Up The Garden Path

We are sorry to lead you up the garden path, but we didn’t go to the Sierra Nevada after all. Draw your own conclusions, but having read that from just outside Granada, the road continues to ascend, in a rather twisty manner, from an altitude of 600 metres to 4,000 and, being February there’s a reasonable chance of snow as it’s a ski resort, I decided that it may not be in the best interests of my stress levels to take on the challenge. Man or mouse? I hear you say, to which I reply “Pass the cheese”.

So we contemplated a return to Caminito del Rey, we called in at the tourist office, and to cut a long story short, it rather disappointingly became not a viable option.

We had a sunny but fresh (10c) walk around Antequera, before returning to the van to contemplate our options over a coffee. The result being we headed 70 miles south back to the costas. Now I’m not exactly sure where the Costa del Sol meets the Costa Tropical, but we found a suitable parking spot near the promenade at Torrox- Costa, which is roughly on the border of the two and about 40 miles east of Málaga. The difference in temperature was significant, as now it was 20c, so the jeans and sweat shirts gave way to T shirts and shorts as we enjoyed an afternoon of warm sunshine.

Just One of Those Days

We departed the aire this morning having done the necessary (water/waste etc) and by the time we’d refuelled and re-gassed at the local Repsol garage we were ready for a week in the wilderness.

The plan was to go to El Caminito del Rey, billed as the world’s scariest footpath, although Botchergate on a Friday night must come as a close second! Not the easiest place to drive to (Caminito not Botchergate) as you can probably imagine. If a footpath is pinned to the side of a rock the road to anywhere near it won’t be easy. After a very long slow drive, interrupted by a temporary road closure whilst workman netted the rock face abutting the road, we eventually arrived at a place vaguely resembling a parking area. There were a few wooden stakes driven into the ground to prevent people reversing over the edge into the reservoir. As I went in search of some kind of guidance to find a route to the infamous path I was advised by a friendly German, I hadn’t mentioned the war at this point, that the walkway was closed for 2 days due to the windy weather. Obviously our German friend beat a hasty retreat, soon to be followed by the English.

http://www.caminitodelrey.info/en/#2

Forty miles and 2 hours up the spout, oh well, a quick check of the map “We are here, and the Germans are here, here and here”. There was only one thing for it, programme the satnav (still haven’t decided whose side it is on) and head north to the aire at Antequera. It would’ve been nice to take the easiest route, but as one old English couple we met referred to it, the satNAG had other ideas. If Caminito del Rey was tricky to get to, it wasn’t any easier to get away from. We finally arrived at Antequera about 3pm and had had enough travelling for the day, so we will rest here and head for the mountains of the Sierra Nevada tomorrow.

We were struck by the vivid colours on this part of today's drive

As the road improved (briefly) we treated ourselves to a lunch break

Málaga

Today we had a very enjoyable 8 mile walk around Málaga, punctuated by yet another dodgy tapas and a bus journey which reminded us why we enjoy independent travel so much!

Neither the tapas nor the experience of public transport detracted from our day, as hopefully the photos will show.

Believe it or not we weren't lost!

Entrance to Central Market

People were free to help themselves to as many oranges as they liked.

200 million US dollar superyacht owned by 

Kazahkstan billionaire Alijan Ibragimov 

Sunday

We took the infamous A7 east for 40 miles and got a good buffeting from the wind coming down off the mountains, the only respite being when we passed through the many tunnels en route to a paid aire just east of Malaga. I suppose the consolation being that at least it was 17c at 10am, so not quite like travelling over Bowes Moor in February!

On arrival at the aire, well really it’s a very compact and bijou campsite, there was no room at the inn. This is one of the highest rated aires in Campercontact (our reference point for places to stay) so it came as no surprise that we had to wait, the time it takes for elevenses, before we could take the place previously occupied by another interesting camper.

Yes, I'm sure we can fit in the space that van has just vacated.

The thing about wind and sun, it makes a great drying day, so Rachel’s been feeding the washing machine this afternoon so we can continue to smell of roses!

Vying for the award of 'Most Unusual Van We've Seen on this Trip'
an old converted German fire engine.

International Incident

There aren’t many things that are guaranteed to get Rachel out of bed in the morning, but an international incident is one of them.

“I wish those men would shut up talking” were her opening words as she lay in bed, to which I replied “Well they’re not going to, it’s 10 to 9 and it’s the police”. It was only 8.50am and Rachel’s day had already been made, as the police descended en masse to clear out the riff raff who hadn’t registered with them. As the German wagon train left it appears they were right to fear an attack!

The icing on the cake being it’s market day on the other side of the car park, so we return to our favourite olive stall to stock up with a small bucket load.

A French van showing a break with the traditional white,
well he IS a Harley owner!

Friday

All went well at the cop shop, the same policeman was sitting behind the same desk he was a year ago, and he still speaks the same amount of English – none, and he still types with one finger at the same speed, but everything went without a hitch, so we are allowed to stay here until 9.50am on Sunday.

We’ve said many times before, that they could make a sit-com out of this campervan life. There definitely are all kinds of people, and all kinds of nationalities. It lends itself to a bit of people watching and the most amusing thing we are seeing at our present aire is by a group of 4 motorhomes, the drivers of which, have not parked their vans in any kind of line, like everybody else, but have arranged them into a square, a-la wagon train. Maybe they’re expecting some kind of attack, after all they are German!

