March 16th - 31st 2006
Written by Geoff Forster
We have guests arriving today, so we're washing railings and floors. We're picking them up from Málaga airport later this evening.
I'm writing this at 11:30h, mañana is here and still no furniture which has again been promised. (We told the woman we'd be leaving for Málaga airport at 12:00 ... we were really leaving at 16:00h.)
A telephone call at 12:00h to say the furniture would be delivered this afternoon. We said we were leaving at 16:00h they said they'd be here before that.
We drove to Algatocín to do some shopping, on the way out of the village we saw a Common Buzzard sitting on a telegraph pole. They are quite big birds. A splash of white on its chest and a dull grey upper body and head, not the most remarkable of the birds of prey but good to see it hunting in the area.
A telephone call at 15:30h to say they were setting off with the furniture, would we be in? They knew about the airport at 16:00h. It is quite insulting.
If they put as much time and effort into delivering the furniture as they do into avoiding delivering furniture ...
They are now coming ... mañana.
We set off to the airport. Halfway there we got a text.
Guests Gary and Karin's flight was delayed, so we drove back home.
We picked them up a little later than expected.
We got to Benarrabá at around midnight.
Poor Jane had done quite a lot of driving. We both slept well, a long day.
We're up at dawn. A hazy, colourless, but nonetheless pretty sunrise, with the sun glowing white behind a cloud on the Sierra Bermeja opposite the house.
We both think there is a fair chance of the furniture arriving as the woman's running out of excuses and we're passed the angry stage and into a don't care anymore state.
It is due at 09:30h ... already a little late.
We've spent well over £2,000 with this company in the last year including £42 on delivery. Yet they treat us like idiots.
Laraga SL Carpentería y Muebles of Estación de San Roque make great furniture but I certainly can't recommend them.
We're going to take Gary and Karin to Algatocín to do some shopping.
The furniture has arrived! If you can put up with the delivery delays they make really great furniture. We're very pleased with it.
We took the dogs out for a walk. We picked some wild garlic which is growing along all the tracks in the campo. It looks like small spring onions but with a very mild taste.
Rain is forecast for later today.
It was pleasantly warm and there was a heat haze in the valley.
We set off to Algatocín to the Super Genal. The supermarket has been extended and is a lot better.
We saw bunches of wild garlic there, two bunches for 1 euro. It's better to pick your own.
We also saw bunches of a daisy like flower. Do you eat them or brew them as an infusion? If anyone knows ... we'd love to find out what they are used for.
We decided to have a walk into Algatocín so that Gary and Karin could see another of the white mountain villages.
Here are our guests Karin and Gary Smith from Nottingham, they are in front of a beautiful double winter Jasmine.
Back in Benarrabá we took Gary to the carnicería to buy some wonderful locally produced pork. The pigs are kept on the mountainsides and feed on acorns, roots etc. The meat is fantastic.
We called into Bar Andrés Sánchez for a beer and a chat.
We got back just before the heavens opened.
Jane and I cooked a revuelta.
We used mushrooms, pork tender loin cut into medals cooked in Olive oil. Then we added butter, garlic, wild asparagus tips, wild garlic and walnuts. Finally three beaten eggs are stirred in.
We washed our gourmet meal down with a glass of a good Crianza.
Fantastic.
It rained all night. I've just taken the dogs out and the countryside is wet and fresh from the much needed downpour.
A few rumbles of thunder and it is raining again. We have nowhere to go so it doesn't matter.
Equally our guests are enjoying the tranquility of the mountains and relaxing in the apartment.
A quiet day in. We have a good fire going in the fireplace, we're relaxing watching TV and reading.
I didn't hear any rain during the night. I've been out for a quick walk with the dogs. The skies are grey and the valley looks very dramatic with the sun lighting up the clouds.
We went for a walk. We had some wonderful tapas in Bar Barroso.
I had pig cheeks and Jane had a salmon and soft cheese roll.
