Nowhere to Go? Think again ..........

This series of articles is especially for those readers new to the coast to give them some idea of the interesting places to go and things to do that are right on our doorstep and, most importantly particularly if you have children, exciting and free. For dozens of things to do and places to go see our web site www.andalucia-life.com.

Los Pedregales

How to get there: From Estepona, leave the A7 at the signs for the poligono. Then follow the signs for Casares. The road takes you beneath the toll road and the gates to Los Pedregales are 3 km on your right.

From Sabinillas, leave the N340/A7 at the Casares roundabout taking the road inland towards Casares. After 4 kms there is a road to the right signposted Estepona. Los Pedregales is 3 kms down this road on your left.

Nestling at the foot of Los Reales, the red mountain provides the perfect backdrop to this park where there is something for everybody. At the entrance is a small shop and a few metres further a large children’s play area with everything from swings to an aerial runway. Some of the apparatus would be more at home on an assault course, great for older kids though. Nearby there is an area for ball games and a purpose built petanka area. New wooden cabins can be hired by those who want to spend the night in rural isolation.

The park itself is unusual because it does not have any manicured lawns or any particularly planned flower beds. The idea is to preserve the natural beauty of the area and the wild plants that grow in it. To introduce visitors to this life there are paths that wend their way through the rocky landscape and across the natural streams. On both sides you will see the flora native to this area, fan palms, Spanish broom, gorse and various herbs beneath the native pine and olive trees. If you are not active enough to make it into the mountains then Los Pedregales is an excellent way to see the Spanish maquis at first hand without the need for boots. You will notice, nearer the main track through the park, picnic tables and barbeques set in woodland clearings. These are for anybody to use and are very popular on fine Sundays.

The church in the grounds is that of the patron saint of Estepona, San Isidro Labrador and the scene of a pilgrimage, locally called the ‘Romeria’ that takes place during the first week of May. Behind that is a curious stone and earth structure. Whilst the toll road was being built the excavators found a bronze age dolmen. The dolmen has been moved a couple of kilometres to Los Pedregales and is now hidden away in the mound you see. It was planned to open this building as a dolmen Interpretation Centre two years ago but we are still waiting.

The Mirador at Juanar

How to get there: Take the N340 to Marbella. Take exit 185 (La Cañada). Turn left at the roundabout at the end of the exit road, over the bridge and straight on at the roundabout where you would turn right for La Cañada. The Refugio de Juanar is signposted ahead. Drive for 10 kms and then turn left onto a narrow road following the signs for the Refugio. Keep on this road as it winds into the hills until you reach the Refugio. Keep left at the bridge to the refugio itself and park as soon as you can in one of the parking areas to the left and right.

If you had looked up as you drove over the A7 towards the La Cañada roundabout you would have seen a steep defile between two mountains. This is called the Puerto de Marbella and there is a path that takes you from the bottom right to the saddle. On the saddle, overlooking Marbella is the Mirador, that is our destination but today we are going the easy way, a 3 kilometre stroll that is popular with Spanish families to work up an appetite for lunch on a Sunday. On one occasion we even saw somebody in a wheelchair making this journey.

After parking the car walk up the track that soon leaves the mixed woodland and, at a gate becomes much more open with olive groves to the left and right. Carry on through the style next to the gate. You will soon see a partly ruined building on the right and you start to walk across the top of the saddle with the same two mountains you saw from the road to the left and right. The view opens up with first glimpses of the sea far below and then Marbella itself. Notice as you go that the surrounding rock has changed to a mudstone with what looks like sandy beaches. At this height these raised beaches are a feature of this range of hills. Millions of years ago they were indeed beaches that have now been pushed to 900 metres or so by the tectonic action of the African continental plate pushing into the European continental plate.

The mirador itself is overlooked by a realistic looking metal mountain goat, (Capra pyrenaica). There are a few live mountain goats still in this area but they, and the wild boar, are extremely shy. You would count yourself very lucky to see either. You are compensated however by stunning views of the pale, rocky mountains all around you covered in the typical upland maquis, gorse and rosemary with occasional juniper bushes and pine trees providing the vertical structure.

