January 16th - 23rd 2007
Written by Geoff Forster
We're up early and we've sorted out the animals.
We've decided it's time we had a day out exploring.
Instead of heading inland we're off to the coast to visit the pueblos of San Enrique and Guadiaro.
We set of at noon and drove to San Luis de Sabinillas.
We had a burger and sat in the hot sunshine. Temperatures were in the 70'sF.
The beach at San Luis de Sabinillas.
These fishermen were taking it easy whilst repairing nets.
From San Luis de Sabinillas we drove to Torreguadiaro.
There's a small lagoon at one end of the beach that is a nature reserve with a hide.
There's a huge car park, that is nearly always empty.
We parked and walked down to the beach where there is a wooden walkway through the reeds.
Lots of wild flowers are beginning to flower on the South East facing coast.
Cranesbill.
There are reeds all around the lagoon, also some lovely grasses.
We nearly always see Little Egrets when we come here.
We saw and heard lots of noisy Monk Parakeets flying across the lagoon.
There were Coots, Black Headed Gulls in winter plumage and two cormorants were diving for fish.
Also keeping very busy were a number of Chiffchaffs.
Jane was enjoying the challenge of photographing the Black Headed Gulls who were taking off doing a lap of the lagoon and dipping down onto the water to feed.
Black Headed Gulls.
We both were trying to get shots of the diving Cormorants.
They swim very low in the water.
First a bit of flapping to remove excess water from the wings.
Then some frantic paddling to get its body out of the water.
Two flaps of the wings and run across the surface.
Then gracefully fly over the lagoon and away.
We enjoyed our bird watching at the lagoon.
We also spotted quite a few insects, mainly crickets and grasshoppers.
We noticed more flowers on the way back to the car.
The invasive Oxalis Pes-Caprae is flowering all over the area.
Next we drove a few hundred metres down the coast to the marina at Sotogrande.
We walked around the marina area looking at the yachts.
This one made us both laugh.
Jane took this of a jellyfish floating in the calm waters in the marina.
This is looking inland where the Rio Guadiaro reaches the sea.
Looking across the lovely bay at Torreguadiaro from Sotogrande.
We were just getting in the car when this Serin started singing in a nearby tree.
After Sotogrande another short drive to San Enrique.
We've been to the large garden centre here a few times before but we've never walked around the small pueblo.
The town is built on a hillside. It's a mixture of different style houses built very close to each other. Which gives it an unplanned feel.
The modern church. It's not pretty and needs painting.
We walked to the top of the pueblo. The countryside above the pueblo is very beautiful.
It's also very close to the coast and this compensates for the village being not exactly photogenic.
The plaza was an ochre colour. It had a pergola which is unusual.
There was a pretty statue of the virgen in one corner.
We drove across the green painted metal bridge that spans the Rio Guadiaro.
The Guadiaro is wide and slow moving as it nears the sea at Sotogrande.
We drove to Guadiaro. Parked in the main street and had a short walk around the pueblo.
We were surprised to see a Sushi bar.
There are lots of new build housing. I'm not sure how old the pueblo is.
San Enrique on the hillside opposite.
We went into Bar Manolo for a coffee.
There was a lot of men playing dominoes.
I asked permission to take the photograph.
These chaps wanted theirs taken.
They told me to take one of Manolo. Here he is. We'll call in again with some prints.
This is San Enrique from Guadiaro.
The bridge over the Rio Guadiaro from Guadiaro.
A good afternoon out.
We drove to Los Barrios poligono. We shopped in Carrefours and Leroy Merlin's.
Leroy Merlin's is like B&Q in the UK.
We stopped at Venta Carrasco for a coffee before returning to Benarrabá.
We watched a film on Film4.
'The Transporter' starring Jason Stratham. A really good action film. Highly Recommended.
A busy day ahead.
Jane's been washing and cleaning.
I've been sorting the photographs from yesterdays trip to the coast.
We washed the donkeys.
Then we put on their halters and led them through the village out into the campo.
We had quite a walk ahead of us, as we're taking them to new pastures.
