September 16th - 30th 2005
Written by Geoff Forster
Another lovely day, some early morning cloud in the valley is being burnt away and the temperature is rising.
I've finished the webpage for the Benarrabá Restaurante, Mesón Bodega Mirador de la Sierra.
Mesón Bodega Mirador de la Sierra
In the evening we went out with guests Phil and Sue for tapas.
We went to Bar Barroso for palomitas which are salmon and soft cheese rolls. Then we went to Bar Andrés Sánchez for meat balls, stuffed roast pork and Salmorejo de carne. We called into Bar Pub Dami and later we all went to Disco Pub Embrujo, quite a night!
A day spent recovering from the excesses of the night before!
Every time we go to the Disco Bar Embrujo ... fatal. It must be the flashing lights?
In the evening we watched 'Something about Mary' starring Cameron Diaz, later we watched 'Who Dares Wins'.
I'm feeling a lot better today. I've just been out with the dogs. The sky looks very black behind the house. I think we may get some rain today.
We've just said goodbye to Phil and Sue, they had an enjoyable stay. They said that they would return and that they would recommend the apartment and Benarrabá to their friends.
We cooked a meal and I listened to Newcastle United beat Blackburn Rovers 0-3 which was a unexpected but pleasant surprise.
Later we watched the remaining four episodes of Pride and Prejudice we'd started to watch on Wednesday evening.
The rain I predicted this morning never fell.
A scorching day with clear blues skies, so we're off to the beach at San Luis de Sabinillas.
A lovely drive to the coast. We needed food and refreshment so we had a Fanta and tomato tostada outside a favourite street Café.
Next we had a paddle in the Mediterranean up to Puerto de la Duquesa.
The port/marina area is full of some very impressive boats. There are also lots of expensive restaurants and apartments.
Jane decided it was time we explored a little further round the marina than we have before. We walked up to what we thought was a small lighthouse. It may be the Marina harbour club/offices.
There are lots of quite large fish in the marina. We were surprised to see some small jellyfish. There are none on the beaches, the marina must be a perfect nursery for them.
The jellyfish were about five centimetres in diameter and seven or eight centimetres in length.
This is a photograph across the Playa de las Gaviotas to the castillo at Duquesa.
We walked up this lovely Esplanade along the top of the beach through the palms.
Some of the beachfront properties were very nice, unlike most of the newer developments in the area which are awful.
We walked back through the Marina to San Luis de Sabinillas and then we drove down the coast past Gibraltar to Los Barrios.
We bought a lot of groceries in Carrefours.
We drove up the A369 road home to Benarrabá arriving back at around 6pm.
A lovely day out, the weather was perfect.
Tonight we're having salmon and soft cheese rolls as an appetiser and then later we'll cook a prawn curry.
It's a beautiful day and we're off out again. This time to meet friends Stuart and Christine Nicholls from Stoke. They have a holiday home in Montejaque. It's a while since we've been to Montejaque and we're both looking forward to going there and to see Stuart and Christine again.
On the way out of Benarrabá we spotted a Short-toed Eagle perched on an outcrop above the road. I think it is a juvenile bird
We drove down the A369 to Atajate and then across the Guadiaro Valley passed Jimera de Libar to join the Cortes de la Frontera to Ronda road. A few km before Ronda we turned off to Montejaque.
I telephoned Stuart just before we got into the village and he walked down to meet us.
He took us to their home, we met Christine his wife, Val his sister and cousin Elaine.
The house is lovely. We sat on the terrace and had some lemonade. There are some great views from the terrace.
I had a nosebleed! It must have been watching Stuart drinking a beer whilst I had lemonade.
Stuart was also suffering from a bad back, which gets worse if he sits too long. We decided to climb to the top of the rocks in the photograph below.
Here's Stuart and Jane with the Sierra de las Nieves in the distance. You can just make out part of the outskirts of Ronda.
Montejaque is a pretty pueblo, the surrounding crags are amazing.
The older part of Montejaque is very picturesque with twisting winding streets and houses built in amongst the rocks.
Here's Stuart doing a bit of rock climbing.
This is the view down onto the newer part of Montejaque.