Pinar del Rey, San Roque

How to get there: Take the A7 to San Roque and leave that road at the Gibraltar turn off. Follow the signs for centro cuidad. Drive past the alameda in the centre of town and, at the new roundabout at the end of the alameda, bear right. At the time of writing there are road works here and the normal road sign for Pinar del Rey has disappeared. Follow that road until you reach a junction and a sign for Pinar del Rey to the left. Pinar del Rey is 3 kilometres along this road on your right. About 30 minutes from Estepona.

Pinar del Rey was originally planted with pine trees by the Spanish Navy in 1800 but, following the battle of Trafalgar five years later, the naval requirement for timber declined. The 338 hectare site was donated to the people of San Roque as compensation for their loss of Gibraltar. Today it is a recreational area that contains a huge variety of trees, shrubs, plants and wild life. This diversity is due to its geographical location, influenced by the Atlantic and Mediterranean, its sub strata, sandstone and limestone, and its landforms from rolling meadows to crags and narrow gullies. Some say it is the most beautiful forest in Europe.

Pinar del Rey is suitable for the entire family. Between the 15th October and early June the hundreds of purpose built barbeques with wooden picnic tables become the centre of family parties at weekends, the best spots being taken by 10am. During the summer barbeques are not allowed but the picnic areas in the shade of the trees are no less popular. The adults congregate around the tables leaving the youngsters to run wild in the woods. But a picnic is only one reason to visit this area.

There are also three walks, all well signposted with the familiar pointed stick, that take you through the diverse scenery. The longest the ‘Cerro del Aguila’, at 5 kilometres, is an easy stroll that takes you to the highest point (157 metres) in the area.

The walk starts at the furthest point of the driveable track. There is a good map at the start of the walk but really you just follow the arrows on the top of the way mark posts. The scenery changes from pine forest to semi deciduous woodland and back to pine forest. Part way around the walk you will come across an old quarry. In the soft sandstone you will find marine fossils dating back to the Miocene period. You will also find small tunnels in the rock, the lair of a number of species of snake. At the highest point of the walk divert from the marked path a little to your right to the top of a rocky outcrop. Across a thickly shrubbed defile, about 50 metres away is another outcrop. We call it Baboon Rock although there is no mention of it in the official literature. Here, if you are lucky, you will see baboons with the characteristic red and blue behinds and dog like faces. These animals are not yet native, although they are wild and should not be approached. Their antecedents escaped from a safari park that used to be at Alcaidesa and having found Pinar del Rey they liked it so much they decided to stay.

The other walks, Tajo de Pajarraco and Arroyo de Alhaja are 3.5kms and 2.5kms respectively and are flatter walks mainly in stream valleys taking you through lush vegetation and mixed woodland.

The Castle of Eagles, Gaucin

How to get there: Park wherever you can in Gaucin and make your way to the centre. Follow the signs for Castillo de Aguila. The way takes you up to the top of the village and up a rocky buttress to the hermitage of Santo Niño. Go through the pretty gardens and up to the castle itself.

As you entered the hermitage gardens you will have gone through a gate in the castle walls. These were the Moorish walls and you can still see the small lookout posts built into them. The hermitage itself was originally the barracks for the troops and the gunpowder store was in one of the turrets.

Although the Romans were the first to construct defences on the rock it was the Moors who built the majority of the castle seen today. They called it Sair Guazan or strong rock and so it proved. The castle remained in use until the 19th century. At the castle itself there are two dungeons and a subterranean passageway that the Moors built in case they ever had to escape from the castle unseen.

The whole castle is open for exploration and wonderful for children although parents please be aware that any health and safety regulations you may be used to in the UK are totally ignored here. There are unbarred vertical drops, pits in the ground, crumbling walk ways around high walls and many more irresistibly dangerous features.

