Author's product rating: 
| Advantages: |
Stunning views, well trained horses, friendly hosts, amazing value for money ! |
| Disadvantages: |
Very hot in summer ! Take lots of suntan lotion ! |
| Recommend to potential buyers: |
yes |
I've been to Desert Riders Spain 4 times now and the place is absolutely fantastic. I love it! It's my special little getaway, my best find on the internet ever, and the place I go to relax, forget about work, soak up the sun and gallop thru the desert with the wind in my hair. I wish i could live there actually!
They are very reasonable on their prices compared to other companies. There are quite a few "adventure trekking" places springing up around spain as I think this idea is catching on a bit, and i've been trekking with quite a few. I can honestly say none of them offer you the freedom, value for money and great scenery as these people.
That brings me onto the scenery....well, it's breathtaking. the first time I went there, it was in august and very hot!! I got out the car and stood in front of the villa, and just looked around me and it took my breath away. For as far as the eye can see in every direction it's uninterrupted views of mountains... and the sunsets they have are out of this world!! Theres this castle which sits on top of a hill just across the way from them in front of the villa and the sun sets right behind it, and it's truly beautiful. I took some really great pics while I was there, in fact if you like photography you'll have a field day! You should just go on their website and have a look thru their gallery. Theres loads of pictures on there (including me actually and some of the other guests they've had stay!)
I've taken friends and family there and everyone I took loved it too. One thing which is different about them is their location. It's absolutely spot on. You go just 20 minutes in a car from Almeria airport to get to them and the roads are really good, I think the Spanish only did them all up very recently so they're not like these other places where it's miles and miles on bumpy dirt tracks up the side of a mountain with perilous drops on either side! trust me, I've been to a few of those and I was scared of driving off the edge! No...this place is brilliant, it's so easy to find. The roads to it are excellent and really straight fwd to find. This means it's not so daunting to get a hire car, and in fact having your own car is brill, cause you have loads of freedom to go anywhere u want, explore the area, drive into town, drive down to mojacar playa, go to the beach, go to fort bravo (the actual original film set where they filmed all those spaghetti westerns!) ... they're all within reasonable distance. It's amazing, you go there and you feel you're in the middle of absolutely nowhere, and that you've stepped back in time, and when you're riding thru the desert you really feel like you could be in one of those scenes on the Clint Eastwood films....in fact i rode thru the exact same valleys which he rode thru in the good the bad n the ugly!!!! It was fantastic, i even recognised it off the film....it put hairs up on my arms!! They film loads of stuff round there and you cant blame them really. The landscape is really diverse. You can be riding thru cactus fields one minute, then up a rocky mountain path, then galloping across a vast flat mountain plateau, then going thru salt flats surrounded by these big imposing mountain ranges..then plodding thru little winding paths in between the fields past tumbledown old fincas and the old abandoned emerald mines, then you can be riding thru the big canyons they have (yes, canyons, it sounds like arizona or something not spain!!!)
They've got a really good arena aswell, so if you want any lessons or want to just do some jumping or flatwork then thats there for you. Their horses are really well trained and they really know what they're doing. I love Spain but i've often found some Spanish trekking centres sort of treat their horses like cattle. Carole and Robert treat their horses like family and they are very experienced. Carole ran BHS approved riding schools in the UK all her life practically and you can really tell. I would class myself as an experienced and very competent rider who's just been out of the saddle for a long time due to work and other commitments. going to Villa Roxmar just made me pine to own my own horses again!! Or at least make more of an effort to get out and ride back in the UK! But if your a rider yourself reading this you'll know what I mean when I say it's just not the same riding in the UK. It's often a wet, windy, muddy, freezing cold affair and while that can be really exhilirating, theres really nothing like chilling out with the sun on your back and two cold san miguels in your saddlebags!!! :)
Honestly, I'm waffling now but thats how much respect I have for these people. They're obviously 2 very hard working people who took a chance and sold up everything to live out their dream of running a trekking centre in the sun and all credit to them, they have a beautiful place there. Another thing I like is that they take very small groups so you get a very personal touch to the service and so they cater really well for all levels of riding unlike other places I have been to some places that boast all sorts of things on their website, but when you get there they just let you ride round the block, mostly roadwork, or stay in an arena and 9 times out of 10 you'll be in a big group of people and everythings really regimented. "right, we trot from this tree to that tree, then stop for lunch at exactly 12pm, then mount up again at precisely 12.30pm" etc etc like it's the army or something, and it's always the same route they take you, and the scenery is never anything like what they say. But this place really is different. Because they're right on the edge of national park and unspolit scenery in every direction, they have a pick of limitless routes in any direction you like.
And they give you a lot of freedom. Every day I woke up with the sun beaming down and sat down for breakfast with them and they asked me "where dyou fancy going today then?" and I'd say "oooh, it looks great up in that direction, whats up there?!" and they'd explain, we'd agree on a plan for the day and how much riding I wanted to do, then that was it, we were off! And they'll come and sit n have a drink with you at the end of the day and a good chat, they're not standoffish like some places can be, they're just really friendly and nice people. They're not some professionally run hotel or anything like that, so dont be afraid of some "rural charm" you're not walking into a Hilton or anything, but I personally think thats part of the charm. :)
If you do go there one thing I would recommend is that you do try to get out a little bit while you're there and have a drive into Tabernas. It's this lovely sleepy typical little Spanish village with all whitewashed houses and everyone sat outside drinking coffee in the streets and little cafes. If you are going to venture out into Tabernas though be prepared and take a phrase book with you! If you go into a shop they will try their best to speak english to you but bear in mind this isn't Lloret or Benidorm this is the proper real Spain and they are Spanish people, not all English ex pats!! That said, if you do want all that while you're here, you can just drive another half an hour or so down to mojacar playa and there the beach is lined with countless bars clubs, restaurants, souvenir shops etc and they're all geared to tourists. So I guess it's the best of both worlds really. You're really getting away from it all, ...but it's all there for you within reach if you still want it...!
I cant recommend this place enough. Go and find out for yourself! Go against the grain a little bit and have a holiday with a difference you'll really remember and look back on really fondly! :)
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