We came home to listen to Newcastle United lose at home 1-3 to Liverpool. Not a good performance.
We went out again this time we called in to see Andrés Sánchez.
Here's Jane with Andrés.
The bars are popular on Sunday afternoons. We watched Fulham beat Chelsea. These are the hombres in the bar.
We called into Dami's bar for more tapas.
Later we walked up to Café Bar Guayacán.
Here's Flora behind the bar.
Flora makes some great tapas.
Here's Salvador enjoying the food.
More photo's of the afternoon in Benarrabá's bars on Benarraba.com
We got home and cooked a beautiful meal of pork tenderloin, peppers, courgette's, garlic and onions in a blue cheese sauce.
We watched Poirot on TV then went to bed.
It rained heavily most of the night.
A grey overcast day. It has stopped raining.
Gary and Karin are enjoying their holiday.
They managed a walk yesterday and are planning another stroll today.
If you take an umbrella with you, the weather shouldn't stop you getting out and about.
Jane's juicing vegetables for a healthy drink.
Friends Marilyn and Michael got home safely.
They've sent us a few photographs they took on our day to the Alcornocales forest.
Here's one of us after we'd collected a few sacks of pine cones.
We went for a short walk, a light rain was falling and a beautiful rainbow was spanning the arroyo.
In places last nights rain had washed part of the path away.
We could here the arroyo roaring below us.
The Lavender and Broom bushes are beautiful both are starting to flower and they looked great after last nights deluge.
We had a quiet night in watching football on TV.
The first day of spring. It's still overcast but we can see across the valley. We drove to get some spring water. In Algatocín a small waterfall has appeared running down a rock face near the road.
There were a few blue patches of sky but above the village the skies are dark.
I've been working on the laptop. Jane has been shopping on E-bay during breaks.
Stuart and Christine from Stoke phoned. They are staying in their new holiday home in Benadalid, we're going to meet on Thursday afternoon.
We've got a good fire going and are having quiet evening watching films.
A better day. A few clouds around but rain free. I spent the morning working on the computer.
We decided to go for a drive. We called on Gary and Karin in the apartment to invite them but they were out walking in the campo.
We drove down to Estación de Gaucín.
On the way we drive slowly bird watching. We stopped at one point to watch a huge flock of raptors flying high from the South. They must have just crossed into Europe from Africa.
We also saw lots of Griffon Vultures and Ravens flying together around El Hacho.
In the distance we saw another huge flock of circling Vultures, there were so many they looked like a swarm of bees.
On the way down to Estación Gaucín we noticed a lot of the birds we'd become familiar during the winter have migrated.
We did see this pretty Stonechat.
A few Blackcaps were still present but all the Redstarts and Black Redstarts had gone.
The resident Goldfinches looked magnificent in their new spring plumage.
This goat was in the road and walked passed the car.
The wildflowers are fantastic. We stopped to look at the fields.
We crossed the Rio Guadiaro it was swollen and fast flowing after the recent rains.
We stopped at the Mesón las Flores for a drink before we drove into the Alcornocales forest.
We hadn't gone far when more goats appeared in the road.
This young grey goat caught our eye, a pretty and unusual colour for a goat.
There were streams and rivers in the forest we'd never seen before. The arroyo we'd visited with Marilyn and Michael a week ago was roaring and twice as wide.
We stopped at one point to watch a huge flock of Griffon Vultures.
We walked up a ridge to look down the valley.
We watched the Vultures and Ravens for a few minutes and walked back to the car. We'd had a birds eye view of a couple of large vultures flying along the valley below us.
We drove to the Ubrique - Cortes road did a U-turn and head back into the forest.
We saw lots of cows on the way back.
Here are a few photos.
I'm in a red car with the window down ... hola cow ...
Scratching an itch.
We saw a few horses.
We drove out of the forest, through Estación de Gaucín and were stopped at the bridge by a herd of young mules. The mules were dripping wet and had either been for a swim or had forded the swollen river.