We climbed back down and Stuart gave us a tour of the older streets of Montejaque. The Spanish are very practical this wonderful broom standing against the wall of an old house is a fine example.
We got back to Stuart and Christine's casa. The ladies had been busy preparing a lovely meal.
(L-R) Christine, Elaine and Val.
Here's the whole family.
We had a great afternoon chatting on the terrace. We are all going to meet up again on Thursday.
We drove back to Benarrabá. The weather and company had been perfect again and we had yet another great day out.
We're staying in this evening and cooking a steak casserole with onions, garlic, red and green peppers in a thick gravy.
To be followed by some cakes bought from the pandería in Montejaque!
The weather is fantastic again! Temperatures in the high 80'sF and clear blue skies. The moon is visible (10am) and just about to set in the west.
I've done a webpage for Benarrabá's recent Culturales 2005. This was a great fiesta that was held in August.
There are lots of photographs on this page ... so I hope that you have Broadband or don't mind the wait!
Benarrabá Culturales 2005
Jane has made a large batch of Gazpacho. She's becoming an expert. It tastes fantastic.
We are going to have yet another curry tonight.
A little overcast today.
We went for a walk to buy some bread.
We spent the morning cleaning the house. Three Border Collies produce a lot of fur!
Later in the afternoon we drove to Benadalid. This was taken just before Benadalid from the A369. The barren mountains are just above Alpandeire on the other side of the Genal Valley.
This is the beautiful pueblo of Benadalid.
A cross on a ridge on the outskirts of Benadalid. The magnificent Genal Valley in the background, the pueblo is Faraján.
As you can see there is some high cloud but it is still lovely and warm.
We had arranged to meet Stuart Nicholls and family. They have just completed the purchase of a lovely house in Benadalid today. Congratulations!!
We loved their new house. It is in a lovely position and finished very well. We hope they will be very happy. Benadalid is lovely pueblo, one of our favourites.
We headed back to Benarrabá. When we got home we walked the dogs up the track for ten minutes. Later we went to the new Café Pub Guayacán for a Café con leche.
We are now cooking a spaghetti bolognese.
Another day out and about. We decided that as it was such a beautiful day we would go out exploring some new pueblos.
We drove to Ronda then took the A367 road and stopped at a village called Cuevas del Becerro which translates as Caves of the calf.
We had coffee and a bocadillo in a roadside venta and then set off to explore the pueblo.
It was a busy place with long flat streets, this usually means we're not going to like the place too much, but we had a good feeling about Cuevas del Becerro.
The church is a fairly modern common in a lot of pueblos.
There were a lot of bars in Cuevas del Becerro in fact we counted ten in one street of two hundred houses. Altogether we think there are around twenty bars in this pueblo. Here's Jane drinking pure water from a fountain.
There were some lovely communal areas including children's play areas and bandstands.
We walked from one end of the pueblo to the other and it is quite a long stretched town. We explored most of the side streets.
We liked the pueblo a lot.
We got back in the car filled up with petrol now a little lower in price at 1.06€ per litre - 74p/litre.
This next photograph is looking East down the A367
We turned off the A367 onto the MA477 to Serrato.
We drove into the pretty looking village looking for a parking space.
All the main streets seemed to have yellow no parking markers
We got to the top of the pueblo and had been unimpressed by what we had seen. Instead of the usual chaotic maze of twisting streets that is the norm in hilltop white pueblos. Serrato had long sweeping streets that were indistinctive and a little boring. The houses were in good condition and it was clean and tidy but didn't have a wow factor. We took a few photo's and left.
We took the MA478 to El Burgo through the Sierra de Las Nieves Natural Parque. A designated Biosphere!?
The road surface was pretty bad but drivable at low speed.
This is the straightest stretch we drove down.
The drive through the pine forest is fantastic and although the road isn't great we have to recommend it. The views are stunning.
After a wonderful drive along the twisting mountain roads we descended to El Burgo.
We had driven passed El Burgo once before on a trip to Coin. We had considered properties here during our house hunting on the internet.
We parked at the entrance of the pueblo and walked into the older part of town. (There is a newer part with new build housing and factory units.)
Here's Jane in a covered area outside some bars near the Ayuntamiento (Town Hall).
