Springtime in Andalucia is a colourful affair and a time when you can look forward to spending more time outdoors and in nature exploring.
Springtime in Andalucia means colour and lots of it especially if you live in almond country. The campo begins to turn white with hints of pink from the almond blossom with row upon row of blossom laden trees as far as the eye can see, for us this means the beginning of the ‘real’ overlanding season, we have the Springtime and the rest of the year ahead until around November when the winter chill sets in again.
Springtime in Andalucia does not last long, blink and you’ll miss it, same with Autumn. Summers are long and hot, winters are long and bitterly cold up in the mountains. Each year Spring begins to emerge that little bit earlier, a consequence no doubt of climate change but the difference is notable.
then a cold blast comes in with overnight frosts like winter saying ‘I’m not done yet’.
It used to be that you would see the first almond blossom in late March but now it’s more like mid to late February – problematic when it comes to pollination and everything else connected to it.
Nature always teases the Springtime in too, more so in recent years where you get a warm spell with temperatures in the low 20’s by midday, this may last a week or so then a cold blast comes in with overnight frosts like winter saying ‘I’m not done yet’.
From an overlanding perspective Spring is a welcome change, the clocks go forward giving us an extra hour, we can get out and about again with the edge taken off the cold making things more comfortable and the countryside is awash with colour. The landscape becomes a stunning pattern of blossom grids like a patchwork quilt and you can drive straight through the middle of it all.
“The spring wakes us, nurtures us and revitalizes us. How often does your spring come? If you are a prisoner of the calendar, it comes once a year. If you are creating authentic power, it comes frequently, or very frequently.”
— Gary Zukav
After a long cold winter the need to light the fire becomes less as each day goes by, there is more wildlife present and activity like nature is waking up, getting out overlanding and hiking makes you feel alive, invigorated, at one with nature. It’s a season we love, it is however very short.
Springtime in Andalucia does not last so there’s no point hanging about, the blossom covered fields are gone almost as soon as they appear and then you could have an event like the ‘Calima’ which really puts a dampener on things. The summer approaches rapidly and the window is short – just a few weeks to get out there and enjoy it.
any camp sites in Andalucia are not open all year tend to open their doors around March/April which is also the best time to go to avoid the crowds
Spring is a time when we get the Shogun ready to go out, we spend some time sorting out the drawers, on board food and gear, it gets a good clean inside and out and all the levels checked, we even top up on the coins in the ashtray.
We also check all the camping gear, any camp sites in Andalucia are not open all year tend to open their doors around March/April which is also the best time to go to avoid the crowds [if campsites are your thing]. The tent gets aired out, the fire box reorganised and the old backpack we use for spare clothes emptied of all the winter gear and swapped for shorts and tees.
When it comes to overlanding the Springtime is like Mother Nature saying ‘open for business’. Getting those days and weekends out again, planning road trips, locations and looking forward to it all gets you ignited again after a long winter.
We love it.
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