It usually takes us an hour to do the walk. We expected it to take a lot longer with the donkeys stopping to eat all the time.
We set off at 14:00h.
A stop on the way down to the spring at El Chorruelo.
Domingo.
The donkeys were amazing they trotted along faster than they've ever done before.
Another stop for grass and we did the walk in 1h15mins. Allowing for stops they went faster than we'd have normally walked.
Here's Jane wishing Rosie a tearful farewell.
It's been great having them so close to the house, but they'll have a better life here with a large fenced mountainside to roam around on.
We can drive most of the way. The last bit is too steep for our Clio.
It should keep us fit. We'll go at least every other day to see them and feed them their seed supplement.
Here's Jane. The photo reminds me of the FA. Cup! I wished it didn't after the 1-5 thrashing we received from Birmingham City. To make it worse it was live on BBC1 ... there's always next year.
The donkeys soon forgot about us and started to explore their new home.
High in the sky above us two Common Buzzards circled calling to each other.
This is the Rio Genal at San Juan. Which is on the old road from Estepona/Jubrique/Genalguacil to Algatocín.
A closer shot of the Venta and the bridge across the Rio Genal.
We bough both Rosie and Domingo from close to the venta. It must be like going home for them to be back in this area.
The first Cystus - Rock Rose of the year that we've seen.
Not the most perfect of specimens but you don't need to be pretty if your first.
I'm not sure about this ... another of Jane's pieces of wood that look vaguely like something else. Some sort of catfish/bird ...
We got home at around 17:00h. We'd expected it to take a lot longer.
I cooked hake, red and green peppers on a bed of mixed lettuce.
I watched the disastrous FA Cup match and went to bed crying.
We're up early.
Jane has mountains of ironing to do.
I'm downloading software on to the new notebook. It's surprising how long it takes to get all the programs you use on to a new machine.
We need to do some shopping so we head off to Algatocín.
As we leave the village we notice a number of Griffon Vultures circling Mount Porón.
This bird had a huge wingspan. Some get to over 9ft tip to tip.
A little further on still close to Benarrabá, we spotted four vultures sitting on top of a limestone outcrop. A favourite vantage point for them when they are flying in the Genal Valley.
I tried to get a little closer but they decided to take off.
Close up.
Again a close up. They are magnificent birds. We're privileged to have them flying so close to the apartment so often.
We drove to Algatocín to the panadería. One of the builders who renovated the apartment has taken over the bread shop. He uses a wood fired oven and bakes great bread.
We had a walk around the village.
We shopped at the Super Genal then drove to Gaucín to buy Donkey seed.
We then went to Bar Paco Pepe for tapas.
Back home we went to see the donkeys.
We drove most of the way. Just the steep slope down ... it must be 1:4.
We called the donkeys asa we neared the gates.
They came slowly plodding up the mountainside.
Rosie led the way.
Here's Rosie.
They were both pleased to see us. Domingo was especially pleased to see the bag of food.
We tied their feed bins to suitably placed trees.
We'd found a couple of good straight pieces of wood we could use for fence posts.
One area of the fence is a litle low. A frisky Domingo could clear it if he smelled a female close by.
Domingo watched with interest.
He came to help. He loves attention.
Domingo's a good looking donkey.
Rosie's cute too.
They are inseperable, never being more than a few metres away from each other.
A stretch donkey?
We walked back to the top of the hill. The donkeys followed us to say goodbye.
We spotted Dolly and Molly the sheep grazing on another area of the land.
We couldn't see if Molly was limping but they did move while we were there.
We walked up the steep hill to the car. We are going to be so fit doing this climb nearly every day.
Back home we had a goats cheese salad. The goats cheese was given to us by Pepa from Disco Bar Embrujo. She keeps a small herd. She milked the goats and made the cheese herself. It is really good stuff.
We also had some quince jelly given to us by Marilyn and Michael from Torre Alhaquime. Marilyn's neighbour had made it.
We watched 'Another 48 Hours' starring Eddie Murphy and Nick Nolte. A funny action movie.
