February 16th - 28th 2006
Written by Geoff Forster
We went to the bank and to the Ayuntamiento to sort out paperwork.
We called into Bar El Porón when we'd finished. I hate paperwork. Strangely we met a man in Pepa's bar from Sabinillas/Manilva, 'Bish'. Bish is English/Polish and was visiting the village with a friend Salvador who we'd met in August during a fiesta. Bish, has lived here for twenty years and has an Estate Agents shop on the coast, but his main area of work is solving paperwork problems. Wills, accounts, property, residencia, taxes etc.
A handy man to know. Here's a link.
Castles Estate Agents
We called into Café Bar Guayacán before walking home.
Late evening it started to rain, nothing to heavy, but steady rain for most of the night.
Up bright and early answering e-mails and working on a new website.
We've recently acquired the domain name www.benarraba.com. I've made a start over the last week designing the layout, style sheets and colour scheme. The first three or four pages are up and running, more to follow pronto.
www.benarraba.com
The weather was fantastic, back to blue skies and sunshine.
We walked out into the campo along our favourite camino del puente.
This is looking East across the Valle de Genal to Genalguacil.
We walked to the large rock and feeling fit carried on a little further. The track starts heading down to the Rio Genal we stopped on the edge of the ridge and looked across at the pueblo of Jubrique, its white walls were shining brightly in the afternoon sunshine.
We turned for home. The recent rain had filled the puddles and the dogs walked through everyone.
We stopped to watch some Great Tits feeding in a tree. They were chattering and calling each other so the flock stayed together.
We passed our neighbour Antonia with a friend heading in the direction of the rock. The Spanish are great walkers. Especially as they get older. They think nothing of walking kilometres from the villages, along main roads. This is often on doctors orders.
We walked passed some large orange trees. This is Benarrabá through a gap in the trees.
A quiet night in.
A fresh day, cooler with a bit of a breeze. There are some blue patches of sky and the sun is trying hard to break through.
I'm working on the website. Jane's cleaning.
I'm looking forward to the FA Cup football matches on BBC TV. Newcastle United play Southampton this evening.
A 1-0 win and we're through to the last eight. Great goal by Kieron Dyer. Good to see him back.
We stayed in and cooked a chicken curry. Then we watched some TV.
Up at 5am, working on the new website. I've got the basic structure sorted out and I'm quite pleased with the way it looks. Over the next week I'll add the translations kindly sent in by blog readers.
It rained again during the night, at times it was quite heavy.
Now it's a lovely day with sunny intervals.
This morning the peace was shattered by an incredible screeching coming from the kitchen. Mota de Oro our Spanish cat had caught a Blackbird.
I managed to get it from her and it flew up onto a cord we have hanging near the ceiling.
I took the glass out the windows and it flew out. It seemed to be okay.
We watched a really good film Final Destination 2.
More rain during the night.
A little fresher today. No sunning ourselves on the sun terrace today!
Jane's been to Algatocín shopping.
I've been working on www.benarraba.com again. Adding a visitors book and comments form.
Newcastle United are drawn away to Chelsea in the FA Cup. We knocked them out last year, this could be a little tougher but bring them on ...
We cooked a meal and I tidied the study area which seems to collect clutter.
A lovely day, a few fluffy cumulus around but the sun is shining.
We decided to go for a walk. We did the 'Blue Route' in reverse. We took the dogs with us.
At one point we cross an arroyo. The dogs played in the small stream.
This is Benarrabá from the North side of the arroyo.
Back home and we're cleaning, sweeping and mopping the floor tiles. A never ending and often pointless task with three Border Collies in the house.
We're looking forward to long baths and watching a good film.
A changeable day that started with the sun rising behind thick white cloud on the Sierra Bermeja. This caused a strange white glow for the first hour after dawn. Very beautiful.
We went to the bank and ayuntamiento. We also chatted to Salvador who was setting up stalls for this weekends Feria gastronómica.
Feria Gastronómica V Benarrabá.
We decided to go shopping in Algatocín. Just as we were getting in the car the skies darkened and it started to rain.
We got back as it stopped. We decided to go for a walk, Jane put on a coat and took her umbrella.
We headed along the camino del puente passed the rock to where the track descends to the rio.
Cristóbal our good friend and neighbour is grazing his son Adrian's horse there.
Jane took this one of me, I'm not doing a silly walk ... she just took the photo' at the end of my stride ...
The gorse and broom bushes are starting to flower, this part of Andalucía is about to turn yellow.
This is the Sierra de Crestellina framed by two Cork Oaks and a Broom bush in the foreground.
The sun came out and the skies lightened. They still looked very dramatic as we looked across the valley back towards Benarrabá.
We walked back home in sunshine. We stopped to chat with an Irish couple hiking in the area. Benarrabá is getting a really good reputation as being an excellent base for hiking holidays in the area.
A grey day, we went for a walk in the early afternoon.
This beautiful flower has appeared overnight, we walked along the same path yesterday and didn't notice it. It is about thirty centimetres in height and very delicate.