We let the mules cross the road and get passed us. We then drove up the valley stopping to watch birds a few times. We got home around 17:00h.
Gary and Karin had been for a walk up over the ridge to Algatocín and back. They'd also managed to shop in the local shops. A little bit of confidence, pointing, a phrase book and you can easily get by.
They have kindly invited us to dinner tomorrow evening.
I'm waiting for the Chelsea v Newcastle United, FA Cup 6th Round match to start. After Liverpool's 7-0 win last night ... wonder if we can get 8 ...?
A disappointing game that ended 1-0. If Michael Owen had been playing we'd have caused them problemas. Roll on next season.
A dull but dry start to the day. Perfect walking weather. Guests Gary and Karin are off out for a walk along the camino del puente.
We have no plans this morning, perhaps a leisurely stroll around the village.
A knock on the door and a we're told a TV crew is coming to Café Bar Guayacán at 13:130h. to do some filming.
We walk down at around 13:15h. it is now a beautiful sunny day Gary and Karin are on the sun terrace "catching some rays".
We'd just sat down when a man came into the bar with his piglet ...
Wild boars are found in the area. We've been here almost two years and are yet to see one. They are shy and timid. This piglet was used to being handled and it was a privilege to stroke his cute little face.
They are striped when young, adults are black and have tusks.
We waited for the film crew and we waited.
We tried to find out why the film crew were here.
It turns out they are filming a feature on the "Ruta de Tapeo" that has been set up in the village. The five bars and two restaurants all serve tapas when open. In a spirit of friendship and cooperation typical of the Benarrabá they have developed a route from bar to bar which visitors can follow. A sort of pub crawl with food.
Flora is a great cook. She produces some wonderful tapas.
This plate of paella looked wonderful.
We were given tapas after tapas to try as we waited for the film crew.
Café Bar Guayacán is a really beautiful bar. There is a well in the corner that has been turned into a wonderful pretty feature. It is lit with spotlights and a pump circulates water through a series of pools back into the well.
At 15:45h the film crew appeared. This is our friend Mercedes from the Restaurante Kábilas. The film crew was one camerawoman whom Mercedes was helping carry the equipment from bar to bar.
Floras tapas was a feast for your eyes.
We'd arranged to meet Stuart and Christine from Stoke at 16:00h. We had been in the bar for nearly three hours now eating Floras wonderful tapas.
Stuart got lucky and was presented with the large plateful of Paella to eat.
Our guests Gary and Karin called in for a coffee. Flora saw that Gary had a plateful of Salmorejo de carne.
Flora had produced some wonderful tapas. I ate plate after plate of her gourmet quality food. We tried to pay the bill and she wouldn't take any money. What can you say to such hospitality ... muchas gracias.
The film crew lady had moved on.
We caught up with them at Bar Barroso.
Here's Antonia with her display of tradition tapas.
She gave Jane, Christine and Stuart a cake from the display. I had some wonderful Benarrabá jamón ibérico cured on the premises.
We called into Bar Andrés Sánchez. Here's Christine and Jane.
Myself and my beautiful wife.
We walked around the village and then back to Stuart and Chris's car.
This is a view North up the valle del Genal.
It had been a really good day.
We'd been invited for a meal upstairs in the apartment.
Karin had produced a beautiful meal using local pork and vegetables.
The meal was great. They are a lovely couple. Thanks for a fantastic evening.
Gary and Karin had a good time in the village. It is a perfect retreat if you are looking to relax and unwind.
We've had a great day. Thank you to Flora and Yolanda for their hospitality in Café Bar Guayacán.
It was great to see Stuart and Christine again. Roll on May.
Gary and Karin produced a great meal and are good company. Their eight days here has gone so quickly. We hope that they'll come to stay with us again one day soon.
An early start. I'm up at 07:30h. I've got a lot of work on the websites to complete before we head off to Málaga airport with Gary and Karin.
We then have to make a start cleaning the apartment to get it ready for the arrival of our next guests tomorrow.