We walked around the pueblo for around an hour and a half. We liked El Burgo but we're glad we didn't move there.
Again Jane has some pure water from a fountain.
Some parts of El Burgo were being spoiled by graffiti. Benches, bus stops, roads and pavements were sprayed with names. Most Spanish people are very proud of their house, street and pueblo. It is disturbing to see this beginning to happen in more and more villages.
We got to the car and drove back towards Ronda on the A366.
We stopped off at the Mirador del Guarda Forestal.
The views are stunning and this wonderful statue sits on top of an outcrop.
This is what he's pointing at!
"Not a bad view eh son"
We thoroughly enjoyed a beautiful day out. The mountain scenery had been breathtaking.
We drove home through the equally dramatic and beautiful Genal Valley. We both know how fortunate we are to live here. When we look out of a window or walk out the front door, but days like today really drive it home.
Another great day, deep blue skies and unbroken sunshine. Temperatures are in the high 80'sF/30C. Perfect.
We've been for a walk to get the bread. Jane is cleaning and I'm making a start on a webpage for El Burgo which we visited yesterday.
I've just finished the El Burgo page.
El Burgo
We've just been for a walk to the Restaurante Kábilas for a soft drink.
We walked slowly back stopping to look up the Genal Valley towards the Sierra de Las Nieves. (We were on the other side of these distant mountains yesterday)
I'm not sure what the plant is. It has glaucous blue leaves and small yellow trumpets. It obviously requires little to zero water to flourish.
It is a lovely day, very warm sitting in the sun. A shame to be inside.
Jane is washing and ironing bedding in the apartment.
I'm working on webpage's, waiting for today's football to start.
Excellent win for the Toon Army, we're climbing the league rapidly. Owen is a Geordie!!
We watched a very long film on TV, Texas Justice.
An overcast start to the day but by lunchtime the sun was out and it was a very hot afternoon.
We'd been invited to Chris and Carol Scotford's house in Gaucín for lunch and a swim in their pool.
We got there around 1:30pm and had a chat on the terrace before heading poolside for a barbeque.
Here's Chris showing us his culinary talents.
The honey glazed kebabs were beautiful, the chorizo perfect and the lamb chops were cooked to perfection. Nice one Chris, a little smoky at times but it keeps the flies away!
Chris and Carol have recently unpacked all their belongings that they brought from England. This is Trevor.
We waited for the food to settle and then went for a swim in the heated pool. The air temperature was 94F/36C in the shade. The water temperature was a cool 78F/24C, very refreshing.
Here are Chris and Carol with myself. (The hair and beard have gone, again)
We had a good swim and then enjoyed drying off in the Spanish sunshine. Jane did get in but here's one of my beautiful wife before she summoned up the courage.
We left at around 6:30pm. We had just got back to Benarrabá when I realised that I'd left my glasses at Chris and Carol's ... Doh! So we drove back, collected them and then finally got home around 7:15pm.
A lot of wagons, caravans and stalls are arriving in the pueblo for the start of the Feria on Thursday. A Feria booklet has been printed and distributed around Benarrabá and the neighbouring pueblos. Five of my photographs have been printed in it. It was good to be asked to contribute.
We had a quiet night in watching 'A Touch of Frost' on TV.
Another glorious day. Blue skies and wall to wall sunshine!
Jane's finishing off upstairs for our new guests who arrive tomorrow.
I'm going to water the plants. We're still waiting for some significant rainfall.
We need some rain to help the Genal Valley's Sweet Chestnut crop and later the Olives.
It is really hot today! We've just walked down for the bread and we have been to the Ayuntamiento (Town Hall) to get some Feria booklets. We called into Café Pub Guayacán for a coffee.
I've been working on a new web page for Cuevas del Becerro which we visited on Friday.
Cuevas del Becerro
It is a lovely evening here, we decided to walk to the plaza to see how preparations for the upcoming feria were progressing. The feria starts on Thursday afternoon with a service in the church and then a procession around the pueblo.
We were surprised to see a new very large and impressive aluminium framed marquee being erected over the plaza. This is a big improvement on the ugly steel frame and corrugated iron roofed construction that is usually erected.