More beautiful weather! It's a long time since it rained.
Jane's been working hard getting the apartment ready for guests arriving tomorrow.
I've been trying to get one of the two routers on our network not to think its a router. Should be easy but it never is with these things.
We took seed for the donkeys, driving most of the way. We walked the last steep bit.
We called the donkeys, they were right down the bottom of the mountain, it took them ten minutes to slowly plod up to us. I picked some olives for them while we waited.
Soon they appeared and we took them to their seed.
Dolly and Molly were in the same place as yesterday.
Rosie had eaten her seed and then decided it was bath time.
We walked up the steep slope back to the car.
I can already feel my leg muscles are tighter from the walk yesterday.
A quiet evening in playing music.
Tomorrow is San Sebastián day a fiesta day in the village.
A fantastic sunny day. Perfect for the Fiesta of San Sebastián. The Patron Saint of Benarrabá.
Our guest's Ann and Bryon telephoned to say they were arriving at about the same time the procession was due to tour the village.
Jane went to meet them at the entrance to the village near Café Bar Guayacán.
I walked down to the church to see what was happening.
When I got there, the church was empty.
Usually the bells ring as the procession goes around the village but not today.
Also rocket air bombs are lit and explode with huge explosions that reverberate right around the valley. The dry campo may have made this too dangerous to do.
I heard a 'viva San Sebastián' being shouted from somewhere in the streets above. So I knew the procession was underway.
I walked to the plaza.
The fountain was working, and the hot sun was ripening the oranges on the trees that line the edge of Benarrabá's beautiful plaza.
I cut through to Café Bar Guayacán, to see if I could find Jane.
Here's the bar with Mount Porón behind.
Jane had met Ann and Bryon who were parking their car.
We went into Guayacán for a coffee whilst we waited for the procession to arrive.
We didn't have to wait long.
The procession seemed smaller and with no bells and fireworks seemed a little somber.
We finished our coffee. Then we took Ann and Bryon up to the apartment.
They loved the village, the views and the apartment. They are with us for four weeks we hope they enjoy their stay.
The almond tree near the apartment is beginning to look very spectacular.
We arranged to meet Ann and Bryon at 14:30h. as food, drinks and live music was programmed outside the Ayuntamiento.
We had a lovely plateful of Salmorejo de carne. Made with Benarrabá pork, cooked in white wine with onions and roasted garlic. Mmmmm.
The group were excellent.
Some horse riders arrived. The horses are always well turned out.
Here's Andrés Sánchez with Ann and Bryon Blackwell.
Ann and Bryon had a good dance. They certainly got into the swing of things very quickly.
We met old friends Ray and Joan Powell from Fuengirola.
Ray and Joan love the Genal villages and often stay in rural hotels at the weekend.
Benarrabá is their favourite village. (Honest!)
Ray and Joan have brought their friends Jim and Audrey. They live in Seaton Sluice near Whitley Bay.
Ann, Bryon, Jim, Audrey, Joan and Ray.
We called into Bar Barroso, Pub Bar Dami as well as Bar Andrés Sánchez.
Ann and Bryon were having a good time. They'd only been in the village three or four hours!
We walked home, stopping to take this of the Benarrabá clock tower. Jubrique is the white pueblo on the mountainside opposite.
The football results were on the TV. Newcastle were losing 0-2 at home against West Ham United.
We looked at the photo's of the procession and group.
Newcastle United staged a comeback and drew 2-2.
Lina Chadburn phoned to say she was coming to Benarrabá with her husband Nick to look at some horses.
She is bringing the Netgear router installation disk with her. :-)
We met Lina and Nick in Bar Andrés Sánchez before walking up to the Restaurante Kábilas to meet Miguel who has the horses.
The moon was a thin crescent and Venus was shining brightly next to it.
This is the best I could do without a tripod.
In the Restaurante Kábilas we met up with Ray, Joan, Audrey and Jim again.
Miguel was there but no horses. It was now too dark anyway.
We walked with Lina and Nick to Guayacán for a drink and some tapas.
