left
just mooch about waiting for the sun to come out. Not somewhere you’d want to
live.
It is, on the other hand, a very good place to start walking
from (to leave, if you like). As you walk west you come immediately to the
marismas, the expanse of the estuary, with shallow water, and highly fertile
mud just below or just above the surface. If that doesn’t sound especially
inviting (and it does smell a bit) the reason I like it is that it attracts a
lot of birds.
Most people associate the marisma with shellfish, and there
are indeed some very good mussels and clams produced there, as well as
sardines, for which the bay is famous, but for the eye and the spirit the
interest is provided by the birds.
We walked along and beside the mudflats for several miles,
through the port of Colindres* and then through a eucalyptus forest where we
got caught in a rainstorm. The road is wet at times. It doesn’t matter; you
cover yourself and the rucksack as best you can and later you dry out again.
Then you join the road and walk across a series of bridges
that cross the flats. The road is mostly bridge from then on, and you have a
clear view of the whole estuary and the sea beyond. The greens and blues and
greys rise and fall across the water and the nearby hills and the birds swim
and fly lazily across your path. The pictures don’t really do it justice and I think
the words don’t either.
No comments:
Post a Comment