Saturday 27 September 2008

Walking - Campillos, Andalucia, Spain

The time of year has come where it is a little cooler to be more active, walking has become a favourite hobby of ours, considering, we live in a wonderful part of Spain, Andalucia.

There is much to do in Andalucia if you like the great outdoors so we decided to take a journey out to Campillos and walk a ruddy great mountain!



The 5 of us headed off from Monda and Coín, passed through Villa Franco and headed for the A-384 Antequera-Campillos road. Originally the plan was to go and vist the Laguna Dulce which is 2km outside of Campillos, however, after driving around for some time, even stopping and askig directions in a petrol station, we didn't find it!

We changed our plan and went to visit the smaller Laguna called the Laguna Salada, unfortunately the Laguna was bone dry so there was very little wildlife about, we decided to walk round it anyway to get back to the car.

As we were driving to Campillos, we passed a Laguna on the right hand side that we believes connects to the "well known" Lakes so we decided to head there as at least there was water present and we were drawing blanks at the Lagunas we had chosen for our original activities of the day.



We noticed a sign saying "Parque Guadalteba" and thought we would just go there, we were itching to just get out of the car and walk! We did just that, off we went with our back packs full of food and wine, the park is very well laid out, clean and has easy paths to follow. As soon as you head off you will come to a bird hive which is just absolutely lovely, there is information next to the bird hive detailing all the local wildlife living in this area and a small picnic table made from rocks, this is where we sat and had lunch with a bottle of wine - lovely!

After lunch we decided to climb the mountain, we spotted a cave and decided that we would head for that first and decide from there if we wanted to continue, the climb was hard going as parts were almost straight up!

When we got to the cave we realised that someone actually lived there, a BBQ was set up, blankets and pillows were stuffed into a makeshift cupboard in the rocks and a ladder was laid up against the wall that went into a deep crevice in the rock - amazing place.



Gina, Chris and Dan didn't want to walk any further so Mark and I left our belongings with them and carried on ahead, with water in hand. The climb was hard going and the sun was beating down on our heads but WOW what a view from up there, we could see windmills on a mountainside in the distance, the Laguna that we drove past earlier in the day all of a sudden became enormous because we had climbed higher than the mountain that onstructed the view of the Laguna from the road.

After we had been walking some 20 minutes we spotted a mountain goat with it's kid who were clearly a little spooked at seeing us there and ran for cover, what a sight to see though, proper wildlife for once without having to go to a zoo!

We stopped here for a while, had a rest and a water top up and I decided that I couldn't go any further and stayed here while Mark went for more of a mooch further up - I was knackered!

The return back to the others was harder going than the walk up, the gravel on the rocks made for trecherous walking, we took our time. We stopped just for a second because I wanted to take a picture of the valley below when all of a sudden a kid (baby goat) jumped out from a hole in the rock, we were both shell shocked for half a second before we realised what had just happened, Mark and I looked at each other in utter amazement and shock, it took a few seconds for it all to register before I started taking pictures, I could have got better images if I had just been more awake when the kid jumped out at us!!!!!! We had no idea that goats take shelter and sleep in holes in the rock face and to this day I am still wowed over that.

When we met back up with Chris, Gina and Dan it started to rain and we still had the rest of the mountain to climb down. Still, no one actually fell over so we did very well on the climb down, however, it was quite funny because we all kept slipping a little and of course you throw your arms out when you slip for balance so we must have looked like we were all auditioning for the ministry of funny walks!

We saw many vultures and ravens flying over the top of the mountain and they were enormous and the ravens were extremely noisy, although I took many photos only 1 turned out well, where you can see the head, body and distinguish the colour of the feathers, I need to keep trying with this digital photography!


Campillos Village, Andalucia

With less than 8000 residents, Campillos lies between the Costa del Sol, Granada and Sevilla. Campillos is an important area of Andalucia for cattle farming, leather production and the mining centre since Roman times. Campillos is situated on the N342 which continues on towards Olvera, Arcos de la Frontera, Jerez de la Frontera and is also well connected to the nearby La Fuente de la Piedra - home to the brilliant pink flamingos.

