We are back in picturesque village Benarrabá! A lovely Aire (N36.54935 W5.27901) at the top of a small
white-washed village, with a population of approximately 600 people.
Moving on from Ronda we pondered were we wanted
to go next. With Easter weekend
approaching we knew it was going to be busy, so we wanted to make sure wherever
we went we would get on an Aire and at a town/village that was going to be quiet. Eventually we decided to ‘wing it’ and headed towards the mountain village of Grazalema to see where we would end up. There are a couple of places to wild camp in
this pretty village – one at the bottom and one at the top. We had read that there are some great walking routes around this mountain range, although you do need permits to walk a lot of the routes in this national park.
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| Grazalema |
However, as pretty a village as it was we tested
out the wild camping spots and didn’t like the feel of either of them, so we continued across the
mountain pass to a place called El Bosque. There isn't a lot to see or do here but lovely wandering around the narrow winding streets and a pleasant place to call home for one night. The Aire (N36.55700 W5.51056) is outside the bull ring and here and everywhere in the town they seem to be obsessed with making the bush tops all flat!
When we arrived the Aire was full, not only with motorhomes but cars as well, so we ended parking just below it
near a little park, The thermals must be
good here as there were lots of gliders/microlights overhead. At one time we counted as many as 30.
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| Lovely little Taverna in the town |
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| The first time we have seen oranges and lemons growing on the same tree. The bar owner picked us a lemon from the tree ad told us it is perfect in a gin and tonic and he was right! |
The next day we moved on to an old favourite of
ours – Benarrabá.
We were last here just over 2 weeks ago, and the Aire is
nice and quiet. Over the weekend we have been joined by a couple of Spanish motorhomes and then a German and Dutch.
It was lovely weather so time for some more
walking. They have had a lot of rain in these parts this year and although it was now warming up, crossing the rivers and streams proved difficult. So, time to build our own
stepping stone bridge across this one
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| Mel throwing the big rocks in the water so we can get across |
My last blog of Benerraba has lots more pictures
if you want to check them out on the link below –
The next day we decided to dust down the scooter
and take it for a spin up the road to Gaucín, and do a 13km walk around Sierra del Hacho (1,100metres high)
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| A great view of Gaucín and the remains of the castle on the hill setting off for our walk. |
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| The top of the rock is where we are heading! |
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| You can just about make out the Rock of Gibraltar and Ceuta from here, although very hazy. |
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| Lots of big birds circling overhead |
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| We found wild black pigs foraging in the woods looking for those acorns |
Getting back to the scooter after the walk, we
somehow had manged to lose the scooter keys en route – ahhhh what a nightmare! After a 13km walk they could have dropped out of
the rucksack anywhere and there was no way we could walk back round the route
to see if we could find them. So, after
we got our heads around the situation we went into the little bar/café next to where we
were parked up and asked on the off chance if anyone had handed in a set of
keys – in case we had dropped them by the scooter. They didn’t speak much English but said that
the police had found some motorbike keys.
A quick phone call to them, however, proved that they weren’t ours. So our sense of relief was unfortunately short
lived. Okay, time to make a plan! We got a taxi
from Gaucín back to the motorhome at Benarrabá, pick up the spare set of keys
from there, taxi back to the scooter and then ride it back. It wasn’t the end of the world, nobody had
got hurt and couple of beers/wines later we put it down to experience and the
fact that we need to be more careful with the keys in future! Luckily we didn’t
lose the motorhome keys on the walk as well – then we would have been in
trouble!
Every year on Easter Sunday in Gaucín they have a
the ‘bull run’, known as Toro de Cuerda.
At 10.30am a bull is tethered to a long rope and is pulled/chased around
the town by local runners. Metal
barriers/gates are placed across the street for people to stand behind as
protection from the bull as it comes down the street, or they just cling to metal bars on residents windows. However, the volume of people there were
today, we feared more for being trampled by the running crowd than by the
bull!
At the end of the run, the bull is auctioned
off and more than likely slaughtered. It is all a bit barbaric, and wonder why it still exists in this modern time but it’s
a Spanish tradition that dates back centuries,
and when in Spain you have to roll with it!
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| The bull running through the town |
Our last day/night at Benarrabá we decided to do
a walk across the valley to the next village of Genalguacíl.
It was a 16km walk that took us down some steep paths, through forests
of cork oak and chestnut trees to the valley floor and a steep climb up the
other side of about 900 metres.
Last time we attempted this walk (16.03.18) we
couldn’t get across the river Genal.
There had been that much rain the bridge had flooded and the river was
flowing that fast we had no chance of crossing.
Luckily that wasn’t the case today.
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| The flooded bridge on the left we couldn't cross on 16.03.18 and on the right on 2.04.18 - the rain has subsided we can cross! |
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| Walking through the forest, with Genalguacil in the distance |
The pretty little white village of Genalguacíl is full of sculptures and artwork. An initiative started in 1994 by the village mayor
who for years has offered food and lodging to aspiring artists in return for a
donation of one of their creations to the village. Every year in August
there is an art festival and prize winning contemporary works of art are put on permanent
display in the village.
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| Found this cat asleep in a flowerpot in the village |
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| The village's main square - La Plaza de la Constitucion |
The village is smaller than Benarrabá and walking around it was like a ghost town, nothing was open and we only saw 4 people the whole time we were there.
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| Benarrabá - a small white speck in the distance |
So time to head back - it's a long way back across that valley!
We got to this part of the walk and no bridge or stepping stones to cross. So the only thing to do is boots off and walk across. To be honest it was nice and refreshing!
Time to enjoy a well deserved pint outside the pub in Benarrabá. We are now locals and even get drinks brought
for us! Thank goodness for Google Translate on our phones though, as nobody speaks English here and our Spanish is very limited.
We definitely don’t want to
leave this lovely, friendly village but it’s time to move on. Hope you have all had a great Easter, however you have spent it!
Sally x
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