I've started a webpage for the Ruta del Tapeo en Benarrabá.
We drove Gary and Karin to Malaga airport. Traffic was surprisingly quiet on both legs of the journey which is a blessing.
We hope that they have a safe journey home to Nottingham.
We called into Café Bar Guayacán for more of Flora's tapas.
I had the Albóndigas caseras (homemade meatballs).
Jane had lomo (pork fillets) cooked in garlic with a plate of chips.
Fantastic food.
A beautiful, hot day. We're up early cleaning the apartment ready for our next guests.
Margaret and Peter are due later this afternoon.
Margaret and Peter arrived safely. We showed them around the apartment which they thought was beautiful.
We decided to go for a well earned beer after all that cleaning.
We sat in the sun outside Bar Porón.
The plaza is just around the corner, there was a small stage being set up for a children's entertainment group.
Jane took all these photographs.
There were around a dozen children watching. Probably more adults than children were watching from a safe distance around the edge of the plaza. (These groups usually drag a unsuspecting adult onto the stage at some point).
It was a beautiful sunny afternoon. We sat in the orange tree lined plaza and enjoyed the sunshine.
It seems the group had a message to get across. Romans 5:8.
The children seemed to enjoy the entertainment, all the adults were leafleted by the group as we watched.
This is Belén's new baby. We think that his name is José Daniel.
We headed to the Restaurante Kábilas. Jane took this photograph of a beautiful bush covered in large white clusters of flowers.
We had a beer with Onno Henke. We haven't seen him for a few weeks.
We called into Pub Bar Dami for tapas.
We bought a lovely Fuchsia from Tienda Andreita.
We heard music coming from the library. We had a look in.
The Coro Rociero were having a practice session.
Quite a number of the ladies from the village are in the flamenco choir/singing group. I took quite a few photographs for a Coro Rociero page on Benarraba.com
We walked slowly home, it was a lovely mild evening.
Jane called into Juani's tienda (shop) for her Avon.
I walked up to the house, carefully walking around Sebastián's mules which were parked near the shop.
We cooked a curry. We watched 'Copycat', a film about a serial killer, starring Sigourney Weaver. We'd seen it before, but Saturday evening isn't the best night for TV.
The clocks have gone forward, which I like, as we get longer evenings to enjoy the Spanish sunshine.
It is a fantastic morning. Bright sunshine, the birds are singing away outside the window.
I've added a Coro Rociero page to Benarraba.com
Coro Rociero de Benarrabá
It's Mother's Day in the UK. Happy Mothers Day to Esther & Val.
We sent photo's of the new furniture to Jane's sister Carol because Esther was going there for lunch.
Esther & Bob kindly bought us the dining table, chairs and cupboard.
It was another hot day. We walked along to the Restaurante Kábilas to sit on the terrace in the sun.
Jane's new hearing aid is working well ... It also allows her to let off steam and keep cool under pressure.
I wanted to listen to the Charlton Athletic v Newcastle United match, so I walked home ahead of Jane. Jane slowly strolled home taking photographs of the village.
The next three are all from roughly the same place.
Great views and sky.
I like this next one.
Oxalis pes-caprae, an invasive weed from South Africa. It certainly likes Andalucía, it is everywhere. Very pretty, but grazing animals can't eat it.
Another plant that grazing animals aren't too keen on is a the wild lupin.
This is just beginning to flower in good numbers, along the tops of walls and verges.
Newcastle United slumped to a 3-1 defeat. It would have been more fun photographing lupin's!
Jane did well though, she took some really good photographs.
We watched Poirot and then had a late night on the computer.
A little more high cloud today. The sun is trying to get through.
We went to the fuente El Chorruelo to fill up our water bottles. The arroyo Infiernillo was flowing strongly after last weeks heavy rains.
After taking the water home, we set off to Gaucín to recharge our mobile phone.
We were hoping to see the Common Buzzard that we've sighted over the last fortnight but there were no birds to be seen.