The stage has been built at the end of the plaza.
We slowly walked to the Restaurante Kábilas and sat on the terrace and had a refreshing glass of lemonade.
We walked through the village and back up to our house, stopping at various advantageous miradors to enjoy the many fantastic views of the Genal Valley which we have from around the pueblo.
We are planning a quiet night in and yet another curry.
Jane is up early putting the finishing touches to the apartment.
I'll be going up in a minute to clean the black ironwork which is best left until last.
It's a beautiful sunny day, the mountains are a little hazy but the sun is shining and it is lovely and warm.
We drove to Algatocín to the Super Mercardo.
Jane photographed this bird on a wire above the village.
I've been through the book a couple of times and have no idea what it is. Help please!? It has a red/brown colour underneath.
Our new guests arrived. They are relatives of friends John and Chris who have a finca nearby.
After they had settled in, we went for a paseo (walk) around the pueblo. It is a ritual in Spain to go for an evening stroll around 7:30- 8:00pm. When driving you often see elderly people (sometimes on crutches!) miles from anywhere just walking along the roads.
Photograph of Alpandeire from Benarrabá.
We called into Bar Andrés Sánchez for a coffee.
Later we watched a couple of films, the best was 'Absence of Malice' starring Paul Newman and Sally Field.
Another great day. We're off to the beach at San Luis de Sabinillas. We're planning on paddling down the edge of the Mediterranean in the direction of Casares - Estepona to a ruined watchtower/beacon/castle.
We crossed the bridge over the Rio Genal below Gaucín and were surprised to see water. Not a river but isolated pools it must have rained higher up the valley recently. Good news for the wildlife.
We arrived in San Luis de Sabinillas, parked and headed onto the beach. We were surprised to see some pretty large waves breaking on the shore. There was no wind.
There are lots of small fishing boats on the beach. We sometimes see the fishermen bringing in their catch.
Here's Jane in the foaming Mediterranean.
Here I am playing chicken with a large wave behind me!
Jane didn't tell me that the wave was getting bigger and bigger.
Too late!
I am in there somewhere!
Looks like I've just been Tangoed!
We walked along the beautiful beach in the hot sunshine. Heaven!
It didn't take too long for me to dry out.
You can see the small ruined castle at the end of the bay.
Here's Jane. Sandy beach, palm trees, blue sky, crashing surf ... could have stayed all day but we had to go shopping.
We walked to our favourite street Café and had a tomato tostada.
Then we got into the car and drove down the coast passed Gibraltar to Los Barrios.
We did some shopping in the large Carrefours supermarket.
Next we drove into the Cork Oak forest near Castillo de Castellar for a sandwich with some ham and bread which we'd bought.
We spotted four Cattle Egrets in with some cows.
The cows moved away when they saw me approach and the egrets hopped on to the fence to avoid being trampled by the cows.
We drove along the A369 road. A large lorry carrying some huge rocks had taken a bend too fast and had ended up on its side in a ditch. The cab looked like it had been on fire. We saw an ambulance at the scene but we don't know if anyone was injured. The traffic wasn't stopped so we drove on.
This is a field of cotton planted just to the South of Jimena de la Frontera.
We got home safely.
Quiet night in ... cooked a curry! We do like our curries.
An e-mail from Jean in Stoke. Jean thinks that yesterdays mystery bird is a dirty looking Robin.
Cheers for that. We're looking forward to seeing you and Lyngard on Saturday. Its feria time in Benarrabá!
It's a Fiesta Day in Benarrabá. La Festividad de San Miguel Arcángel. Everyone is off work, the children are off school and it's party time.
Lights are up all over the pueblo. The new marquee looks good in the plaza. We understand that it cost quite a lot of money, rumours of 12,000€ / £8,500 are circulating. It is a big improvement on the old tin shed they used to erect.
Events are due to start with a service in the church called a Santa Misa at 12:30pm.
At 1:30 San Miguel Arcángel is paraded around the pueblo. San Sebastián the pueblos patron saint follows behind. (The grid order is reversed on January 20th.) La Banda de Música de Benarrabá accompanies the procession.
At 2:30 There is an inauguration ceremony followed by a dance group from near Málaga. El Grupo Baile de Verdiales.
