Spain, El Torcal

I wanted to be on the road by 7am. It was a bit of a shock to the system after getting up in our own time for most of this holiday. There was method in my madness as you shall see.

50km North of Malaga is the small mountain range of El Torcal sitting 1300 meters above sea level in what is known as a limestone karst. It’s a World Heritage Site! The noun Torcal means a place where there are caves.

The area surrounding it is full of olive groves, fincas, these huge limestone mountains and big sky. The road is smooth, narrow and winding once off the main dual carriageway. Every now and then Chris in a quiet voice would say to Clare, “don’t distract Debbie” as she was exclaiming and pointing out the scenery.

I was a actually bit nervous because, as you get nearer to the mountains, there is the small town with a very big name of Villanueva de la Concepción and in it is a steep hill with a junction that is a little challenging. Well with five people in the car, a steep hill and a smooth road, I probably woke the whole town with my squealing wheels as I tried to get enough traction to negotiate the turn. The burning tyres left smoke in my wake and my passengers somewhat terrified. I’ve never done that in my life before, it was like driving on ice!!

And for my next trick I’ll do a doughnut turn!

It was well worth getting to El Torcal so early, the visitor centre wasn’t open and we virtually had the place to ourselves for the first two hours at least and enough time to recover from my driving!

The walks here are set routes and as I’d never done the longer route before that’s what we did. This was meant to be our most challenging walk because there is a bit of scrambling and you really have to look where you put your feet but, after the Rio Chillar it was a walk in the stoney park!

Picking our way through the strange landscape, listening to the birds in the echoing silence was fantastic. I even caught a glimpse of the Spanish ibex at one point.

Along with the towers and pillars of rocks, there are caves and odd narrow lanes. Peonies grow wild here along with many other plants, shrubs and trees. It is eerie and beautiful.

As we neared the end of our walk we heard the most amazing bird song, strident and clear. Margaret recorded it and after sending it to my Dad he confirmed it was a Nightingale. What a treat!

The walk ended at the visitor center and the picnic tables where we had our lunch. Our walk complete meant there was enough time to get back to the coast for another dip in the sea!