The sun was breaking through, it was a pleasant afternoon.
This is the road bridge at the northern side of Gaucín. I'm not sure if there is an arroyo below or if the bridge just spans the gap.
Back home. We're cooking a chicken and potato curry tonight, Jane's favourite.
We watched a strange film 'Tesseract'.
A glorious sunny day, temperatures are soaring.
We're off out to visit Castellar, a town off the A369 road.
We've visited el Castillo de Castellar before but never the pueblo Castellar. We hope to get up to the castle as well. If you click the link below you'll see why. It is a very pretty place with great views.
Castillo de Castellar
We got back around 18:00h. What a great day out.
The weather was perfect.
We stopped in Gaucín on the way to post a parcel to the UK.
I took this photograph of a distant Cortes de la Frontera looking through the flower beds near the bus stop.
We called in to the garden centre in San Pablo and bought some Gazanias for our pots and a bag of compost.
We passed by Jimena de la Frontera.
We stopped for tapas at this roadside venta. We had carne con salsa (pork in a tomato sauce).
We drove into Castellar and parked in a quiet street. Jane said it reminded her of Australia. Ramsay Street?
You can see the church tower from the road, it had put us off visiting. Also visits to nearby San Martin and San Pablo de Buceite hadn't been very exciting.
This tree looked good against the blue sky. Better than the concrete church tower!
We saw lots of House Martins nesting around the pueblo.
There is a bronze of a naked woman. Jane said that I'm allowed to photograph naked statues only if they have trees growing out of their heads.
Castellar is a new town. Well planned wide, flat streets. Plenty of parking. Lots of trees, planted borders and interesting features.
We'd passed a bar with a few British people drinking under an awning.
We were quite hot and thirsty ... but walked passed. We soon found Bar Restaurante El Soto, which was packed with Spaniards eating their comida and having a drink. More like it! It was buzzing.
Lots of villages have tiled plaques. Castellar was no exception. It was very nicely done.
Here's Jane playing 'chicken' with the spray from the fountain that was on a timer, it cooled her down nicely.
Back in the car we drove to Castillo de Castellar.
There are great views from Castillo de Castellar.
Gibraltar 10x zoom.
Here's the first photograph this year of a Booted Eagle. We saw it hunting above a limestone outcrop near the Castillo.
We drove down from the castle and took a side road to an old convent that is now a restaurante. We'd heard it was a lovely building. As you can see it is.
This is the back of the building.
At the side was a pen of deer. We hope venison isn't on the menu!
We often see lots of small birds nesting inside the nests of White Storks. Theses are a species of sparrow called a Spanish Sparrow.
We spotted these Spanish Sparrows nesting on a concrete pylon.
High rise flats. There are five nests at the bottom and a penthouse nest at the top.
A male Spanish Sparrow.
We went to Algatocín shopping then back home for something to eat.
We called in to give guests Peter and Margaret a few tips on their trip to Gibraltar tomorrow.
They are enjoying exploring Andalucía, making trips to Ronda, Ubrique and Los Alcornocales, cork oak forest.
We had a beer and a good chat. We hope to go out with them around the village later in the week.
Another really great day with hot sunshine already.
We get gas bottles delivered to the door on a Wednesday. The van tours the village beeping his horn.
We stayed in to buy the gas then headed to Gaucín.
We went to the vets surgery at the animal feedstock shop. He's usually there every Wednesday but at the moment it is fortnightly and we got the wrong week.
A wasted journey except for the great views down to the coast, Gibraltar and the Rif mountains in Africa.
Zoom ...
There was snow on top of one of the peaks of the Rif Mountains. We'd never seen snow in Africa before. Sorry about the quality it was hazy and on max zoom.
We drove back to Benarrabá. We walked down to Tienda Andreita, we had ordered some cobalt blue paint for our front door.
We took this photograph of the church clock tower on the way down.
We decided it was too good to stay in so we took a picnic blanket up the track to a sunny glade in the Olive trees and had a lovely afternoon with the dogs and our Spanish cat 'Mota de Oro'.