An alternative descent from the castle is to leave it via the small gate beneath the western wall. This steep path takes you down to the village on the opposite side of the rock to that taken on the ascent. It is worth the extra effort for the views you have from this path.

The Roman Baths, Manilva

How to get there: Turn off the A7 at the Lidls roundabout in Sabinillas heading inland. Go under the toll road viaduct and follow the rough track along the river for 0.9 kilometres. The baths are on the right.

For something a little different, and certainly something the kids will be able to boast about with their friends, take them for a dip at the Roman Baths.

Over 2000 years ago the sulphur rich hot water emerging from the side of a hill in the Rio Manilva valley, not that it was called that then, attracted the attention of the health conscious Romans. They built an arched bathing complex of which four chambers still exist and called it Hedionda. The concrete ‘lid’ is a recent addition to preserve the remains. The Roman brick work can easily be seen beneath this canopy. There are traces of other water channels nearby that suggest the complex was once much bigger and a few metres downstream there is an aqueduct also of Roman origin. There is a legend that Julius Caesar cured himself of a skin complaint by bathing here whilst he was governor of Southern Spain between 63 and 60 BC. More recently there are rumours of a local restaurateur bathing here in the buff but then you know how rumours start?

Remarkably the baths are still usable and are popular with Spanish families on Sundays. They picnic alongside the river and let their children splash around in the warm spring waters.

Rinconcillo Feedback

We welcome feedback about all our articles. The following is a self explanatory email we received.

First let me say how much I enjoy reading your magazine. We are truly spoiled here with free publications (does anyone actually pay for a paper or magazine?) but yours is a favourite coffee-time read.

The “Nowhere to Go? Think Again” article intrigued me as I didn’t recognise the place you described as Rinconcillo even though I thought I had visited that area. So within a few days of reading the article I headed down with some eagerness to find out what I was missing.

On arrival I realised I had only explored the Algericas end of the beach and I could see the dunes in the distance, towards Palmones. I was stunned with the natural beauty of this incredible little corner of Andalucia. It is especially surprising since it is surrounded, literally in all directions, by less-than-pretty heavy industry and shipping, yet it is all far enough removed not to spoil the immediate surroundings for the visitor. Another thing that struck me was the sheer number of locals out enjoying the beach and the dunes, dressed in swimwear, even though I only arrived at 6pm in early/mid October. Such a contrast from the place I live (only 25km away) where the beaches are virtually deserted at any time from early September onwards.

I intend to return soon with my kayak to further explore the river estuary and marismas. I can’t believe I have lived here four years and didn’t know about this pretty little corner, so thank you for pointing it out in the article.

Photograph and Feedback; Ed Tarwinski

El Torcal

How to get there: Take the A7 to Malaga and then follow the signs for Antequera on the N331. Leave this road at Caserbermeja following the signs for Villanueva de la Conception. There follow the signs for Torcal. About 90 minutes from Estepona.

El Torcal is one of the world’s natural adventure playgrounds. It is a limestone ridge towering above the surrounding plain over 1000 metres above sea level yet the limestone is made of millions of shells of long dead sea creatures that, 100 million years ago, lived in this area of the Tethys Sea. Now the rock has been pushed into the sky and is still rising as a result of tectonic activity between the African and European continental plates. Because limestone is water soluble and relatively soft it erodes when exposed to the weather into weird shapes creating, at El Torcal, an awesome scenery. Pinnacles of rock from the top of which ibex gaze at the humans far below, limestone pavement with cracks going down many metres filled with exotic plants taking advantage of the micro climates in the sheltered crannies, snakes bask on sunny rocks and ants the size of which you will not believe do their best to steal your sandwiches, it is a wild and wonderful place that has managed to remain largely unspoilt.

