A hidden path to Camposoto beach

Camposoto is the only beach in San Fernando, the small city where I was born. Since I was a kid, I have spent countless afternoons and complete days there. Unspoiled, it has six kilometers of white fine-grain sand, sunsets behind the the Atlantic ocean in front of you and part of the natural park of the Bahía de Cádiz in your back.

But it is not about the beach that I want to talk you today, but the path which takes you there.

It was not until the teenage years that I followed this path in a conscious way; with a bike. Back then, my friends and I used to ride our bikes to explore the marshes and the salt mines which surround the city of San Fernando. We used to encircle the eras, carrying the bikes in our arms every time we had to jump over the ancient gates, collapsed decades ago.

It was then when we began to go together to the beach and we found this path.

This route is located in parallel to the road which connects the city with the beach. It is not a long trail, less than one kilometer. On the other side of the path you can find part of the natural park of the bay, an extensive and flat surface which gets submersed when the tide rises.

Somewhere in the first third of the route, there is a bench in the shadows of an eucalyptus facing a brook which only exists when the tide recedes.

When the weather is warm, the flamingos spend the time there. You can see them from the bench. Flocks of house martin fly over water, hunting little flying bugs. Herons, magpies, sparrows, partridges, and, sometimes, falcons (we call them halcones salineros) live here. You can see them while you follow the trail.

These days, when the winter comes to its end, hundreds of thousands of sour-grass little plants bloom. We call them vinagrillos and, when we were kids, we used to suck the stems whose flavor is similar to the one of the lemon. Even now, sometimes, I still do it while I am walking.

In summer, you can find hundreds of exploding cucumbers (in Spanish, pepinillos del diablo). We used to touch them with sticks to see how far they reach after the explosion.

But, with no doubt, my favorite spot on this path is one place almost in the end of it, near to the camouflaged viewpoint. As staunch fan of the saga with name Made in Abyss, I found in here my personal garden of eternal fortune. A small slope under big trees full of little sour-grass flowers.

There is not much more path ahead from this place on, but still, if you keep walking, there the beach awaits for you.

Un abrazo y hasta la próxima — Juan.