We were surrounded by flowers, including broom, huge numbers of wild garlic flowers and a large patch of Iris.
The cat often comes with us when we go for walks. She likes being the centre of attention. She entertained us chasing flies, chasing the dogs and with her climbing skills.
Here she is up an Olive tree. Sally our Border Collie is enjoying lying in the semi shade.
Jake watches her climb higher and higher.
Suddenly we heard a rustling noise up the tree. A shape fell about fifteen feet into a mass of old Blackcurrant branches. More rustling this time from ground level, then she's back up the tree trying to pretend nothing had happened. I got told off for laughing. Apparently you shouldn't laugh at cats if they fall and make fools of themselves, it hurts their feelings ...
Here's one of father and son. Ferdinand (Ferdy) and nearest Jake his son.
Back on the ground, the sky diving Mota de Oro with un bruised ego.
We had a lovely afternoon in the sunny glade.
We made some stew with tomatoes, peppers, beans, onions, garlic, plus various herbs and spices.
A little red wine for flavour and fresh bread from the pandería.
We drove to Algatocín to do some shopping in the new extended Super Genal. We bumped into our neighbour Juan there. I took the chance to ask him about the bunches of daisies on sale there. 'Manzanilla' he said, ''for an infusion' (tea). He showed me you could buy it prepared in tea bags but he said it was better 'natural'. A quick search when I got home and it is Matricaria chamomilla L. also known as camomile.
We got home and went for a walk to the sunny glade.
Mota de Oro decided that yesterdays exertions were enough and stayed at home.
This is an gnarled old Olive tree we pass, now known as 'Motty's tree'.
I climbed a loose rocky slope above the glade to get this photograph. The lavender is fragrant and the buttercups line the hillsides in drifts.
Jane is sitting in the sunshine among the Olive trees.
On the way down I collected some quite large wild garlic plants. No one had been up here picking them for a few years.
We spent a few hours in the warm sunshine then went for a walk.
We passed the school. They have a pergola covered in Wisteria, it is just beginning to flower.
We watched a horse being unloaded from a box.
This is Milly with her owner Gina.
We called into Bar Porón to see Pepa. We had a few beers. Pepa is closing the bar this weekend. As far as we can understand she is going to open Disco Bar Embrujo (in the lower part of the village) during the afternoon and weekday evenings. It used to open late on weekends.
We saw guest's Margaret and Peter using the phone. They came in for a beer.
Later we saw them in Café Bar Guayacán. They were with German couple Margret and Reinhert. They invited us to join them.
Here are Margret, Jane, guests Margaret and Peter Beauchamp and Reinhert.
We had a chicken wing starter given to us free by Flora.
Some freshly prepared Salmorejo de carne. Later Flora sent over a free plate of Ajetes con Huevo, which is Ajos tiernos o ajetes (Wild garlic) and eggs cooked in oil. She also gave us half a dozen campo eggs, which along with the Ajetes I picked earlier means we can make our own tomorrow.
We had a lovely evening said goodbye to Margret and Reinhert, we hope they read the blog and get in touch with us.
We walked home with Margaret and Peter.
We're going to meet them tomorrow evening for a stroll around the village.
A sunny day. We're having a quiet day around the house.
I want to get some flowers planted into the tubs at the side of the house.
We've had some lovely e-mails from visitors to the website. It is always encouraging to know people find the site useful and entertaining. Thanks.
We went out with Margaret and Peter. It is their last night in the village.
We walked down to Pub Bar Dami.
We had a drink and tapas. A caballero and his horse stopped outside for a drink.
This is Suzanna, Dami's wife.
We went to Bar Barroso for more tapas. Where there was much excitement!
Congratulations to Mariángelis and Silvestre on the birth of their baby girl.
We then went to Bar Andrés Sánchez where we had a beautiful 12 year old Rioja.
It was a lovely evening with excellent company, food and wine.