Iglesia Parroquial Nuestra Señora del Reposo is the most important monument in Campillos, situated off the town's plaza central.

Ermita de San Benito is the town's patron saint and is worth seeing. Built between 1578-1569 originally the Ermita looms over the town centre. Extensive work was carried out in 1756 and 1814.

A good time to visit Campillos to celebrate the patron San Benito would be July 10-11th every year. Their summer feria happens in the first two weeks of August, yearly.

If gastronomy delights is all part and parcel of your travelling bug then Campillos is famous for it's drying soup or stew with tuna, eggs and ham, known as Porra Campillera. The regional speciality is Salmoreja, consisting of oranges, fried fish, cod and tuna.

Thursday 18 September 2008

It's been a long summer!

Well first of all I would like to apologise to our members and viewers for my lack of hard work since July! I have not blogged for some time because life just got a little hectic, work load was heavy, it was far too hot outside and I just couldn't get enough done, I was very lax in the garden - again too damn hot!

I did, however, manage to keep everything alive, just! I had irrigation on twice a day for 20 minutes at a time and then I was watering even more, my strawberries stopped producing fruit very early because I think they were feeling the same way, in fact we have new fruits growing now the sun has eased off now.

Refugio de Juanar, Monda
We went for a walk in the woods on Saturday afternoon, Refugio de Juanar is a national park in Monda and literally 10 minutes drive from our front door, I have been banging on about going there for a mooch about since we moved here and finally the fella gave in and off we went. With bird book in hand and back pack on, we ventured into the woods.

Refugio de Juanar lies in the middle of a nature reserve, 800 metres above sea level, with the forests showing off their pine, eucalyptus and olive plantations, through this forest is various tracks leading you off into the wilderness and a Mirador that looks over Marbella which is truly stunning.

Refugio de Juanar is a rustic and grand hotel that is built on the site of an old hunting lodge, that once belonged to the Marqueses de Larios family who are well known in the city of Malaga.

Famous guests of Refugio de Juanar have included Charles de Gaulle, who in 1970 finished writing his memoirs here and Alfonso XIII, for whom the hotel was one of his favourite retreats. The hotel has space for 56 guests, offers a wide range of gastronmy delights, speciality dishes include marinated pheasant, wuail, mountain goat, Sergovia style suckling pig, lamb and roast kid, along with an array of international dishes.

A visit to this delightful hotel in Monda is the perfect occasion to rediscover the joys of outdoor living. The surrounding forest, with its well-marked paths and fresh air by the lung full, is a paradise for trekkers and nature lovers alike.

Unfortunately we did not see the wildlife we were hoping to come across, the only bird we did see was a Chaffinch and although he was a pleasant little chappy and very colourful, I was ever hopeful of seeing one of many resident Griffon Vultures!

Birds of Refugio de Juanar:
Tits
Warblers
Hawfinch
Thekla Lark
Woodlark
Robin
Black Redstart
Rock Bunting
Hoopoe
Black-eared Wheater
Woodchat Strike
Skylark
Meadow Pipit
ChiffChaff
Linnet
Great Grey Shrike
Stonechat
Sardinian
Dartford Warblers
Whinchat
Owls
Great Blue
Coal
Chaffinch
Serin
Goldfinch
Greenfinch
Jay
Great Spotted Woodpecker (heard but never saw)
Short-toed Treecreeper
Firecrests
Crossbills
Rock Thrush
Bonelli's Eagle
Buzzard
Peregrine
Kestrel
Booted Eagle
Short-toed Eagles
Griffon Vulture
Egyptian Vulture
Crag Martins
Alpine Swift
Swallow
House Martin

When to Visit Refugio de Juanar?
The area is very popular at weekends and on national bank holidays, I would advise avoiding these buy times as the Spanish can be known for being rather noisy and this could prove frustrating if you are wanting to see some wildlife. The highest part of this site is 900 metres above sea level so it is advisable to take some form of warmer clothing, in case it is a little chilly.

Refugio de Juanar Hotel
Refugio de Juanar email
Telephone: 952 881 001
Fax: 952 881 001

Birdwatching Book