On today's 4 mile promenade walk at La Cala Mijas

Thursday

Fortunately for us, the visitor centre for the Via Verde de la Sierra was open at Olvera before we departed this morning, so as well as grabbing a handful of leaflets we also found out that the place we had stopped for lunch during our ride (where we could look up to the rock and see the vultures), is also an observatory which is only open at weekends. We were told that there’s a webcam positioned near the rock, and it’s possible to see the vultures close up in their natural habitat; a weekend return trip could be on the horizon.
http://www.viasverdes.com/en/principal.asp

Before leaving the town we called in at our usual local supermarket and did the typically English thing of clearing the wine shelf out, 10 litres costing the princely sum of 11 euros.

We arrived on the Costa del Sol, or more appropriately the Costa del Drizzle, in the early afternoon, and as the drizzle turns to rain the only thing left to do is ‘batton down the hatches’ and restrain ourselves from the wine cellar!

Tomorrow morning I have an appointment with the local constabulary, nothing serious, it’s a condition of staying at this free aire that you have to register with them. We will have a couple of days on the coast and when the weather improves we will return inland for some sightseeing.

The more observant of you will notice that there are only 9 bottles left!

Tuesday and Wednesday

Tuesday was a day off, doing pretty much nothing other than recovering from Monday’s exertions.

Wednesday we were on the road again, and returned to Olvera via Setenil de las Bodegas, named after its once flourishing wine industry. This wasn’t the reason we were visiting though, as it was wiped out in 1860 by an insect infestation. Our real reason for visiting was to see the houses which are built into the rock (photos attached).

Lost in translation

We called into a small shop to buy some bread, I said to the girl in my best Spanish (with hands wide apart) “Baguette”? She replied “Pasta”? Confused where that came from, I pointed to some bread and she said “Baguette”? I thought that’s what I just said! Anyway, we left with 2 and got a discount coz she didn’t want a note.

We headed up to Olvera, passing some goats standing on an incredibly steep rock face, and pushed the boat out by paying 7 euros for the aire. Oh the joys of mains electricity and water, not together you understand?

Monday – Via Verde de la Sierra

Other than finding better weather than in England, top of our ‘To do’ list was to cycle Spain’s No.1 green lane, the 23 mile Via Verde de la Sierra.

You may remember that about 2 weeks ago we did 8 miles from the other end (Olvera) in sunny, but freezing temperatures? A lot of planning went into this 2^nd leg, as we couldn’t afford to do the remaining 15 miles (x2) in such a cold climate. Detailed checking of the hourly forecast proved its worth and we had perfect conditions for our longest ever bike ride together. The ‘turning point’ was the huge rock where we had seen 20-30 vultures last time, and they didn’t disappoint us this time. In fact, during lunch we had the binoculars out and Rachel saw one land high on the rock above. After it had been there a few minutes its mate landed next to it, and we could see them preening each other, a unique sight for us Northern Europeans!

Rachel crossing the most impressive of the 4 viaducts

The old railway stations have been turned into restaurants and accomodation

Gibraltar with Atlas Mountains in the distance

Zahara

Sunday - Lesson Learned

Sometimes we lose track of the days, but we must always remember a Sunday. Not just because we can't get provisions, but because Sunday is the day all the Spanish families come out and pack all the tourist places us tourists want to see in peace and quiet!

We departed Casares and took the very scenic and incredibly uneven road over the Sierra Crestellina to Gaucin where, thankfully the road condition improved to allow us to break 25mph! After taking a few photos of the view back to the Med, Gib. and the Atlas Mountains (photos to appear later) we continued upwards for another 1,500' before descending to Ronda. Having visited the town this time last year we passed it by & stopped off at Zahara, perched on a rock above a reservoir (photos to follow, AGAIN!). Yet another steep climb for some amazing views and a reservoir so blue, when you see the photos they really haven't been enhanced! After lunch a 20 mile drive north to Puerto Serrano. This is a very significant place as you will find out in the next entry.....

Sugar Cube Village at Night

Photos of Casares, and Griffon Vultures

Our free aire for the night

Casares - sugar cube village

Photo of another 'bird' but not a vulture!

Saturday – The Real Castellar de la Frontera and Casares

The 6 mile drive up the steeply winding, sometimes breaking away at the edges, road was well worth it. As we arrived we were greeted by our guides, a Labrador and a scruffy Heinz 57. Exiting the van, they led us up the path to the castle and continued to show us the proper tourist route, having obviously done it with hundreds of previous visitors. They stayed with us throughout the whole trip, up to the castle and around all the narrow streets of the town, and only left us when we got back safely to the van. After we departed the car park and slowly drove back down to the main road, what should we meet coming up, but a coach led by its walking guide! The road was barely wide enough for 2 cars to pass, never mind a coach and a campervan, but we managed.

We travelled southeast, picked up the notorious A7 (no resemblance at all to its namesake at home, the Carlisle to Edinburgh road) and enjoyed the sea views along Costa del Sol, before making a left turn and heading 6 miles inland to a place we visited in January last year, when it was raining and shrouded in low cloud. Casares is your typical hilltop Spanish town and features in most ‘Top 10 of Spain’ guides. I walked into the tourist office, which is also the free aire, and the lady behind the desk did usual usual tourist greeting. I didn’t come out with any of that “Hola, no hablo Espanyol” stuff but said “You speak very good English don’t you”. She said “Have you been here before”? I said “Yes, last year, you were playing David Bowie on the radio”. I won’t bore you with the rest of the conversation, but we got free wifi, hence the blog update, and she was very helpful as always. We had a great walk around the town, very very steep, and the highlight being the number of vultures above us. How enjoyable it has been in the sun with beautiful views down to the coast, Gibraltar and also inland.

I wasn't happy with Juan standing on the wall with a 40' drop
but he's obviously done it many times before!