Take plenty of water and food; there is not even an ice cream booth up there and there is certainly no accessible water. Wear stout footwear or at least trainers. In the summer it is scorching hot and in winter it is not unusual to find snow and ice. October can be one of the best months for, if we have a little autumn rain, the flowers will be in full bloom. There are two marked walking trails, the green route is only an easy 2 kilometres and the blue is 4 kilometres with a bit of scrambling involved. There are innumerable species of bird including vultures and eagles soaring above. Keep your eyes open for the acrobats, the blue and great tits in the long wide valley and the song birds, thrushes and larks that hide in the remote cracks but are unable to keep quiet. The flora on Torcal has never been fully catalogued so for those so inclined it is well worth taking photographs of any unusual flowering plants you see, you never know, you may end up with a sub species named after you, Thymbra capitata nutterii, I like the sound of that.

Los Reales

How to get there: Drive down Estepona promenade towards Marbella, until you get to the new roundabout where the road becomes a dual carriageway towards Carrefour. Turn left at the roundabout and drive for 700 metres until you see Mercadona supermarket ahead on your right. At the traffic lights just before Mercadona, turn right and drive for 15 kms up an increasingly mountainous road. This is an old smugglers route. You will reach Puerto de Pinas Blanca, the 1010 metre high pass that takes the road into the Genal valley beyond. Turn left here and follow the single track road for 4 kilometres to a parking area.

Los Reales is the big red mountain behind Estepona. It is also one of the few where it is possible to get near the summit in a car, ideal for those bad on their feet, although the drive can be a bit exciting with precipitous drops down one side of the unprotected verge near the top.

From the car park there is a rough track, only about 500 metres, to a walled mirador that is on the end of one of the spurs from the main body of the mountain. You will not find better views anywhere. Gibraltar and Africa are plain to see on a crisp clear day in October. The tiny port of Duquesa appears almost beneath you. Estepona is spread out below like a satellite map and farther east you will see Benavista, San Pedro, Puerto Banus, Marbella and right around the coast to Fuengirola.

If you have stout footwear there is a smaller track that takes you the last 500 metres to the summit. That is the one with the radio masts. From here you have an equally splendid view inland over the Alcornocales National Park and, towards Ronda, the pale peak is Torrecilla, the highest peak in the Sierra de las Nieves. Los Reales at 1,449 metres, (4,709 feet) is over 300 feet higher than the highest mountain in Great Britain, Ben Nevis.

Rinconcillo

How to get there: Take the A7 towards Algeciras. As soon as you pass over the river bridge at Km 109 get into the right hand lane and at the first set of traffic lights turn right, swing around the traffic island, cross the main carriageway and, taking the centre lane, pass between two islands and down the road for 250 metres to a roundabout. At this roundabout turn right. Carry on until you see an ONCE booth on the right hand side. Turn left here, there is also a sign for an observatory. Drive 200 metres or so until you see Calle Cabo Creus on your right. Turn down here and carry on until you reach a small square just behind the beach and park.

At the head of Algeciras Bay Rinconcillo is a little known fishing village that manages to remain unspoilt even though surrounded by industry. It also has one of the most fantastic sandy beaches on the coast and a stretch of protected sand dunes with a network of water channels behind forming a marismas. There is something for everybody here. The children can take to the dunes for a spot of dune jumping or they can scour the beach for the brightly coloured shells of all sorts of species that wash up here. Bird watchers can penetrate the marismas via a network of rough tracks and set themselves up in a bush overlooking a lagoon, where they will see any amount of waders and, if you are lucky, the resident ospreys and harriers. A walk to the end of the sand spit from Rinconcillo is about 2 kilometres and here you will reach the estuary of the Rio Guadacortes with, on the far bank, the fishing village of Las Palmones.

In the bay the constant water traffic in and out of Algeciras port is a spectacle in itself with the Rock towering up on the near horizon. Keep your eyes open for the gannets that dive for small fish just off the beach.

In Rinconcillo itself there is a large fish restaurant next to the car park that is a favourite with the Spanish on a Sunday. Alternatively you could visit Las Palmones that has a whole range of authentic Spanish seafood restaurants.