Wandergliding: Go-Karting & A Micro Museum

January 30^th, 2026

My plan today was start heading north up the coast, although I was going to deke inland a bit to a place that I stumbled across on a traveller’s blog called El Castell de Guadelest. It looked like a pretty lake surrounded by some small, tree covered mountains. But before that, Google Maps happened to show me a place that caught my eye, “Go Karts Mar Menor”. I went karting earlier on this trip, when Naomi and I were in Madeira, and I enjoyed it, so I thought I’d check out another track.

I wonder if I can make the podiom again?!?

They had a lot of carts, three different types: F-300 (up to 80 km/h), F-200 (up to 60 km/h) and F-100 for kids (6-11 years old)

Unfortunately, the upper deck was closed so this was as good of a view of the track that I could get.

You can see a leaderboard on the left, providing you with your latest lap time.

It looked like I was going to have some tough competition...especially the two on the right who are so chill about the race that they can stare at the fish tank!

Number 20 is ready to roll!

Yeah, the helmet was a bit tight, but not too bad.

So this kid was actually going to be my real competition. Just the two of us were going out on the track for our 8 minutes of racing action, then those younger kids would have their turn. I figured this 14 or 15 year old was going to kick my butt, and I was right. C'mon, he had his own helmet, jersey, shoes and even some kind of rib protector that you can see in this photo.

Yup, Mariano's best lap was 55.63, mine was 1:03.69. I was pleased with my effort though as my first lap was 1:10.81, so shaved 7 seconds off during my race. The course record is around 51 seconds in the same F-200 kart.

Now it's the little guys' turns. A father went out with his young daughter who was maybe 5 years old in a double kart that had two steering wheels. At first I figured that the one for the kid was just a dummy wheel, but actually it could steer the kart too...super cool. Obviously dad was in control of the gas and brakes and could overpower her steering if need be.

This kid went just a bit too fast...

It was a really fun session with a bigger track than the one in Madeira plus it was fun to have at least one other racer out there with me, even if he did lap me!

On my way to El Castill de Guadelest.

This is the city of Alicante. It has some big buildings...

One building that caught my eye, but I couldn't get a photo of it from the highway, was the Intempo apartment buildings. It's 47 floors but it's the design that is interesting. I stole this photo from the web. I think it looked better from a distance...this picture makes it look like it was built in the 50s in Las Vegas!

Starting to head inland.

Arriving in El Castell de Guadelest, or simply Guadelest, I pulled into a paid parking lot which costs 2 Euros, but the attendant told me I had to go down a ramp to the motorhome parking lot which was 6 Euros. I mentioned that I wasn’t planning to spend the night, just an hour or so, but that didn’t matter. Seemed like a bit of a rip off, but it was only 4 Euros, not worth getting upset about.

A square at El Castell de Guadelest where some people were enjoying some late lunch or a drink.

The view out to the Mediterranean.

Walking towards the castle.

There's the Med again.

The main attraction in Guadelest is the Castle of San Jose which is an 11th-century fortress, created by the Muslims, is located on the rock in the highest part of the municipality. The earthquakes of 1644 and 1748 and the explosion it suffered in 1708 during the War of the Spanish Succession were responsible for its destruction.

To access the remnants of the castle, I first had to wander through the Orduña House, which was built by a well-off family, the Orduñas.

The entrance.

This is their original furniture...lovely.

One of the bedrooms, which had no window to the outside.

Some kind of ornate desk.

And a fancy schmancy toilet!

There was a "map room". I thought it was cool to see this map from the 1700s with an incomplete North America.

Not sure what this was about...

The library.

These books were from the 16th century.

Looking up towards part of the castle.

What a view!

The lake level (controlled by a dam) was lower than the pictures I had seen online, which looked a little more impressive.

The view from the castle.

Octi is down there, just to the right of the big boulder.

Lovely countryside.

After leaving the castle, I walked by a school that had some artwork in the windows. This one was odd...but luckily the young artist did write "kayak" by that thing in the middle of the lake that looks more like a UFO.

And I liked 13-year-old Martin's "Disco Panzer"!

A lovely little square below the castle.

I was on my way back to Octi when I saw a sign for a “Micro Museum”. At first, I thought it was an exhibition of small models of towns, cities or countryside scenes or some as I’ve been to miniature museums before. I almost kept walking, but then I peeked between the curtains in the doorway and saw a few microscopes. Okay, hold on, this is different. It was only 5 Euros to enter, so I decided to check it out…and I was glad that I did as it was definitely something different.

Kind of a weird looking museum don't you think?

Okay, that's a piece of rice in the middle...

...with a bunch of people on it!

This is an acorn of some kind...

...which also has some people on it!

Now a tiny leaf...

...with a slew of animals on it.

I can't remember what painting that is...

...but it was replicated on a snail shell.

All three of these famous Michelangelo's sculptures were recreated in teeny weeny form.

Here's the size of David.

And check out Moses, the detail was extraordinary.

Recognize this one? Mike's "Creation of Adam"

The artist of all of these tiny creations, Manuel Ussa, had to invent some of the instruments he uses to create these micro-artpieces.

The Micro Museum was amazing, but I have to admit, it was a bit of a strain on the eyes at times. I can’t imagine how the artist Manual actually produces his work, and how many times he’s part way through a piece and then accidentally breaks it!

This is the way out from the castle area, a tiny tunnel.