Kayaking Adventure - Embalse de la Cierva

For a friends birthday I decided that we needed to get away from our day to day lives, escape from the norm, push ourselves out of our comfort zones and have some fun!

 

Whether you're living here and want a fun activity right on your doorstep or holidaying and would like to explore and experience a bit of an adventure, then I highly recommend this package. 

Based in the Sierra Espuna, in Gebas, are Espuna-Adventure. A company offering a wide range I'd activities including quad-biking, 4x4 tours, laser shooting, archery, river-rafting and more.

Here is how our day worked out.... 

We set off around 8am, to arrive at Hotel la Mariposa by 9. A short drive on the RM3, through Alhama de Murcia and up the mountains towards Gebas and we arrived at our destination - about a 40 minute drive through absolutely stunning scenery!

On arrival at the hotel we were greeted by our hosts Mark and Tom, ordered our coffee and soaked up our beautiful surroundings, whilst awaiting our briefing. 

 

 

Once all members of our activity group had arrived and had their coffee we were given an introductory briefing and off we went to get our life jackets and were offered the opportunity to purchase additional water and sun-block - at 40 degrees on the lakes in August this really is a must!

 

Once everyone was kitted out we were divided up and loaded into a 4x4 and a minibus, with our kayaks on board also. From Hotel la Mariposa we headed for Mula and the Embalse de la Cierva and 30 minutes later we arrived at the most picturesque activity location.

 

Once lakeside we were given another short safety briefing on how to board our kayaks and rowing techniques, which we all found hilariously funny.... The giggles soon turned to nervous laughter however, when the first member of our group ended up backwards over his kayak and disappeared head first into the lake. 

 

Once out on the lake it was truly beautiful, relaxing and a super good laugh - being in great company obviously helped too. 

 

The instructor was professional, patient, friendly, safety orientated and gave us enough space and freedom to really enjoy ourselves. He was on hand if we needed anything and guided us and made sure we took in all the spectacular sights on our way.

 

He guided us through some magnificent winds and turns along the water and took us to the most enchanting cave, which we were able to row into.

Next came the technical channel, which he advised was for confident rowers.... me and my pal were most certainly not confident but we were up for a laugh and so decided to brave it. There really wasn´t anything technical about our performance but we certainly did laugh.  We managed to get stuck in the shallow waters, ricochet off trees like we were in a game of pinball and smack each other in the face with low hanging branches on several occasions but we didn't fall in!

If you don't fancy the technical bit you can simply continue to meander down the main channel and meet up with the idiots like us at the bottom. 

Once at the bottom we were able to swim and there was a little low level rock jumping on offer or, as we did, you could just relax in your kayak chat and enjoy the incredible lake. 

Once the swim was over it was time to head back, a nice relaxed row back the way we had come and a chance to take some photos before landing back at the transport home. 

Kayaks and damp people loaded and we were on our way back to the hotel for a well earned lunch.  We were out on the lake for approx 2 hours and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. 

Once back at the hotel wow, what a lunch! Included in our activity price was a four course lunch, overlooking the Sierra Espuna and a cold glass of wine. 

After the bread and mediterranean salad I opted for the chorizo & pimiento pepper skewers with local honey and paprika drizzle, followed by the thai green curry.  I skipped desert and the coffee but opted for a second cheeky glass of wine instead. 

SUMMARY OF THE DAY

 

Hosts & Instructors - AMAZING! 

Location, Views & Experience - INCREDIBLE! 

Food & Services - IMPECCABLE! 

Value for Money - OUTSTANDING! 

Would we go again - ABSOLUTELY!!! 

For more information please follow the links to their website and Facebook Page. 

Thanks for reading!

Un Saludo 

Chica de Mazarrón xx