At 3:00 Free food and wine, beer etc is served to the whole pueblo seated in the plaza courtesy of la Excma. Diputación de Málaga.
Music for dancing is to be provided by Juan Jesús who lives in the village. He is very good.
After this we all head home and prepare for tonight's fiesta which starts at 11:30pm with the crowning of the Feria Queen.
We heard the band playing so we dashed out of the house thinking the Santa Misa service had finished early. We got down to Calle Pósito only to find the band had been warming up outside Dami's bar and the church service was still in progress.
Friends John and Chris were there, we said hello and went to the church.
It wasn't long before the service finished and the procession around the pueblo started.
This is San Miguel Arcángel.
The procession moves passed the Ayuntamiento and up Calle Pósito, a large crowd of people follows behind. The band plays a slow sombre tune.
This is Antonio Ramos and Francisco Barroso they are carrying San Sebastián. Patron Saint of the pueblo.
The procession filed passed we walked down towards the church. Which was deserted. The bells were ringing constantly as the procession went around the village.
This photograph is of the vaulted roof in the church. It is very ornate. The black ring is a large light fitting which hangs down from the centre of the roof.
We walked up to the plaza. A few people were laying out tables and setting up the sound equipment.
We walked down to a mirador that looks back on the village.
Here's one of me. Our house is the one closest to my shoulder.
Here's Jane, it took a lot of time and a lot changes to pick this dress!
It was worth it though!
The procession went back to the church and everyone came up to the plaza. This is a dance group from near Málaga. El Grupo Baile de Verdiales.
After the dance/music group finished we all sat down to eat. We sat with Carmen, Cristóbal, Adrian, Sara, Maria and Sebastián. Opposite us were the dance group which was good. They were very friendly and seemed to enjoy themselves.
The guitarists didn't want to put their instruments down and the people who were sat at their table enjoyed some improvised flamenco.
After the food we walked to Café Bar Guayacán where we had a coffee.
We came home and had a siesta in preparation for tonight's fiesta.
I've started a web page for Feria 2005. There are more photo's of the days events on this page.
----> Feria 2005
We walked to the plaza at 11:15pm. There are a lot of lights and bunting across the streets.
The group "Velada". They are very professional, great musicians and the equipment and lighting they have is excellent.
Reina Infantil - Carmen Caballero Méndez
Mister Infantil - Alvaro Barranco Domínguez
All the winners of the infants contest - more photographs on the feria page. Mas fotos aqui.
The Queen of the Feria 2005 Zulema Barranco Romero.
All of the winners including Francisco Ortega winner of the Mister Juvenil.
More photo's here. Mas fotos de la Feria 2005.
We didn't stay for the all night dancing. We walked through the pueblo it was very quiet. We were hoping to get a coffee in one of the bars but they were all closed. We went home and watched a film.
A late start. The sun is shining and it is quite hot.
Today is not an official Fiesta day but with it falling between a Fiesta day and the weekend I don't think too many people are working.
We're going to go out for a stroll around the village.
We walked to the all weather sports field where the children were having a great time with a go kart track, bucking bull and a couple of bouncy castles.
Admission and rides were completely free. Yet another example how priorities about the community, family and children are different in Spain.
Here's our neighbours son Adrian hurtling around the Kart circuit.
Here he is bravely hanging on to the bucking torro.
They all queued patiently in lines for the kart and bull rides without any adult supervision. Nobody tried to push in, their were no problemas. They are all wonderful children.
The Tobogan Run bouncy castle was full of kids all afternoon.
Lots more photographs of the children playing can be found on a new page.
We went to the Restaurante Kábilas for a lemonade.
The view from the terrace is great.
We went home and had a salad.
We headed to the plaza at around midnight. The fiesta was underway.
Juan Jesus our neighbour from down the street was entertaining the crowds with his one man show.
Lots of people were dancing in the plaza. This young lad is dancing with his grandmother.
Jane and I were sitting with Cristóbal, Carmen and their family.
Just after Juan Jesús finished his set, John and Chris turned up. They had been in some of the bars before coming to the plaza.
Next on stage were the group Velada.
We listened to a few songs and then left at around 2am.