Goodson’s Travel Photos

What a picturesque town! We started off our tour by visiting a museum that contained items, as well as a smaller scale replica of the only surviving (of the three ships) that accompanied Magellan. We continued through the town towards the Plaza del Cabildo - the town square lined with restaurants and shops, then on to the street vendors (check out the snails).

We worked our way up the Las Covachas- the original wall that enclosed Sanlucar to the Plaza de San Roque, where the daily market is held. From this point we were outside the Palacio de Orleans y Borgon (was the summer home for a powerful Sanlucar family in the 19th century) now it is the Town Hall. It is decorated in flamboyant neo-Mudejar architecture with a public library on the grounds. Everyone spent their time looking straight up at the intricate ceiling tiles. We were unable to tour the Basilica (one of the reasons we went to Sanlucar) because they were replacing the front doors!

All in all it was a wonderful visit to Sanlucar and a lovely place to sit and enjoy yet another cola cao in the Plaza del Cabildo!

A small group of us managed to journey to Sanlucar to take a ferry ride 13 km up the Guadalquivir River to the Parque Nacional De Donana - to see the wildlife and vegetation. We also went to the Natural Park of Donana, which surrounds the National Park as a buffer zone. The most important ecosystem of Donana is the wetlands- which shelters many of the aquatic birds. We arrived at the Poblado de la Plancha in the National Park and walked around for about an hour, viewing the houses of the area, wildlife, and vegetation. We then boarded our ferry, “The Real Fernando”, and headed to the Natural Park where we disembarked at Las Salinas to observe the marshes and the vast bird population. The flamingos were a sight to behold. Not as pink as what we are used to seeing, because of their diet, but amazing creatures to watch in their natual setting and not in a zoo. We had a wonderful time, even though it was a very windy and cold day.

We might have enjoyed it more had it have been at a warmer time during the year. Might have been able to see more of the wildlife also. The boys loved the ferry ride and the Cola Cao. Side note- I had frozen our lunches that we took with us so that they would thaw and be nice for us to eat lunch (that is what I always did in the states for our field trips) Well, to my surprise and to the boys hunger, our lunches were still frozen when we stopped to eat because it was so cold that day! Our friends shared their lunches with us and I learned my lesson!

Go to www.visitasdonana.com for more information and pictures about the parks. The site is in Spanish, but I think you will understand more than you think that you will.