We said goodbye to Lina and Nick. (Thanks for the disk!)
They got away without having their photo taken.
Ann and Bryon were in Guayacán, enjoying a wide variety of Yolanda's tapas.
Here's Yolanda with her sister, nephew and niece.
Back home I resumed my fight with the Netgear WGR614v6 wireless router.
I'm losing on points but I do have a hammer, which it should remember if it wants to continue existing in one piece.
A cloudier start to the day but the sun did break through.
We drove to see the donkeys.
We waited at the top of the steep hill, we could see them both, far down below us.
We shook their food bins and called them.
They stood there looking up at us.
After five minutes of shaking and calling, we walked down to them.
Here's Domingo trotting to see us.
Followed by little Rosie.
They love attention but are not prepared to climb steep hills for it!
We did spot the sheep, Dolly and Molly. Here's Molly standing up on her injured foot which is good news.
Up and up and up ... they did follow us and we fed them their seed mix.
We gave them a slice of bread and a carrot as a treat.
Rosie loves bread.
Here I am nearly at the top of the steep walk.
A couple of omissions on my part.
The Rev. Lynne Holland e-mailed us to say the yellow plant was a type of Broom. 'Plantagenista'
As worn by early Norman Kings who became Plantagenet kings due to this floral connection.
Another more serious omission was the visit of Pat (Patricia) Carr and her Moroccan husband and friend.
Pat visited us at the time our computer failed and we had to make a mad dash to Gibraltar for a replacement.
Due to the chaos for the next few days I forgot to mention their visit (Sorry Pat).
Pat is a movie producer and a Goddess in my eyes as she has worked on Aliens3 and the Star Wars movies!
Some of the best films ever produced.
Along with many others including Superman, Indiana Jones, The Mummy and recently Hildalgo. She is based in Morocco and London and reads our blog!
She kindly invited us to visit her in Tangiers which we must do.
Pat loves Benarrabá and we're looking out for a ruin for her to renovate. (We may have one!)
Here's a list of films Pat has worked on/produced.
Just nearing Benarrabá we stopped to take these two photo's.
A familiar view to regular readers, but usually as we look South and the strong sun, the skies are not as blue. Today there was a nice blue patch just above the village.
In the evening we watched 'Cold Case' and then 'Waking the Dead'.
Good news. I finally managed to get the wireless network up and running. Thanks to Lina's disk and Netgear's discussion forums.
More good news I went online the other day to check on fault finding for our 'dead' Dell notebook. Someone else has had the same problem. They tried taking out their hard drive and then put it back in resurrecting the notebook. With nothing to lose I tried it and it worked. So we now have two notebooks running on our wireless network. So Jane can shop on eBay while I try to cover her expenditure on the other. Ying and yang, the universe in perfect harmony ...
A cloudy start. The weather forecast has revised it's prediction, and now we could get some much needed rain.
I worked on the Benarrabá website making a page for Saturday's San Sebastian procession.
We got a little rain during the afternoon. Nothing heavy but it will help keep shallow rooted grasses and herbs alive for a week or two.
We drove to the piedra del reyes (a large boulder with quartz running through it, known locally as the rock of Kings). There we left the car and headed to see the donkeys on foot.
This is a small plot of young Sweet Chestnuts near the rock. There was a blue patch of sky to the North.
A large dark cloud was hanging on the limestone crag that rises up above Algatocín.
Jane was prepared for the change of weather. It was now perfect conditions for walking.
Across the Genal Valley a break in the clouds and Jubrique is bathed in sunshine.
The donkeys were halfway down the hill and fortunately I didn't have to walk all the way to the bottom to coax them up for their seed.
This young Almond tree was covered in a lovely pink blossom.
Almond blossom varies for soft pink to pure white.
Dramatic contrasts of sunshine and shadows.
As we walked back to the car, the skies were clearing quickly.
By the time we were back to Benarrabá it was a beautiful sunny evening.
We cooked a chicken stir fry.
Then watched the second part of 'Waking the Dead' on BBC1. A very good series.