We walked along to see Adrian's horse. Cristóbal had passed us on the way in his little white van. He was there feeding the horses. We chatted for a while then we walked on and stopped to look at the hillsides around Jubrique. We heard an owl hooting which was a little unusual. We also stopped to watch flocks of Chaffinches feeding in the trees.
This Cork Oak tree has had its cork stripped off a few years ago, the axe marks have lefts scars around the trunk still visible as the cork grows back. Jane says she could see a face in the tree behind ...
We saw a fairly large raptor across the Arroyo when we were heading home. It was about the size of a Booted Eagle but I can't be certain from the brief sighting.
A beautiful sunny day. We drove to Algatocín to do some shopping.
We stopped to take this photograph, the sky was a wonderful blue.
There was snow on the Sierra de las Nieves in the far distance.
We did our shopping and drove to Benadalid.
This is Alpandeire and Faraján across the Genal Valley.
Benadalid is a favourite village. We've been waiting for a really clear day to take some photographs of a hillside covered in Almond trees in blossom Unfortunately they all appear to have overexposed. We will have to return asap.
We drove back to Benarrabá, just before we turned off the A369 road above the village, visibility was so good that we could see the Rif mountains of Africa and boats on the Mediterranean.
A quick cup of tea and we're out with the dogs for a walk along our favourite camino.
This photograph is looking down at the Rio Genal.
You can see from this photograph how green and rugged the mountain sides are in the Valle del Genal.
We were out walking for just over an hour and a half.
We'd just got back when our neighbour Carmen knocked on the door with a plateful of Hinojo (Fennel) and another herb that sounds like 'Aceroni' (it has glaucous spear shape leaves and a citric acid taste ... help anyone?)
The two plants are boiled for hours with garlic and then a small handful of chick peas are added.
The result is a strong tasting, dark green mush, that has a bitter taste. We find it a bit difficult to face a bowlful, but once you start eating it isn't that bad.
It's the sort of food that people ate in hard times to fill their stomachs and keep themselves alive. Handy to know about.
Carmen and Cristóbal have given us kilos of oranges grown near the flatland in the Rio photograph above. They have also given us bagfuls of new potatoes.
Tomorrow we're up early Sebastián, Carmen's father, has permission from the Ayuntamiento of Benarrabá to collect 1000 kilos of wood from dead trees off land owned by the Town Hall.
We're heading off at around 8am to start sawing and carrying the leña to the van and car. Then we'll ferry back and forth from the campo hopefully with enough wood to last a few weeks.
Our neighbours are so kind to us.
We're up at 7am to be ready to go and get the firewood from the campo.
The sunrise was very beautiful. Although rain clouds were moving in.
We thought we were taking our car but it wasn't needed there was a trailer for the wood on the back of the van.
We headed out into the campo and drove not far from the Rio Genal.
We walked along a thin sheep track into the wooded hillside, it was slippery and the track disappeared and we made our own through the undergrowth. (The sheep had more sense than we had).
A large Gall Oak tree had fallen and we were going to have to slice it with the chainsaw and then carry it along the so called track.
Jane headed down to the Rio with the camera.
The hillside opposite was full of sheep. A rain cloud was moving in.
Adrian and I were carrying lengths of branches along the track. It was very wet and slippery, not much fun.
In the photo's above at a point a metre behind us was a 2 metre drop, we'd just started carrying chunks of the trunk back when disaster struck.
I slipped with a heavy piece on my shoulder and fell down the bank.
The piece of trunk hit the back of my right hand before joining me at the bottom. At first I thought my hand must be broken but after a minute or two I could move my fingers, it wasn't pretty. It soon swelled up and was very painful. I couldn't pick up the bigger chunks but carried on putting the branches over my left shoulder. We filled the trailer and headed back to the house. We unloaded the trailer, I expected us to have half each, but we got it all. Apparently we were going to have breakfast and the go back for another load.
Jane stayed at home as we wanted to photograph the opening of the Feria Gastronómica in the plaza.
We set off to the campo, the heavens opened and we worked carrying the tree to the trailer in a steady rain. My right hand was useless I couldn't pick anything up with it, I developed a technique to roll branches onto my left shoulder using my right hand as little as possible. A couple of hours later and we'd got another trailer full. We set off back to Benarrabá. The Camino was badly rutted and was running with surface water places, we slowly headed home.
I got back around three o'clock. Jane had left a note saying she was at the Feria and had been back a couple of times looking for me. I got cleaned up, changed and was heading out the door when Jane came back for the third time. She said the Feria was underway and that the Salmorejo de carne was being served. She had photo's of the proceedings so far ...
The Alcalde-Presidente de Benarrabá Sr. D. José Sánchez Barranco cuts the tape with help from our neighbours daughter Marta Rodriguez Romero. The 5th Feria Gastronómica de la Serranía de Ronda - Benarrabá was officially open.
It was raining heavily, but the new marquee that covers the entire plaza meant everyone could enjoy the Feria.
