A Day With Thomas

We asked Thomas to describe an actual day, in his own words, rather than write another page about what our tours include. Here’s what he told us.

 

 

The Morning

Most of my days start the same way — I’m outside a hotel in Marbella or Málaga, usually a few minutes early, with a sign in the car window rather than one I’m holding, because I’ve usually already spotted the guests before they’ve spotted me. You get a feel for it after a while. Someone standing near the entrance, checking their phone, glancing around — that’s almost always them.

The first ten minutes in the car matter more than people realise. I’m not launching into history the moment someone’s seatbelt clicks. I’m asking what they’re actually hoping for from the day — sometimes people know exactly, sometimes they genuinely don’t, and that’s fine too. One group told me on a Gibraltar day that they had a range of ages, 11 to 78, all in one group. That’s useful to know before we’ve even left the hotel car park, because it changes how I plan the pacing for the whole day, not just the itinerary.

 

Reading the Group

This is the part of the job that’s hardest to explain and probably the part I’m actually best at, after this many years. Somewhere in the first hour, you start to understand what a specific group actually wants — not what they said they wanted when they booked, but what’s genuinely landing once they’re there.

I’ve had guests mention, almost in passing during a Ronda drive, that they love hiking. That’s not something in the standard itinerary. But if I hear it and there’s time later in the week, I’ll build them something specific — a hike up to Cruz de Juanar, say, timed for when the light’s good and the group’s energy is right for it. It wasn’t planned when they booked. It came from paying attention to one sentence someone said in the car.

The same goes the other way. A family once told me, gently, that they weren’t comfortable with bullfighting as a tradition, and would rather skip the bullring in Ronda. That’s easy — we just don’t go, and the time goes somewhere else instead. Nobody needs to justify a preference like that to me. I’d rather know early than have someone sit through a stop they didn’t actually want.

 

Ronda, Specifically

Ronda is where I spend more of my working life than anywhere else, and I still don’t get tired of watching someone see the gorge for the first time. There’s a specific moment — usually right at the first viewpoint, before anyone’s said anything — where you can see it land. Photos genuinely don’t prepare people for it.

I usually try to time the walk to the Puente Nuevo viewpoints for when the light’s doing something interesting, not just whenever we happen to arrive. And if the group’s up for it, the Casa del Rey Moro water mine — the 200-odd steps down into the gorge — is the thing I’ll push a little, especially with teenagers who’ve been mildly patient through the rest of the morning. It’s the one part of the day that’s genuinely physical, and it usually turns the mood of the whole afternoon.

Lunch is not an afterthought for me. If someone asks where to eat, I’m not reading off a list — I have an actual answer, and it changes depending on what the group’s told me earlier in the day. A table with a view of the bridge for a couple celebrating something. Somewhere quieter and simpler if the group’s tired and just wants good food without ceremony.

 

Gibraltar Days

Gibraltar has a different rhythm entirely. There’s a genuine moment at the border, especially with first-time visitors, where you can watch someone realise they’re about to walk into a different country on foot. And then the monkeys — I’ve had a guest’s hat stolen by one, watched the whole thing happen, and gone and got it back within about two minutes, which by now I’m reasonably practised at.

What I actually enjoy most about Gibraltar days is the contrast with whatever we did the day before. If a group’s done Ronda first, Gibraltar feels like something else entirely — different language on the signs, different currency, a completely different atmosphere. That contrast is deliberate on my part, not an accident of scheduling.

 

Picking Guests Up From the Ship

Cruise days are a slightly different kind of pressure — a fixed departure time that isn’t moving, no matter how good the day is going. I check the ship’s schedule closely before we even leave, and I build in more buffer than feels strictly necessary, because I’d genuinely rather return someone twenty minutes early than explain why we’re cutting it close. In all my years doing this, I’ve never had a guest miss their ship, and I intend to keep it that way.

 

Why I Still Do This

I’ve been driving and guiding since Costa Excursions started in 2015, and the honest answer for why I haven’t gotten tired of it is that no two days are actually the same, even when the destination is. A Ronda day with a family of nine feels nothing like a Ronda day with a couple on their honeymoon, and both feel nothing like a Ronda day with a solo traveller who wants to talk history the whole way. Reading which version of the day a specific group needs, and then actually delivering it, is still the part of the job I find genuinely satisfying — not the driving, not the commentary, that part.

If you end up in the car with me, tell me early what you’re actually hoping for. I’ll build the rest of the day around it.

 

 

Frequently Asked Questions

 

Will Thomas personally guide my tour?

Often, yes — Thomas leads tours regularly across Ronda, Gibraltar, and other destinations. For tours he isn’t personally leading, one of the other named local guides who work with Costa Excursions will be with you instead.

 

Can I ask for the itinerary to be adjusted once the day has started?

Yes — this is genuinely how most days work. Guides adjust pace, timing, and stops based on what’s actually landing with your specific group, rather than following a fixed script.

 

Is it okay to skip a planned stop, like the bullring in Ronda?

Yes, without needing to justify the preference. If something doesn’t suit your group, the time is simply redirected elsewhere in the day.