The last few days Chirs went home and much to her disappointment the remainder of us went Kayaking around the cliffs from Burriana Beach, Nerja towards Marrow. Clare was anxious about this but, as it was only for a couple of hours and we had a guide she took the plunge! (Excuse the pun)
Clare and Rosie had one kayak and Margaret and I the other, after brief instructions we all seemed pretty natural at it, unlike one couple who seemed to be pulling in different directions all the time.
Our Guide Miguel was very informative and showed us various rock formations along the coast and then made us kayak through the fallen rocks, He explained the movement of sand along the coast and the rock falls that had occurred in the recent past. We past a small waterfall and he told us the water from this came all the way from the Sierra Nevada (approx 60 km away as the crow flies), this was a stark difference to Cascada Grande de Maro what should have been a spectacular waterfall that all was dried up, it’s water came from the Nerja Caves Which in turn gets its water from Sierra Almijara (where we’ve been walking). There has been mo rain in the Mountains of Nerja for three years!
We had a chance to swim with masks to see the fish, the names quite literally went in one ear and out the other with me. We also saw this very weird shoal of foot long fish gobbling whatever was on the surface of the water while we were kayaking.
Talking of fish, Margaret also saw a flying fish while swimming near Nerja one time!
Then it was time to get back onto the kayaks, Clare managed, Rosie was lithe and graceful and I was hopeless, after two tries I ended up stranded like a flapping fish, facing the wrong way on my front much to everyone’s amusement!
We made our way back to Burriana for coffee and ice-cream!
The next day Rosie went home and then there were three! We had time to kill on our last day, our flight not being until the evening. It was so hot, abnormally so for Spain as a heat wave hit and it was easily 30 degrees. We decided a short walk from Frigliana a village one the edge the mountains. The village was heaving with people and it soon became apparent there was some event going on. We walked down a track and away from the hubbub and set off on a narrow track.
This route I had found on line but within a few meters it became precipitous and I was helping both Margaret and Clare over these patches. I saw lots of lizards and a snakes tail disappearing away from the path. We were high over the ravine and after a quick check ahead we called it a day and went back.
That would have been a stressful walk with no time to look at the scenery. So we went down into the ravine to the Rio Higueron which was completely dried up! We had a lovely walk often in the shade.
Margaret’s hawk eyes spotting more Swallow Tail Butterflies and a huge purple brown butterfly that fluttered away before we could identify it. We also got a good look at this giant blue black bee we had been seeing for days. It’s a carpenter bee but I’ve no idea which one. They are harmless apparently, they probably don’t need a sting, they could bludgeon an attacker being about 3cm long!
We met a couple from Denmark who walked with us for a while. Then there was a huge drop in the river bed which would have been fine for all of us to get down but, if we had to come back the same way I’m not convinced we could all have climbed back up so we turned around and walked back.
A shorter walk meant that before heading to the airport Clare got another dip in the sea, Margaret and I just paddled because it looked a bit rough. Clare was helped out of the water by a young chap who thought she was struggling (this had happened before when she really was struggling and none of us realised). Then we went to our favourite cafe and had ice cream!
Well that’s it for a while, I suspect next time I’ll resume walking the coast of Britain. See you then!
The Travelling Bee 