Antonio Ramos 'El Venenciador' served free vino.
These ladies served the free pork pieces cooked with onions and garlic to the crowd.
Paco, enjoys his food.
These ladies from the village were working on the Benarrabá stall selling pens, T-shirts etc.
The children of the village were scheduled to do a Flamenco dancing show. They were replaced by a drumming and juggling act Borum-Tamba. They were very good.
I finally arrived and got myself a plateful of Salmorejo de carne. The pork pieces were cooked to perfection.
Antonia Barroso was kept busy serving wonderful food from the towns carnicería (butchers) and their family bar 'Bar Barroso'
One of the younger party goers was well wrapped up. I think his name is Jesús.
Here's Andrés Ramos. Andrés has a excellent pork products shop and business, selling all over the area.
This is Francisco. He works in IT at the college in Benarrabá. He said that our website was very popular with both the children and adults. He'd been looking forward to finally meeting us. Francisco spoke good English we enjoyed meeting him.
Jane bought a sweet smelling white Hyacinth from this stall.
We left the plaza and called into Pepa's bar.
This is Fernando and his brother Juan. Juan lives in Málaga and regularly visits our website.
We ran through the rain to Café Bar Guayacán.
This is the owner Yolanda.
We got home in time to listen to Newcastle United win 2-0.
My hand is still swollen but its not hurting quite as much as it was.
I think it should be alright in a few days.
A few people had asked me about my mangled paw and I'd casually shrugged and said 'Campo' which seemed to go down well.
Better weather today for the feria. Hopefully there'll be large crowds in the plaza. Borum-Tamba started things off with their drumming, whistling and juggling.
We walked down in time for the children's educational workshop.
All the children were so well behaved. They all quietly drew and coloured their pictures.
This girl was teaching them to make small squares using two tooth picks and a length of wool.
Steven shows us the end result, a small woolen square.
There was a girl doing face painting. Here's Naim the cat.
This is Maria, she's our next door neighbour. A lovely family.
We went for a walk to the Restaurante Kábilas for a coffee.
We passed these cabras (goats) on the way. The two kids were only a week or two old.
The view North up the Genal Valley. A dramatic sky and landscape, but it was sunny in Benarrabá.
Jubrique opposite is bathed in sunlight.
It was a lovely day. We enjoyed the feria again.
A beautiful warm sunny day. We're going to the carpenters in Estación de San Roque to see how our new table, chairs etc are progressing.
We'll call into Carrefours to do some shopping.
We drove down the Valle del Guadiaro, it was a beautiful day 22C/72F in the shade. We saw White Storks, Cattle Egrets, a few House Martins arriving from Africa were buzzing a field near Jimena. We also saw four Green Plovers in a waterlogged field, an unexpected surprise.
We did our shopping and drove back up to the mountains.
This is looking back to the coast from the road a few km below Gaucín.
We got a good sighting of a juvenile Common Buzzard sitting on a telephone pole.
As we drove through Gaucín I spotted the first two Swallows of the year. They had just flown across from Africa.
I made Jane do a lap of Gaucín so that I could photograph them.
This must be one of the first Swallows photographed in Europe in 2006.
Here it is looking back towards the mountains of Africa behind it. It sat on a wire catching its breath.
Beautiful birds we're glad to see them back. We love seeing them skimming the streets of Benarrabá catching flies.
A couple of photo's of the road bridge on the North side of Gaucín.
We drove to Algatocín to buy Cristóbal a present for all the potatoes, oranges and wood he's given us.
Here are a couple of photo's of Algatocín church tower.
We drove home, unloaded the shopping and walked to the Feria in the plaza. The musical event had been cancelled, it was disappointing, we did a lap of the stalls then came home.
A fiesta day, El día de Andalucía.
It's a pleasant day, quite mild and the sun is shining.
There's children's entertainment in the plaza so we're off to watch.
We got there and watched Francisco Portilla from Benarrabá give a demonstration on how to weave a chair seat. The dining chairs we have bought use the same materials and techniques.
These ladies were demonstrating how to make chorizo. A spiced spanish sausage. It has a higher meat content than British sausages and is far superior.
The children's entertainment was due to start. So we walked to the other end of the plaza.
The kids were having great fun.
It was very noisy and very smoky.
The idea of barbecuing the chorizo's in the marquee wasn't clever!
A couple of adults were pulled from the audience.
They were made to race each other drinking beer from a babies bottle.
The smoke was clearing a little. The barbecue abandoned.
There were a lot of people here it was the busiest day of the Feria.
Everyone was enjoying the day.
Javier on the Restaurante Kábilas stand was busy serving beers.
We walked home, had lunch and then came back later in the afternoon.
Juan Jesús was entertaining the crowds. Who were passadoubling around the plaza.
Here we are. A rare photo' of us together. Kindly taken by Andrés Ramos.
We reciprocate ... here's Andrés Ramos and his wife.
We had a freshly squeezed organic orange juice.
Then left to walk the dogs. We walked through the village, the feria had been very enjoyable.